Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Notable case, Janghang, Chungcheongnam-do (Seocheon), South Korea

Janghang smelter

장항제련소

A copper, lead and tin smelter opened in 1936 at the mouth of the Geum river and closed in 1989. Fallout from its chimney contaminated soils with arsenic and heavy metals for kilometres around: it is Korea's main case of publicly funded soil clean-up, with soil washing and, in the coastal pine forest, phytoremediation.

PhytoremediationMicrobial bioremediation

Status
Remediated
Area
110 ha on land1
Activity
1936–1989
Media
soil, living organisms
Kind of site
smelter
  1. Area. 1,104,000 m² of heavy-metal-contaminated soil remediated in 2013–2020 (Newsis, 2021). The area declared contaminated is larger: a 4 km radius from the chimney (Money Today, 2017).

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

Status

Remediated

Soil remediation, which cost the Ministry of Environment 194.1 billion won, ran from 2013 to 2020 (Newsis, 2021); in the pine forest arsenic was treated in place with plants and cover instead of excavation. In 2021 the province was planning to turn the area into a wetland and ecological restoration park. A 2025 study still follows residents' exposure.

Story

The Janghang refinery, in Seocheon County, was built in 1936 under Japanese colonial rule and smelted copper, lead and tin until 1989. While it ran, pollutants from the smelting process contaminated the soil and water around the works. A survey by the provincial institute of health and environment found zinc and cadmium above thresholds within 500 metres; in 2007 cultivation was banned in the area (Kim and colleagues 2016).

In July 2009 the government adopted a comprehensive plan. A 4 km radius from the chimney was declared contaminated and split into two belts: within 1.5 km the state bought the land in order to clean it; between 1.5 and 4 km, where people live and farm, soils were remediated without purchase. In this second belt 206,172 m³ of soil was treated between October 2012 and November 2015; in the purchased belt work began in April 2015. The main method was soil washing (Money Today, 2017).

In the coastal pine forest, with more than 130,000 pines over sixty years old, excavation would have meant felling the trees: an "indirect" method was chosen, with metal-extracting plants and soil cover, which according to Money Today cost 16.4 billion won against 30.2 billion for excavation.

Timeline

  1. 1936The Janghang smelter starts operating.
  2. 1989The smelter closes.
  3. 2007Cultivation is banned in the contaminated area.
  4. 2009July: comprehensive soil remediation plan.
  5. 2015November: work ends in the belt between 1.5 and 4 km (206,172 m³ of soil); from April work is under way in the state-purchased belt.
  6. 2020Soil remediation ends (Newsis).

Health

A study of 572 adults living within 4 km of the smelter and 413 controls about 15 km away (Kim and colleagues 2016) found that, among those who had never worked at the smelter, blood and urinary cadmium fell with distance from the plant, pointing to exposure through soil, water and crops; urinary arsenic did not fall with distance. Later studies of the same population deal with renal tubular damage, bone health, cholesterol and hypertension.

Remediation

  1. 2012soil washingNon-purchased belt (1.5–4 km): 206,172 m³ of soil remediated between October 2012 and November 2015. Washing with particle-size separation and water recirculation.
  2. 2015soil washingState-purchased belt (within 1.5 km): work from April 2015; in all 1,104,000 m² remediated by 2020 for 194.1 billion won.

Plants and fungi at this site

PhytoremediationField scale

Coastal pine forest in the purchased belt: instead of excavation, planting of species with a high capacity to remove metals and soil cover to stop pollutants spreading, keeping more than 130,000 pines. The Money Today article does not name the species planted.

Outcome No measured data on the fall in arsenic in the sources read. Only the cost is reported: 16.4 billion won against 30.2 billion for excavation (Money Today, 2017).

PhytoremediationGreenhouse, with soil from the site

Lampranthus spectabilis, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Lonicera japonica

Screening of species for phytoremediation of the arsenic-bearing sandy soil of the Janghang pine forest: eleven species tested for three months, with oxalic acid added at 10, 20 and 40 mmol per kg of soil to raise uptake. The scale given is an estimate: the article page does not say whether the test was in pots or in plots.

Outcome Lampranthus spectabilis reached a bioconcentration factor of 3.52; Pennisetum alopecuroides accumulated 111.95 mg/kg of arsenic in its shoots, Lonicera japonica 2.87 mg/kg. Oxalic acid raised uptake significantly only at the highest dose (Bae and Kim 2024).

Microbial bioremediationLaboratory, with soil from the site

Rhodococcus aetherivorans, Pseudomonas koreensis, Zea mays

Isolation of 21 arsenic-tolerant bacteria from soils near to and away from the smelter (genera Brevibacterium, Pseudomonas, Microbacterium, Rhodococcus, Rahnella, Paenibacillus) and laboratory testing of their plant-growth-promoting traits, with assisted phytoremediation in mind.

Outcome All 21 isolates produced indole acetic acid, 12 produced siderophores and 17 solubilised phosphate. Rhodococcus aetherivorans JS2210, Pseudomonas koreensis JS2214 and Pseudomonas sp. JS238 increased maize root length in the presence of 100 and 200 µM arsenate. No field test (Shagol and colleagues 2014).

From the literature

Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.

Plants

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Sources

  1. Kim Y.D. et al. Environmental Exposure to Arsenic, Lead, and Cadmium in People Living near Janghang Copper Smelter in Korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science 31(4) (full text via Europe PMC, PMC4810329), Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, 2016
  2. Kim Y.H. et al. Exposure and health effects follow-up study of residents near a former smelter site. Toxicological Research (abstract), Springer, 2025
  3. [르포] 일제 잔재·근대화 상징 '장항제련소'의 변신, Money Today (머니투데이), 2017
  4. 충남도, 서천 옛 장항제련소 일원 '생태환경 거점' 탈바꿈, Newsis, 2021
  5. Lim S.Y., Min S.H., Yoo S.H. The public value of contaminated soil remediation in Janghang copper smelter of Korea. Resources Policy (abstract), Elsevier, 2016
  6. Bae B., Kim Y. Selection of Plant Species for Phytoremediation of Arsenic Contaminated Sandy Soil in a Pine Forest at Janghang, Korea, Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure, 2024
  7. Janghang (Q12614776), coordinates of the town, Wikidata, 2026

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.