Increased risk to people around major hazardous installations and the necessity of land use planning in South Korea

Abstract

Risk management of major hazardous installations (MHIs) is a principal concern due to chemical hazards, both in South Korea and in foreign countries where chemical plants are located. To cope with these risks, various regulatory schemes have been developed for the recognition, prevention, and control of chemical accidents. Despite these efforts, the worst major accident caused by massive (20 t) leakage of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride occurred in Gumi City in 2012. As a result, the location of MHIs associated with the chemical industry became a major concern among the public, relating to the risks to both the public and environment. In this study, the regulatory systems in South Korea are compared with global standards for controlling major hazards, and the adoption of land use planning (LUP) is discussed. Based on population statistics for the last 17 years, the EPA's ALOHA software was used to evaluate the impact of land development and population growth around MHIs through case studies of societal risk changes at five water-treatment plants using Cl2 (chlorine). The total risk at the Cl2 sites increased by up to 3.05 times from 2000 to 2017, demonstrating the necessity of introducing LUP.