• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.425-452
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• 1990

A tentative hydrogeologic and hydrodispersive study was carried out to evaluate the groundwater pollution potential at a selected site by utilizing empirical assessment methodologies in an advanced stage of quantitative computer aided assessment. The upper most aquifer is defind as saturated overburden and weathered zone including the upper part of highly fractured rock. Representative hydraulic conductivity and storativity of the uppermost aquifer are estimated at 2.88 E-6 m/s and 0.09, respectively. Also calculated Darcian and average linear velocity of groundwater along the major pathway are 0.011 m/d and 0.12 m/d with average hydraulic gradient of 4.6% in the site. The results of empirical assessment methodologies indicate that 1) DRASTIC depicts that the site is situated on non-sensitive and non-vulnerable area. 2) Legrand numerical rating system shows that the probability of contamination and degree of acceptability are classed to "Maybe-Improbable, and Probable Acceptable and Marginally Unacceptable" with situation grade of "B". 3)Waste soil-site interaction matrix assessment categorizes that the study site is located on "Class-8 Site".

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.295-305
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• 2004

After the Rio declaration on environment and development in 1992, developed countries are undertaking "environmentally sustainable transportation (EST)" projects. To meet the needs for EST, current transportation policies in Korea are rapidly reforming and one of its concerns is modernizing and upgrading railway freight system. Planning new railroad construction projects is increasing and subsequent environmental impact assessment (EIA) demands improvements, especially in both the EIA and decision making systems. In this paper, we discuss the present status of EIA for railroad construction projects, especially, by analyzing the EIA documents for the last six years. The EIA for railroad construction projects accounts for only 4.9% of total 918 project EIAs during 1998-2003, and the portion is gradually increasing. Major environmental concerns for EIA in railroad construction projects were geomorphological and ecological changes, protection of rare organisms, air pollution, water pollution, waste management, and noise, etc. We compared characteristics of environmental impacts of railroad construction with those of vehicle road construction, based on environmental and construction-planning indicators appeared in Environmental Impact Statements. Railroad construction usually requires longer tunnels and bridges for a given length than those for vehicle road construction. In addition, the amounts of geomorphological and ecological changes (road-cutting, embankment, devegetation, etc.) in railroad construction were generally less than 50% of those in vehicle road construction. To develop environmentally friendly railway systems, monitoring studies for environmental impacts of railroads such as habitat fragmentation and road kills, dispersal of alien plants, tunnelling effects on groundwater and vegetation, and noise impacts are highly recommended.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.514-536
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• 2018

GPI (Group Pollution Index) using 29 indicator groups of Korean benthic macroinvertebrates was proposed in 1992, a higher category taxa-level index developed for rapid field assessment of organic water pollution. This study was performed to revise the assessment scheme of GPI based on taxonomic performance and ecological information accumulated since 1992. The original GPI was renamed SBMI (Simple Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index), and SBMI was based on saprobic valency of 26 indicator groups composed of higher category taxa (mainly family ~ phylum) excluding some genus or species-level taxa. SBMI revealed highly significant correlation with concentration of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand ($BOD_5$) (correlation coefficient r = 0.78, n = 569 sites), total suspended solids (r = 0.69), and total phosphorus (r = 0.77). Also, SBMI revealed strong correlation with Shannon-Weaver's species diversity (r = -0.85), Margalef's species richness (r = -0.85), and McNaughton's dominance (r = 0.83). Determination coefficient of SBMI to concentration of water quality items and values of community indices such as species diversity was 3 ~ 8 % and approximately 11 ~ 14 % higher than that of GPI, respectively. Correlation between SBMI and water quality factors or community indices such as species diversity did not reveal much difference compared to that of species-level indices, such as BMI (Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index) and ESB (Ecological Score of Benthic Macroinvertebrates). SMBI is a simple-qualitative index with higher category taxa easily identified, and is applicable for rapid field assessment of water environment impairment.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.131-149
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• 1995

The object of this study is to suggest some alternatives for environmental management towards sustainable urban development of Chongju city in Korea. This study analyses urban environmental indicators (population density, land use, road, park, car, etc.), level of air and water pollution and solids waste generation by comparing Chongju city and other large cities. Some alternatives towards sustainable development in Chongju city would be summerized and suggested as higher concentrated land use(compact city), mixed land use, supply of mass transit, establishment of regional environmental standards, total emission regulation of air and water pollutants, the preparation of Local Agenda21 of Chongju, and the introduction of strategic environmental assessment(SEA) into environmental impact assessment.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.241-249
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• 2001

A report by the National Research Council in the United States suggested that many lung cancer deaths each year are associated with breathing radon in indoor air. Most of the indoor radon comes directly from soil beneath the basement of foundation. Recently, radon released from groundwater is found to contribute to the total inhalation risk from indoor air. This study presents the assessment of a exposure to radon released from the groundwater into indoor air. At first, a 3-compartment model is describe the transfer and distribution if radon released from groundwater in a house through showering, washing clothes, and flushing toilets. The model is used to estimate a daily human exposure through inhalation of such radon for adults based on two sets of exposure scenarios, Finally, a sensitivity analysis is used to identify important parameters. The results obtained from the study would help to increase the understanding of risk assessment issues associated with the indoor radon released from groundwater.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07c
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• pp.1513-1514
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• 2006

