Ulsan City, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment Launch Special Inspection of Lead Pollution Around DN Automotive’s Ulsan Plant

【Financial News, Ulsan = Reporter Choi Su-sang】Amid concerns that heavy-metal pollution may extend to the environment around the Ulsan plant of car-battery manufacturer DN Automotive, following allegations that the company tried to cover up lead (Pb) accumulation in workers’ bodies, the competent authorities—the city of Ulsan and the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment—have launched a special inspection.
Ulsan City said on the 15th that it would conduct a special inspection of environmental management at nine lead-emitting facilities in its jurisdiction, including DN Automotive, through the 23rd.
A six-member joint inspection team, including officials from the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office and experts from the Ulsan Institute of Health and Environment, will be deployed for the inspection.
DN Automotive’s Ulsan plant is under suspicion of having workers receive “chelation” injections, which force heavy metals in the body to be excreted through urine, while telling them the shots were vitamins. The company allegedly did so to cover up concerns that lead levels in workers’ bodies would be high ahead of special health examinations.
In detailed measurements conducted this past April by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, lead was detected in the plant’s work processes at levels that, at their highest, were more than five times the limit. The plant is located in Onsan-eup, Ulju County, Ulsan.
Workers at nearby factories and local residents also suspect, among other things, that lead dust has escaped the plant. Exposure to airborne lead dust while working and the process of washing lead from work clothes, which the plant’s workers described in media reports, are believed to have adversely affected soil and water in the surrounding area as well.
Ulsan City prepared the special inspection in response to these concerns. The previous day, Mayor Kim Sang-wook also visited DN Automotive’s Ulsan plant to inspect the situation.
The city plans to collect samples of environmental pollutants from major outlets at the facilities under inspection and request detailed analysis from the Institute of Health and Environment, prioritizing lead.
If serious violations, such as failure to operate pollution-control facilities or unauthorized discharges, are confirmed, the city plans to respond firmly under a zero-tolerance policy, including through suspension of operations and legal action.
A city official said, “This special inspection is a rigorous measure to prevent air and water pollution in advance. We will thoroughly inspect lead-emitting facilities and respond forcefully, under a zero-tolerance policy, to illegal acts that threaten public safety.”

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