Incheon is accelerating efforts to secure additional sewage treatment capacity at the Gongchon Wastewater Treatment Plant to resolve an infrastructure bottleneck ahead of the planned 2028 opening of Starfield Cheongna.
The city said Wednesday it is pressing ahead with a project to install an emergency pipeline connecting the Gongchon and Gajwa wastewater treatment plants, a stopgap measure to handle sewage until a full expansion of the Gongchon facility is completed in 2030.
The Gongchon plant, which processes residential and industrial wastewater from Cheongna International City, has consistently faced calls for expanded capacity as the area's population has grown and large-scale development projects have advanced.
The expansion work is not scheduled for completion until April 2030, leaving a gap during which the city needs an alternative way to handle rising wastewater volumes.
In response, Incheon is pursuing the emergency pipeline project to divert some of the Gongchon plant's wastewater to the Gajwa facility for treatment.
The pipeline will span 2.1 kilometers in total, and the detailed engineering design is now in its final stages.
The city is conducting route surveys and ground investigations, with the final design set for completion in August.
The project had stalled under the previous city administration, which was slow to settle questions of budget-sharing and project ownership, leaving the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority to carry out the detailed design work in the interim.
After the ninth elected city government took office, additional construction cost issues emerged as the design neared completion.
Incheon has decided to cover the necessary project costs itself to ensure the Starfield Cheongna opening stays on schedule.
Once the emergency pipeline is complete, the Gongchon plant's daily treatment capacity is expected to increase by about 5,000 tons, which the city says will be sufficient to meet the sewage treatment needs of Starfield Cheongna's operations.
"We will rigorously manage all follow-up steps — securing the budget, signing agreements, and issuing construction contracts and breaking ground — so that Starfield Cheongna can open as planned in 2028," Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae said. "Infrastructure is the cornerstone of investment attraction and local economic vitality, so we will concentrate our administrative efforts on ensuring that major development projects in the Cheongna area proceed without disruption."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
