Hapcheon Hwanggang Water Intake Countermeasures Committee Holds Large-Scale Rally to Withdraw Metropolitan Water Intake Facility

Ministry of Environment Unilaterally Advances Project Without Hapcheon Residents' Consent

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The Hwanggang Water Intake Plant-related Residents' Countermeasure Committee in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam, held a large-scale rally on the 17th in front of the field office for the Hwanggang Jukgo District River Maintenance Project, the meeting place of the Ministry of Environment's Nakdong River Water Intake Diversification Public-Private Consultative Body. The rally was attended by Kim Yoon-cheol, the county governor, Jo Samsul, chairman of the county council, county council members, Jang Jin-young, provincial council member, and about 1,000 residents.

At the rally, the Ministry of Environment was strongly demanded to immediately withdraw the plan to install the Hwanggang Wide-area Water Intake Plant, which is being unilaterally pushed forward without the consent of Hapcheon residents, regarding the Nakdong River water intake diversification project promoted by the government.

Chairman Park Oh-young said in his opening remarks, “The duplicity of the Ministry of Environment has pushed the anger of Hapcheon residents to the extreme, and the clever response of Busan City, backed by the Ministry of Environment acting like a broker, is further fueling the residents' opposition.” He added, “We demand accountability for the Ministry of Environment’s actions toward Hapcheon residents who have engaged in dialogue so far, and we can no longer trust any future discussions and will suspend dialogue.”

Gyeongnam Hapcheon-gun and the County Council are holding a rally demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Hwanggang Regional Water Intake Facility installation plan.

Governor Kim said, “If the Hwanggang water intake plant is installed, the Nakdong River will turn into rotten water where even fish cannot live. The fundamental solution is to save the Nakdong River and resolve the drinking water source issue for Busan citizens.” He continued, “Is living in Hapcheon a crime? If 450,000 tons per day are taken from the depleted Hapcheon Dam, Hapcheon will not just be a region at risk of extinction but will become an uninhabitable area.”

Before the public-private consultative body meeting, Chairman Park read a resolution opposing the installation of the Hwanggang water intake plant, attended the meeting to deliver the resolution to the Ministry of Environment, and declared, “There will be no further participation in the public-private consultative body with the Ministry of Environment that betrays trust,” thereby disrupting the meeting.