Exclusive Did Suwon City Spread 'Carcinogenic Substance'…"Possibility Exists"

The possibility has been raised that Suwon City's facility modernization project construction affected the spread of groundwater contamination at Suwon Agricultural and Fisheries Products Wholesale Market.

According to Suwon City and others on the 7th, the city ordered the Agricultural Technology Center to submit a groundwater contamination assessment report in December 2018 after groundwater contamination was confirmed at the agricultural and fisheries products wholesale market site in 2018.

The assessment target was the agricultural and fisheries products wholesale market site and surrounding areas. The operational instruction prepared thereafter specified that groundwater monitoring wells be installed to investigate groundwater flow and hydraulic characteristics, evaluate contamination status and risk, and establish contamination prevention measures.

While the groundwater contamination assessment was underway, the facility modernization project construction proceeded in parallel.

The second phase of the facility modernization project commenced on March 11, 2019, and contaminated soil remediation and verification work at the construction section began on May 27 of the same year. In the facility modernization project schedule disclosed by Suwon City, the completion point of the groundwater contamination assessment is also recorded as August 31 of the same year.

During the construction process, excavation was conducted to a depth of 7.5 meters underground. At the 356th Suwon City Council's Urban Environment Committee administrative inspection in November 2020, when city council member Moon Byung-geun asked about the excavation depth during the construction of the agricultural and fisheries products wholesale market, a city official at the time answered, "We excavated 7.5 meters."

The situation regarding operation of a pumping machine at the construction site was also raised during the inspection at that time. Council member Moon presented construction site video and asked, "What did you do with the groundwater that came out then?" and claimed that water was pumped out using a pump. A city official explained that the water was from heavy rain or water generated during the rainy season.

The excavation depth coincides with the previously surveyed groundwater table. The groundwater table confirmed by the Gyeonggi Institute of Environmental Sciences (hereinafter "Institute") at three groundwater collection points within the market in October 2018 was 7 to 9.3 meters underground.

When asked whether groundwater would generally be pumped in the event of large-scale excavation work to a depth of 7.5 meters from the groundwater table, the Institute responded, "Yes, that is my understanding."

The direction of contamination spread also differed from the surveyed groundwater flow direction. The Institute determined that the direction of contamination spread shown in 2016 and 2023 surveys did not match the surveyed groundwater flow direction.

While the Institute acknowledged that it could not determine the exact cause, it suggested the possibility that artificial activities such as discharged groundwater or large-capacity well pumping affected the surrounding groundwater system, resulting in non-natural flow toward the northeast of the survey area for a long period and the spread of contamination.

In particular, in response to a court factual inquiry asking whether there was a possibility that the groundwater flow changed and contamination spread on the premise that a large amount of groundwater was pumped during the modernization project and there were no other artificial activities in the vicinity, the Institute answered, "Yes, there is a possibility."

Concerns about contamination spread also extended to sites surrounding the agricultural and fisheries products wholesale market. In consultation details disclosed at Suwon City Council's administrative inspection in 2020, provisions included conducting detailed surveys of soil and groundwater at three sites where oil contamination was an issue, including a nearby gas station, and then undertaking joint remediation. The content also included provisions that if additional contamination is confirmed at the nearby gas station site, Suwon City will remediate that portion.

Suwon City denies the possibility that the modernization project construction affected groundwater flow.

A Suwon City official stated, "During the excavation work (in the modernization project), we did not touch the groundwater depth," and "Because there is considerable difference between the depth at which groundwater flows and the excavation depth, it is impossible for excavation work to affect groundwater flow."

전시언 취재편집부문 대표 yourside@suwonilbo.kr