A grabber crane works on dumped waste at an incineration plant in Sangam, Mapo District, in Seoul, Sept. 2021. Korea Times file

Dispute over site selection turns into wrangling between ruling and main opposition parties

By Ko Dong-hwan

The introduction of a new waste incineration plant in Seoul's Mapo District has placed the city and district government at odds with each other.

While the district, which already has an incineration plant, is against having another one, the city government says it has chosen the spot according to a fair and official procedure.

Since the city government announced the plan on Aug. 31, the district's head as well as residents have been up in arms to protest it. On Sept. 11, hundreds of Mapo residents gathered at the site for the new facility in Sangam-dong and rallied against the project to build the second incineration plant in their neighborhood. Sangam already has a resource recovery facility ― burning 750 tons of waste each day collected from Mapo and four nearby districts of Jongno, Jung, Yongsan and Seodaemun ― next to which the city government plans to build the new one by 2026.

Mapo District Office told The Korea Times that district head Park Kang-soo visited the site on Tuesday to express his objection to the plan. The office said he also visited a hydrogen power plant currently operating in the district, which is also being protested by some local residents who want it shut down.

Kang sent an official letter on Sept. 7 requesting Seoul Metropolitan Council repeal the city government's plan for the second incineration plant. Park said in the letter the city government unfairly decided to introduce the new plant in Mapo without having prior consultations on the matter with the district office. The letter said the decision was made without checking the district residents' opinions, adding that it was unfair in that Mapo would have more than one "obnoxious" public facility, and that the decision was made by members of the site selection committee whom the city government appointed "inappropriately."

"Building another resource recovery facility in Sangam-dong is life-threatening and dangerous not just to the area but also to the whole of Mapo District," Park said in the letter.

Mapo District head Park Kang-soo speaks in front of an incineration plant in Sangam-dong, as local residents protested the Seoul Metropolitan Government's plan to introduce a second plant next to the existing one. Courtesy of Mapo District Office

Lawmakers of both the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have also denounced the city government's plan. On Sept. 7, PPP lawmakers Rep. So Young-chul and Rep. Lee Min-seok, who represent constituencies in Mapo, visited the incineration plant currently operating in Sangam-dong and encouraged the workers there. They also raised their voices against the city government's plan to build the second plant which will be capable of incinerating 1,000 tons a day.

"Introducing the second incineration plant right next to the currently operating one is beyond ignoring Mapo residents. It's like killing them twice," Rep. So said during his visit. "The city government has so blindly passed the site selection process without sharing a single word with Mapo lawmakers. In 2005, when the first incineration plant in Mapo started operating, our local residents had accepted it admitting its inevitability. It's harsh to make them suffer again for the same cause."

Rep. Jung Jin-sul of the DPK, whose constituency is also in Mapo, criticized Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Sept. 6 for having publicly said the controversial plan was agreed on by DPK lawmakers, claiming it was untrue. Rep. Jung said Mayor Oh only "informed" DPK lawmakers about the plan in August and requested their cooperation with the city government on carrying out the plan. Rep. Kim Ki-duck of the DPK, who also represents a constituency in Mapo, argued the same as Rep. Jung in a press conference he held separately on Aug. 31.

"In common sense, a request for cooperation should be done while brainstorming ideas to form a certain policy, not after announcing it in a press conference and informing local lawmakers about it," Rep. Jung said. "Mayor Oh, before urging Mapo residents to have a mature civic mindset by accepting the new incineration plant, should first conduct his own mature governance in a transparent, democratic fashion."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government, however, is unwilling to revoke the plan. The Resources Recycling Division under the city government's Climate and Environment Headquarters told The Korea Times that selecting Sangam-dong for the second incineration plant has been done strictly in accordance with city laws.

The recently selected site for the new incineration plant in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, is located next to the currently operating plant. Yonhap

"According to the law, we first formed a site selection committee and let the committee operate independently on surveying and selecting a site," said Im Han-mook, an official from Resources Recycling Division. "The committee then informed the city government of its discussion, and we have simply announced it. We also couldn't discuss with any district offices the candidate site for the second incineration plant before the committee made the final decision, which is also according to the law."

The official said the city government will listen to Mapo residents and take into account their opinions about the second incineration plant. The city government has so far only selected a site for the new project and is further required to pass an environmental influence evaluation test by the central government to realize the plan.

The city government also plans to publicly release documents to make it transparent how Mapo has been selected for the controversial plan. The documents will be available for viewing at one of the city government's downtown buildings.

The city government on Aug. 31 announced the currently operating incineration plant in Mapo District will be shut down in 2035 while the new facility will be built underground. It said that the area was selected out of the city's 36 candidate sites, having at least 15,000 square meters of land and scoring highest in terms of five evaluation standards ― site, community, environment, technology and economy. The Mapo site, the city government added, has no residential zones within 300 meters, is already registered as a waste treatment facility because of the currently operating facility and has convenience in easy recycling of heat energy from the new plant which can be used for heating for local residents in winter.

The authority said the new plant's pollution will be filtered 10 times more strictly than the country's standards, and will involve AI and IoT to automate the facility's operation process. The public will be able to monitor the facility's emissions in real time online and will also be given 100 billion won ($72.6 million) plus an annual 10 billion won in government grants to improve local community facilities and other conveniences for local residents.