주민의 환경 피해 구제 현실화를 위한 제도 개선 - SK 인천석유화학의 파라자일렌 공장 증설과 관련된 환경법적 쟁점을 중심으로

The spill of crude and naphtha happened at Yeosu in recently raised social attention in safety of petrochemical plants. There has been a serious social dispute on the extension of paraxylene plant by SK Incheon Petrochem Co. in Incheon. Because of increased demand for synthetic fiber in China and structural change of chemical industry, SK Incheon Petrochem Co. made a decision on investment of 1.6 trillion won in building new paraxylene plant in Incheon. The accident which caused big explosion in east China’s Fujian Province on July 30, 2013 alarmed people on the safety of petrochemical plants in Korea. Residents and local politicians have asked the suspension of extension of paraxylene plant. Of the issues, legal ones are those; whether there was any legal faults in the process of permission or approval for extension of paraxylene plant, and whether environmental assessment should be implemented again. Because industrial development has been more important than environmental protection in national policy hierarchy, participation of residents have not been guaranteed, and as a negative result of that, the movement against building of plants for petrochemical and energy became extreme. How to protect procedural and material rights of stakeholder should be an important topic for scholars and practitioners in environmental law. In this article, legal issues relating to the extension of paraxylene plant and problems in current Acts on protecting stakeholder will be analysed, and the solutions will also be proposed as possible.