Atkins China Limited (ACL) has been appointed by Chun Wo Construction & Engineering Co., Ltd. to implement the Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) programme for the construction works under Contract No. HY/2004/09 Improvements to San Tin Interchange (hereinafter, the Project).

The construction of the Project commenced since 21^st June 2005. This report is the forty-first monthly EM&A report for the Project which summarises the monitoring results and audit findings during the reporting period from 1^st October 2008 to 31^st October2008.

Environmental Monitoring and Audit Progress

The monthly EM&A programme was undertaken in accordance with the EM&A Manual. A summary of the monitoring activities in this reporting period is listed below:

· Site inspections were undertaken jointly with the Contractor and Engineer’s Representative (ER) on 16^th and 29^th October 2008. The Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) undertook the site inspection on 29^th October 2008.

· Noise monitoring at the designated monitoring stations was undertaken on 10^th and 16^th October 2008 during normal working hours and on 16^th October 2008 during the restricted hours.

· Visual site surveillance for water quality was undertaken on 10^th, 16^th, 22^nd and 29^th October 2008.

· Site inspection for landscape and visual resources was undertaken on 29^th October 2008.

Breaches of Action and Limit Levels

There was one environmental exceedance during the restricted hours noise monitoring on 16^th October 2008. However, the exceedances were proved not to have been caused by the site activities of the Contractor and were considered to be attributable to the high ambient traffic noise from San Tin Highway.

Environmental Non-Compliance

No environmental non-compliances were received during this reporting period.

Complaint Log

No environmental complaints were received during this reporting period.

Notifications of Summons and Prosecutions

No notifications of summons or prosecutions were recorded during this reporting period.

Reporting Changes

This report has been developed in compliance with the reporting requirements for the subsequent monthly EM&A reports as required by the Project EM&A Manual.

Future Key Issues

The key works in the forthcoming 2 months include landscaping works and maintenance works.

1 Environmental Status

1.1 Works undertaken during the Reporting Period

The major construction activities undertaken during this reporting period are summarised below:

· Landscaping works; and

· Road paving.

The site plan of the Project is shown in Figure 1. The Contractor’s works programme is provided in Annex A.

1.2 Environmental Permit and Licences

There were no changes or clarification to the Environmental Permit (EP-190/2004) during the reporting period.

No Construction Noise Permit (CNP) was issued in October 2008.

1.3 Environmental Document Submissions to EPD

A summary of the status of the submissions to EPD as provided during October 2008 is presented in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Summary of Environmental Submissions to EPD in October 2008

Item No.	Document Title	Date of Submission
1	Monthly EM&A Report No. 40 for September 2008	20^th October 2008

1.4 Environmental Monitoring Locations

Noise monitoring was undertaken at three monitoring stations CM1, CM2 and CM3. The locations are shown on Figure 1. Details of these monitoring stations are provided in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2 Noise Monitoring Stations

Monitoring Station ID	Description	Easting	Northing
CM1	Village house near San Tin Highway	826133	839839
CM2	Village house near San Tin Highway	826291	839918
CM3	Village house near Kwu Tung Road	826605	840076

2 Environmental Measures and Implementation Status

The mitigation measures listed in the Project EIA Report, EM&A Manual and Environmental Permit and the implementation status are provided in Annex B.

During this reporting period, the landscape works were progressing in the open laydown area in North Division.

Based on site inspection findings, the Contractor has implemented the required mitigation measures during construction works to date in general.

3 Monitoring Results

3.1 Noise Monitoring

3.1.1 Noise Monitoring Equipment

Details of the noise monitoring equipment are listed below and the calibration certificates are presented in Annex C:

· Sound level meter ONO-SOKKI LA-5110

· Acoustical calibrator ONO-SOKKI SC-2110

· Hand-held anemometer

3.1.2 Noise Monitoring Methodology

The sound level meter was calibrated with an acoustical calibrator prior to each measurement. It was set on a tripod at 1.2 m above local ground level at the monitoring station. Measurement of the A-weighted L_{eq(30
minutes)} noise level for normal daytime hours was undertaken. Three consecutive A-weighted L_{eq(5
minutes)} noise levels were measured for restricted hours monitoring. Wind speed was checked during the monitoring period using the hand-held anemometer to ensure steady wind speed did not exceed 5 m/s, or gusts did not exceed 10 m/s. After the noise measurement the sound level meter was re-calibrated using the acoustical calibrator.

3.1.3 Noise Monitoring Results

Noise monitoring was undertaken on a biweekly basis when noise generating activities were underway. The noise monitoring results obtained in October 2008, during the normal working and restricted hours are summarised in Table 3.1and Table 3.2.

There ~~was~~ were no environmental exceedances of the Actione and Limit Levels for ~~environmental exceedance of the Action and Limit Levels for~~ noise monitoring recorded during the normal daytime hours within the reporting period but one~~six~~ notification of exceedance during the rrestricted hours were reported.

Details of the monitoring time period during the monitoring period and the graphical presentation of the noise monitoring results are provided in Annex D.

Table 3.1 Summary of Noise Monitoring Results during Normal Working Hours

Date of Monitoring	Measured Noise Level L_{eq(30 minutes)} dB(A)
Date of Monitoring	CM1	CM2	CM3
10^th October 2008	67	72	53
16^th October 2008	64	73	56

Remark:

(1) CM2 is a non-façade measurement location. A positive correction of 3 dB(A) has been applied to the measured noise level at CM2 according to EPD’s guideline.

