'Long-term Neglect' Incheon Yeonhui Park Special Project... Environmental Groups Say "Soil Pollution Investigation First"

An environmental organization has urged that soil contamination be investigated first before developing the site related to the long-neglected Yeonhui Park development special case project in Seo-gu, Incheon. The Yeonhui Park special case project involves supplying 1,370 apartment units on 73,600㎡ of the total 247,700㎡ site in Yeonhui-dong, while the remaining 173,400㎡ will be developed into a park and donated.

On the 21st, Incheon Green Alliance issued a statement saying, "The park site has been neglected for a long time and has been used as a storage area for construction equipment and materials, so there is a possibility of soil contamination," and argued, "A thorough soil environmental investigation must precede the development special case project."

The organization added, "It has been confirmed that about 30% of the development site has already undergone excavation deeper than 1 meter without confirmation of whether the Han River Basin Environmental Office’s consultation opinion to investigate soil contamination and present a remediation plan has been obtained," and said, "This situation is difficult to view as a simple removal of obstacles."

Development Project Site of Yeonhui Park, Seo-gu, Incheon [Provided by Incheon Green Alliance]

Earlier, the Han River Basin Environmental Office gave a consultation opinion to the private developer, stating, "According to the Soil Environment Assessment Guidelines, investigate the likelihood of soil contamination and confirm the contamination level, then present a remediation plan." The Ministry of Environment’s Soil Environment Assessment Guidelines stipulate that if the investigation area exceeds 1,000㎡, six points should be selected for surface soil up to 1,000㎡, and at least one additional point per 1,000㎡ thereafter for investigation.

For deep soil, at least 33% of the total surface soil points must be selected for investigation, with one point every 2.5 meters up to 15 meters or until bedrock is reached, and all items must be investigated and analyzed to confirm contamination. Based on this, Incheon Green Alliance claims that for the Yeonhui Park special case project, more than 70,000㎡ of the site excluding the park requires collecting and investigating 77 surface soil samples and 26 deep soil samples from at least 77 points.

Yeonhui Park was designated as an urban park in 1970, but after being neglected for a long time, Incheon City began promoting the development special case project in 2016. The development special case project system allows private developers to create green spaces and resident convenience facilities on more than 70% of the entire park area and donate them to local governments, while developing residential facilities on the remaining area.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.