Pyeongtaek isolates toxic chemicals after spill into local stream

A heron catches a fish on Thursday in a stream in Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, which was contaminated by toxic chemicals from a recent spill at a storage facility in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

The city government and fire authorities of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, said on Thursday that they took immediate action to isolate chemicals that leaked into a local stream following an industrial fire in a neighboring town.

After a facility storing flammable chemicals in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi caught fire on Tuesday, chemicals mixed with the water used to extinguish the flames entered the nearby stream.

To contain the contamination, authorities have constructed barriers around the leaked chemicals.

According to the authorities, approximately 7.4 kilometers (4.5 miles) of the stream passing through Cheongbuk-eup in Pyeongtaek has been polluted.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]