Table 3.2 Summary of Noise Monitoring Results during Restricted Hours – All Days during Night-time (2300-0700 hours)

Date of Monitoring	Measured Noise Level L_{eq(15 minutes)} dB(A)
Date of Monitoring	CM1	CM2	CM3
16^th October 2008	*	71	48

Remark:

(1) CM2 is a non-façade measurement location. A positive correction of 3 dB(A) has been applied to the measured noise level at CM2 according to EPD’s guideline.

(2) Underlined figure indicates an exceedance of the Limit Level of 50 dB(A).

(3) * Noise measurement at CM1 was cancelled due to the unsafe condition at the time (stray dogs constantly barking at the monitoring location, and staff could be attacked).

3.2 Water Quality Monitoring

Visual site surveillances for water quality were undertaken on 10^th, 16^th, 22^nd and 29^th October 2008. The key observations from the visual inspection include:

· Sand and silt were accumulated in the sand tap and U-cannel in the works area of San Tin Highway. The Contractor was reminded to ensure the drainage system is free of debris for water flow.

· Dead vegetations and general refuses were accumulated in Headwall No.7 Area. The Contractor was reminded to collect and dispose of the rubbish and dead vegetations regularly.

The details of the water quality visual inspection reports are provided in Annex E.

3.3 Landscape and Visual Resources

One site inspection on the landscape and visual resources was undertaken on 29^th October 2008.

During the inspection, some transplant trees at M6 in South Division were seen dead. The Contractor was reminded to replace the dead trees with new trees of the same species and size as compensatory measures.

The details of the landscape and visual resources inspection report are provided in Annex F.

3.4 Ad-hoc Air Quality Monitoring

No ad-hoc air quality monitoring was required during the reporting period.

3.5 Waste Management

The Contractor has adopted a trip ticket system for the disposal of construction wastes. According to the records provided by the Contractor, the disposal of construction waste within the reporting period is summarised in Table 3.2.

Table 3.3 Summary of Waste Disposal for October 2008

Waste Type	Destination	No. of Trips	Quantity
Building debris	CEDD’s Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank	20	100 m³
Sewage Holding Tank Waste	Collected by Waylung Waste Services Ltd.	15	-
Chemical Waste	Collected by Dunwell Enviro-Tech (Holdings) Ltd.	1	1,000 litre

4 Environmental Audits

4.1 Site Inspection and Audit

Site inspections were undertaken on 16^th and 29^th October 2008. The Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) undertook the site inspection on 29^th October 2008. Specific locations within the site were identified during the inspection for improvements in proper implementation of the environmental mitigation measures. These include:

· Keeping the site tidy;

· Removing leaves and rubbish in the U-channel;

· Removing the deposited sands and silts in the catchpits of the site drainage regularly.

The record of the site inspection findings is provided in Annex G.

4.2 Environmental E xceedance

During the reporting period, there was one exceedance of the Limit Level~~. Six of which were noise exceedances of the lLimit lLevel~~ during restricted hours noise monitoring at CM2 on 16^th October 2008.

Further to discussion with the Contractor, the major construction activity during the time of measurement was planting signal at San Tin Highway which was far away (both more than 300 m) from CM2. The exceedances were due to the high ambient background noise caused by road traffic on San Tin Highway. Thus, the noise exceedances recorded were found not to be attributable to the project works~~the Contractor, no further concrete breaking activities will be required in the Slip Road A works area. Nonetheless, the Contractor was advised to implement necessary noise mitigation measures such as~~ ~~and reminded that~~ ~~movable noise barriers (as recommended in the Project EIA Report)~~ ~~of 3 to 5m high with skid footing should be provided~~ ~~to avoid further exceedances that would be caused by potential noisy~~ ~~prior to any further~~ ~~site works in the concerned area~~ following the recommendations in Section 3.47 and Figure 3.5 of the Project EIA Report. Further to discussion with the Contractor, no further concrete breaking activities will be required in the concerned area.

Records of the notification of environmental exceedances ~~and the non-compliance forms~~ are provided in Annex H. The Action and Limit Levels for impact monitoring are provided in Annex I.

4.3 Environmental Non-compliance

During the reporting period, no environmental non-compliance was recorded.

4.4 Environmental Complaint and Prosecution

During the reporting period, no environmental complaints, prosecutions or summons were received. The cumulative statistics on complaints, notifications of summons and successful prosecutions for the Project are provided in Annex J.

5 Forecast and S chedule

5.1 Key Issues for the Coming Months

All the major construction works have been completed substantially. The key works in the forthcoming 2 months include landscaping works and maintenance works.

5.2 Monitoring Schedules for the Next Month

The proposed schedule for noise monitoring in November 2008 is provided in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 Proposed Noise Monitoring Schedule for November 2008

Date	Noise Monitoring Station
4^th November 2008 (Tuesday)	CM1, CM2 and CM3
24^th November 2008 (Monday)	CM1, CM2 and CM3

6 Conclusion

There was no environmental non-compliance attributable to the Project works during reporting period.

There was one~~six~~ exceedances of the noise Limit Level during the reporting period. However, it was not attributable to the Project works.

~~There was one~~ ~~exceedance~~ ~~non-compliance~~ ~~of the Limit Level recorded during the normal hours noise monitoring due to concrete breaking activities in project works area during the reporting period.~~

No environmental complaints, prosecutions or summons was received during the reporting period.