Ulsan Metropolitan Council drafts nation’s first ordinance to strengthen prevention of and response to illegal landfilling

【Financial News, Ulsan = reporter Choi Soo-sang】 The Ulsan Metropolitan Council has decided to establish a system to ensure the swift follow-up handling of illegal landfilling cases and enable relevant agencies to monitor at-risk areas in advance and respond. 
Council Member Gong Jin-hyeok said on the 14th that he had introduced as lead sponsor the “Ulsan City Ordinance on the Prevention and Management of Illegal Waste Landfilling.”
The bill was prompted by an illegal landfilling incident on farmland in Naewari, Ulju-gun, Ulsan. If enacted, the ordinance will be the first of its kind nationwide.
According to Council Member Gong, it came to light last May that a large amount of waste had been illegally buried in filled farmland around Naewari, Duseo-myeon, Ulju-gun.
Residents’ anxiety is growing over soil and groundwater contamination, among other concerns, but difficulties in the administrative response process mean that restoring the site to its original condition is taking a long time.
This has highlighted the need for institutional measures to prevent illegal landfilling in advance and respond swiftly. There have been calls for a framework that strengthens advance inspections of areas vulnerable to illegal landfilling and enables a faster response, based on information sharing and cooperation among administrative agencies when suspected cases arise. 
The ordinance reflects these needs and covers the mayor’s responsibilities and planning for the prevention and management of illegal waste landfilling; investigations into illegal dumping and landfilling and areas vulnerable to it; the establishment of a metropolitan-level monitoring system and a cooperation system among relevant agencies; and technical and financial support for districts and counties.
Council Member Gong said, “It is difficult to prevent residents’ anxiety and environmental damage simply by pursuing the restoration of illegally landfilled sites. We need to establish a prevention-centered management system in which the advance identification of risk factors, monitoring and reporting, and cooperation among relevant agencies function in a coordinated manner.”
The bill is expected to undergo review by the Culture, Welfare and Environment Committee during the second regular session of the 269th session, before receiving a final vote at a plenary session.
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