There are allegations that as a result of tunnel construction between Gyeongsan and Ulsan for the Seoul-Busan high-speed railway, a nearby village has seen its subterranean water source run dry and a mountain swamp has dried up as well. Reportedly the sound and vibration from the blasts is causing buildings to crack and killing livestock. For a year now the people of Seondong Village in Geoncheon-eup, Gyeongju City have been asking the Environment Ministry and Korea Rail Network Authority for a survey of the damage and measures to deal with the problems, but they have received no answers.
A detailed environmental survey must be performed as soon as possible, just as locals have been demanding. If it the study reveals that the damage they are suffering from is the result of the tunnel construction, then it will serve as concrete data showing what shortcomings are with the environmental impact study done for the high-speed rail. Construction of a different tunnel at Mount Surak has been halted because the vibrations resulting from explosions were causing cracks to appear in temples and stone Buddhas located in the area.
The reason people are interested in whether the people of Seondong Village are suffering from damage that is the result of tunnel construction is because of the long controversial questions about whether similar construction at Mount Cheonseong will influence the mountain's water veins. Environmental groups charge that the designated swampland there could dry up as a result of the construction. A court, however, decided to allow construction at Mount Cheonseong to continue, saying there is no concrete evidence that tunnel construction will affect underground water veins. Construction has stopped temporarily because of the 100-day hunger strike by the Venerable Jiyul, and is waiting on a three-month environmental impact study.
Seondong Village is an example of what goes wrong when environmental impact studies are not done right. We ask that while the study going on at Mount Cheonseong is limited to a period of three months, it would still be as thorough as possible. It should be the beginning of truly substantial environmental studies. Prime Minister Lee Hae Chan was imprudent to have made comments that seem to suggest he knows that the results are going to be. He needs to realize that he will only complicate matters by speaking in such a fashion, instead of contributing to a resolution.
The Hankyoreh, 19 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] The ‘Tunnel’ and the ‘Water Veins’ |
