Background

• Administrative agency collected the wastewater sample discharged from the client’s factory and delivered it to the testing lab. As a result, the level of certain water pollutant was found to exceed 10 times the permissible limit set under the Water Environment Conservation Act.
• Based on the above finding, the local government issued the administrative disposition (suspension of operation) to the client due to the violation of Water Envrionment Conservation Act 

Work Scope

• Represented the client in the administrative litigation to cancel the administrative disposition (suspension of operation)
• Review appropriate measures to impeach the credibility of the water pollutant measurement result

Results and Implication

ELPS deeply analyzed and reviewed the official test standards for water pollution which should be complied when trying to use the environmental pollution level as a ground for administrative disposition pursuant to the Environmental Testing and Inspection Act, and submitted an application for factual inquiry to the testing lab during the lawsuit to find out the possible errors that could have occurred during the process of sample collection and testing analysis when compared to the above test standards. As a result, the testing lab acknowledged that the measurement result lacked credibility as there had been an error during the test analysis process in light of the official test standards for water pollution, which led to the favorable judgment (cancellation of the disposition) by the court.