hankyoreh

chairman of main opposition Democratic Party (DP)

Sediments extracted from a levy construction site along the Nakdong River in Dalseong County, a construction site of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, has revealed levels of arsenic, a toxic carcinogen, beyond what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems safe.

The Korean Society on Rivers and Streams and Citizens’ Institute for Environmental Studies announced Tuesday that the sediments extracted by Democratic Labor Party Lawmaker Hong Hee-duk and civic groups at a construction site of a provisional weir in Dalseong County, Daegu Province on Jan. 21 contained 8.488 ppm of arsenic. This is higher than the 8.2ppm Effects Range Low (ERL) level set by the U.S. EPA’s Use of Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs).

Arsenic is a highly toxic substance and a level one carcinogen that can lead to digestive disorders, inflammation of the eyes and discoloring of the skin when taken in small doses and can lead to death if taken in large doses.

The Korean Society on Rivers and Streams and Citizens’ Institute for Environmental Studies say they are concerned that if riverbeds are turned up as part of riverbed construction, a key part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, it could lead to a serious disaster, such as the pollution of water quality and ecological destruction through toxic water. They said that since the sediment sample was taken just from the construction site in Dalseong, there was a limit to its ability to evaluate pollution along the entirety of the Nakdong River, and an environmental study should be conducted for the entire 334 kilometer length of the river.

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