In this paper, there have been brief review about the important consideration in laboratory planning and construction of the artificial pollution testing facilities including 300 kV, 1800 kVA AC test system, which enable to lest and evaluate the UHV dielectric performance of power insulators up to transmission class. Also it is described simply about its trial running of the whole test system. To evaluate the performance characteristics against contamination for various power installation, especially for the insulators and kinds of bushings, brief investigation and an analysis of test objects and related international codes and standards have been conducted.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.3 s.172
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• pp.261-272
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• 2005

The groundwaters in the basin of Seomjin River are classified mainly into Na-Cl type with high EC and $NaHCO_3$ type with low EC, and are characterized by enriched $K^+,\;Mg^{2+},\; NO_3^-,\; and\;SO_4\;^{2-}$ contents. The epm fraction of $Na^+Cl^-$ in TDS increases in general with increasing EC of groundwater. The correlation patterns among dissolved ions indicate that $Na^+\;and\;Cl^-$ are derived mainly from intruded seawater, and $K^+,\;Mg^{2-},\;and\;SO_4\;^{2-}$ from anthropogenic source such as a chemical fertilizer. The groundwaters that exceed the recommended limits far agricultural irrigation water contains $23\%\;of\;Cl^-$ reflecting sea-water intrusion, but $50\%\;of\;NO_3^-$ as an anthropogenic pollution, among the wells investigated. In risk assessment of groundwaters by the EC-SAR relationship, only $40\%$ of the groundwaters shows the suitable quality for agricultural irrigation water without any sodium and salinity hazards. Consequently, the pollution sources that cause degradation of groundwater quality in the basin of Seomjin River are the usage of chemical fertilizers and the intrusion of seawater, resulted primarily from the extension of riverward backflow of seawater and secondarily from the overpumping of groundwater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.56-62
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• 2005

Chemical analyses are generally used to assess contaminated soils and to monitor the efficiency of soil remediation. In this study, the ecotoxicological methods was suggested to evaluate soil pollution by using a battery of bioassay. Plant assay and earthworm assay were conducted to evaluate ecotoxicity o soils contaminated by heavy metals (cadmium and copper) and oil (BTEX compounds, toluene). Test plants were Zea may, Triticum aestivum, Cucumis sativus, and Sorghum bicolor. The presence of heavy metals decreased the seedling growth. Cucumis sativus and Sorghum bicolor seemed to be good indicator plants which are sensitive to heavy metal pollution as well as BTEX contamination. An earthworm bioassay was performed to predict the ecotoxicity in toluene-contaminated soils, based on a simple contact method. Perionyx excavatus was adopted as a test earthworm species, and the severity of response increased with increasing toluene concentration. The present study demonstrated that ecotoxicological methods could be a quantitative approach to evaluate contaminated soils.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.349-356
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• 2016

Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) System has been used to improve water quality in the Youngsan·Tamjin river basin since 2004. The Basic Policy of TMDLs sets up the standard flow based on the average dry condition or mid-range flow during the last 10 years. However, Target Water Quality (TWQ) assessment on TMDLs has been used to evaluate water quality through eight-day intervals over 36 times a year. The results for allocation evaluation and target water quality evaluation were different from each other in the same unit watershed during the first period. In order to improve the evaluation method, researchers applied Load Duration Curve (LDC) to evaluate water quality in nine unit watersheds of the Youngsan·Tamjin river basin. The results showed that achievement rates of TWQ assessment with the current method and LDC were 67~100% and 78~100%, respectively. Approximately 11% of the achievement rates with use of LDC were higher than those with use of the current method. In conclusion, it is necessary to review the application of the LDC method in all Four Major River Watersheds.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.183-193
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• 2006

Several metalliferous and coal mines, including Seojin and Okdong located at the Kangwon province, were abandoned or closed since 1989 due to the mining industry promotion policy and thus disposed an enormous amount of mining wastes without a proper treatment facilities, resulting in water and soil pollution in the downstream areas. However, no quantitative assessment was made on soil and water pollution by the transport of mining wastes such as acid mine drainage, mine tailing, and rocky waste. In this research, total and fractional concentrations of heavy metals in mining wastes were analyzed and accordingly the degree of water and soil pollutions in the stream area were quantitatively assessed employing the several pollution indices. Concentrations of Ni, Cd, and Pb in soils near the abandoned coal mine areas were 1,240.0, 25.0 and 1,093.0 mg/kg, respectively, and these concentrations were higher than those in soils near the closed metalliferous mine areas. Also Cu concentrations in soils near the tailing dams were about 1967 mg/kg, which is considered as very polluted level. Results demonstrated that soil at the abandoned mine areas were highly contaminated by AMO, tailing, and effluents of the mining wastes. Therefore, a prompt countermeasure on the mining waste treatment and remediation of the codntaminated water and soil should be made to the abandoned or closed metalliferous and coal mines located at the abandoned mine area.