Woljeong-ri residents oppose the provincial government’s plan to process landfill leachate in the community’s wastewater treatment plant. Joseph Kim reports.

This is the (동부) Dongbu Wastewater Treatment Plant in (월정리) Woljeong-ri, (구좌읍) Gujwa-eup.

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Province plans to double capacity at Dongbu Wastewater Treatment Plant

The province is expanding the facility to increase daily capacity from 12,000 tons to 24,000 tons as the current facilities cannot properly deal with growing sewage water.

However, the construction has been suspended.

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Woljeong residents oppose plan

After the sewage treatment plant is expanded, sewage water released from (삼화) Samhwa District and (봉개동) Bonggae-dong will be sent to the sewage treatment facility in (월정) Woljeong.


The construction has been suspended at the first phase of the sewage pipe construction that links (삼화) Samhwa District and the (동부) Dongbu Wastewater Treatment Plant.


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Woljeong residents protest plan at provincial office

Area residents from (월정리) Woljeong-ri visit the provincial office to protest the province's leachate delivery plan.


According to the plan, leachate released from the landfills in (동복리) Dongbok-ri will be delivered to the wastewater treatment facility in (월정리) Woljeong-ri.

The first phase of the project was to bury 1.9 kilometers of sewage pipes.


Residents ask for the province to completely stop the construction. They call the construction as a "one-sided decision."

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‘Construction planned without residents' consent’

Recording
Gwak Gi-beom / Village leader, Woljeong-ri
The province promised not to deliver leachate to Woljeong-ri without an agreement, but it’s pushing ahead anyway. It is ignoring the community's voice.
<씽크:곽기범/월정리장>
"분명히 월정리와 합의 안되면 쓰레기 침출수 공사를 못하게 하겠다는 약속을 받았는데 하수처리장 증설 관계로 그래도 머리가 아픈데 월정리 무시 안한다면 이런 공사가 계속 이뤄지겠습니까?

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Leachate delivery ‘inevitable’

However, the province says that the leachate delivery is inevitable for the operation of the landfills in (동복리) Dongbok-ri. Landfills need to have facilities to send leachate to somewhere.

Due to the resident's strong objections, the province has temporarily suspended the sewage pipe linking construction.

Recording
Ahn Dong-u / Vice governor
The province will listen to the concerns and ideas of area residents and do as much as possible to take them into account.
<씽크:안동우/제주특별자치도 정무부지사>
"앞으로 월정하수종말처리장 관련 지역 주민 입장과 의견을 충분히 최대한 수렴하는데 모든 노력을 할 것입니다."

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Ko Moon-su

The province is persuading the residents saying that it revised the leachate delivery plan to send the sewage water generated from (삼양동 ) Samyang-dong and (봉개동) Bonggae-dong to the wastewater treatment facilities in (도두) Dodu beginning 2025.

Joseph Kim, KCTV