The chief of a newly launched investigative committee on a highly controversial river refurbishment project offered Thursday to resign over a dispute over his alleged impartiality.

Chang Sung-pil, a former civil engineering professor at Seoul National University, was appointed last week to lead the commission tasked with resolving suspicions surrounding the 22.2 trillion won ($20 billion) river refurbishment project.

The previous Lee Myung-bak government‘s signature project had been aimed at preventing flooding and promoting tourism along the country’s four major rivers ― the Han, Nakdong, Kum and Yeongsan.

But civic activists and opposition parties have long condemned it for allegedly causing irreversible environmental damage.

Chang was chosen to take the chief position among 15 civilian experts appointed to the commission deemed neutral on the topic.

He, however, turned out to have had served as a non-executive director for Yooshin Engineering Corp., in charge of planning facilities for the river project, from 2007-9, sparking allegations that he was biased toward the project. (Yonhap News)