Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 2 hrs ago
More than half of monitored Jeju pig farms exceed odor limits
Jeju has managed odors from pig farms for eight years, after a 2017 manure pollution case prompted stronger controls.
In the second quarter of 2026, 55 of 100 monitored farms exceeded odor limits, compared with 34 in the same period last year.
Twenty-five farms exceeded the limit more than once, and some odor readings reached 300 times the permitted level.
Residents continue to complain, with reported livestock-odor complaints rising from 1,998 in 2023 to 2,687 last year.
Yet only two odor-related penalties were issued last year and two through August this year.
Officials say wind can mix smells from nearby farms, making it difficult to identify and prove which farm is responsible.
A legal challenge also halted plans to add 38 farms to the managed area because the required enforcement steps had not been followed.
Jeju officials continue to monitor farms, but the account gives no further timeline for expanding the managed area.
More than half of the 100 pig farms in Jeju’s odor-control area exceeded the odor-emission limit at least once in the second quarter of 2026.
The number of farms exceeding the limit rose to 55 from 34 in the same period last year.
Twenty-five farms exceeded the limit at least twice, compared with 10 a year earlier.
Odor complaints in Jeju have increased, while only two administrative penalties were imposed last year and two through August this year.
Authorities say identifying which farm caused an odor is difficult, and surveys by the odor-control center alone cannot trigger penalties.
- Who
- Jeju Province and pig farms in its odor-control area. Residents have also made complaints about livestock odors.
- What
- 55 of 100 monitored pig farms exceeded the odor-emission limit at least once in the second quarter of 2026.
- When
- The findings cover the second quarter of 2026 and were reported on October 18, 2026.
- Where
- Jeju Island, South Korea.
- Why
- The article says odors from multiple farms can mix, making it difficult to identify the source and impose penalties.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An unauthorized livestock-waste discharge incident in Hallim-eup prompted Jeju Province to step up pig-farm odor management.
Jeju first designated odor-control areas and established the Jeju Odor Control Center.
Jeju designated additional facilities outside odor-control areas, but 38 designations were cancelled after a 2021 administrative appeal ruling.
Jeju declared the year the start of efforts to resolve pig-farm odors and announced a plan to invest 33.5 billion won in odor-reduction facilities and manure treatment.
55 of the 100 farms in the odor-control area exceeded the limit at least once.
- Farms over the limit
- 55 of 100 in the second quarter of 2026
- Repeated exceedances
- 25 farms exceeded the limit at least twice
- Odor limit
- 10 dilution units
- Complaints
- 2,687 livestock-odor complaints in 2025
- Penalties
- Two administrative penalties in 2025 and two through August 2026
What people are saying
The odor-control center’s survey is only a fact-finding survey
If the farms are clustered, the influence of odors from other farms cannot be ignored
It would be easy to impose penalties if names were written on the odors, but that is not possible
Residents want there to be no odor at all, but even the standard of 10 dilution units means there is an odor