Hanam City Wins First-Trial Ruling in Han River Former River Land Soil Cleanup Suit... Turning Point in 8-Year Responsibility Dispute

Court dismisses suit filed by Han River Basin Environmental Office seeking to invalidate remediation order
Hanam City: "Ruling expected to mark turning point in resolving eight-year dispute over cleanup responsibility"

Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Hyun-jae), won the first trial in an administrative lawsuit against the Han River Basin Environmental Office over responsibility for remediating soil contamination on former river land along the Han River in Misa-dong.

Hanam City Hall. Courtesy of Hanam City.

Hanam City said on November 2 that Suwon District Court had ruled on October 28 to dismiss the plaintiff’s suit seeking confirmation that the remediation order was invalid, which the Han River Basin Environmental Office had filed against the city. The court also ordered the plaintiff to pay the legal costs.

The disputed site is state-owned former river land along the Han River in the area of 643 Misa-dong. Former river land refers to land excluded from an existing river zone due to river maintenance work or changes in the waterway. The site had been used since 1998 as a stockyard for storing and processing aggregates such as sand and gravel, but was left unattended for an extended period after the operator closed down.

After nearby residents repeatedly raised concerns about environmental pollution, Hanam City conducted a detailed soil survey in 2018. The survey found that levels of fluoride exceeded the legal limit in effect at the time, indicating that soil remediation was necessary.

The national government and Hanam City subsequently disputed who was responsible for the remediation and its costs. Citing the Soil Environment Conservation Act, which allows remediation responsibilities to be imposed on owners of contaminated land and others, Hanam City determined that the national government was responsible for the cleanup. In December 2018, it therefore issued a remediation order to the Seoul Regional Construction Management Administration, which managed the state-owned land at the time.

The national government, on the other hand, maintained that Hanam City also bore responsibility for remediation because it had been involved in permitting and overseeing the aggregate stockyard.

In 2022, responsibility for managing national rivers was transferred from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to what was then the Ministry of Environment, and management of the site was transferred to the Han River Basin Environmental Office. In May that year, the office filed an administrative lawsuit, arguing that Hanam City’s remediation order was invalid.

Hanam City views the ruling as recognizing the national government’s responsibility for remediation and expects it to mark a turning point in resolving the dispute over responsibility, which has continued for eight years.

A Hanam City official said, “We hope this ruling will help find a way to resolve the issue of responsibility for remediating soil contamination on former river land along the Han River, which has persisted for eight years. We will do our utmost to ensure that the contaminated soil is safely remediated as soon as possible and that the site is transformed into a place residents can use with peace of mind.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.