On the 29th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Civil Law Enforcement Agency announced that they had detected 28 places, including construction sites and illegal spray painting operations, that emitted air pollutants without authorization during the sixth seasonal fine dust control period.
From December of last year to March of this year, the inspection was conducted over four months. The city selected 450 locations believed to be at risk for generating particulate matter through online searches and preliminary investigations, focusing especially during off-hours like nights and weekends.
The detected places include 11 construction sites that did not install dust control facilities such as dust covers, dust walls, wheel washing facilities, and watering facilities, and 17 establishments that carried out spray painting work without registering air pollutant purification facilities.
Some of the construction sites left hundreds of tons of stockpile materials uncovered without dust covers or dismantled automatic wheel washing facilities and did not even provide high-pressure watering facilities. Most spray painting businesses operated without signs or hid painting equipment in secret locations to avoid nighttime and weekend inspections.
One business disguised itself as a vacant property and operated a powder coating facility of more than 5㎥ illegally over an extended period. Another establishment installed prevention facilities but failed to maintain them, essentially using them as regular ventilation fans before being caught.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has filed criminal charges against these establishments for violations of the Air Quality Preservation Act and the Automotive Management Act. Construction sites that did not implement dust suppression measures could face fines of up to 3 million won, while illegal spray painting establishments could face up to five years in prison or fines of up to 50 million won.
Citizen reports were the decisive factor for this crackdown. The Seoul Metropolitan Government urged the public to report related illegal activities via the ‘Seoul Smart Convenience Complaint’ app or the Seoul city’s response center. Informants are eligible to receive a reward of up to 200 million won.
Kang Hee-eun, Acting Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Civil Law Enforcement Agency, stated, “We will continue to investigate businesses that illegally emit pollutants to create an environment where citizens can breathe safely and comfortably.”