12.1
Introduction
The following sections summarise the recommended EM&A requirements proposed for the Designated and Potentially Designed Elements (DE) of the Project. Details are provided in the stand-alone EM&A Manual. The Implementation Schedule for the designated parts of the Project are summarised in Table 1 in Annex G.
The objectives of carrying out EM&A for the Project include the following:
· to provide a database against which any short or long term environmental impacts of the project can be determined;
· to provide an early indication should any of the environmental control measures or practices fail to achieve the acceptable standards;
· to monitor the performance of the Project and the effectiveness of mitigation measures;
· to verify the environmental impacts predicted in the EIA study;
· to determine project compliance with regulatory requirements, standards and government policies;
· to take remedial action if unexpected problems or unacceptable impacts arise; and
· to provide data to enable an environmental audit.
12.2
Air Quality
12.2.1 Construction Phase
Construction works will inevitably lead to dust emissions, mainly from material handling, truck haulage and stockpiling. Mitigation measures to suppress construction dust emissions and dispersion are recommended in Section 3.7. Dust monitoring is recommended to ensure compliance with the dust criteria.
The details of the proposed air quality monitoring works are presented in the EM&A Manual. Eleven monitoring locations have been proposed and are presented in Annex C of the EM&A Manual. Air quality monitoring should be undertaken as part of the EM&A programme during the construction phase at the scattered house in Nam Sang Wai (AM1), Nam Sang Wai (AM2), Kam Kong Villa (AM3), Scattered House opposite to Proposed P6 (AM4), Fung Kat Heung (AM5), Scattered House near Route 3 (AM6), Scattered House in Nam Sang Wai (AM7), Shui Tsan Tin Tsuen (AM8), Scattered House beside Kam Sheung Live Church (AM9), Hip Tin Kung (AM10), Leung Uk Tsuen (AM11). Prior agreement with EPD is necessary.
12.2.2 Operational Phase
The AQOs at all identified ASRs will be complied with during the operational phase. EM&A with respect to air quality during the operational phase is not required.
12.3
Noise Impact
12.3.1 Construction Phase
The construction noise assessment has been undertaken taking the cumulative impacts arising from projects proposed in the vicinity of the Study Area of this Project into consideration. Unmitigated sources of construction noise associated with the proposed development would cause exceedances of the daytime construction noise criteria. Mitigation measures such as quiet plant, limiting the use of PME and the use of movable noise barriers/enclosures have been recommended.
The recommended mitigation measures, monitoring procedures and locations are presented in Table 12.3a, and detailed in the Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) Manual. This will allow the contractor to have early warning and undertake the necessary actions to reduce noise emissions at specific areas. The effectiveness of on-site control measures could also be evaluated through the monitoring exercise. All the recommended mitigation measures should be incorporated into the EM&A programme for implementation during construction.
Table 12.3a Representative Noise Monitoring Locations
|
NSR Ref. |
Description |
EM&A Ref. |
|
D4 |
Yuk Yat Garden Phases II |
NM1 |
|
D9 |
Planned CDA Site (A/YL-KTN/60) |
NM2 |
|
D12 |
Scattered House in Nam San Wai |
NM3 |
|
D11 |
Scattered House in Nam San Wai |
NM4 |
|
D15 |
Nam San Wai |
NM5 |
|
D17 |
Scattered House near Route 3 |
NM6 |
|
D19 |
Fung Kat Heung |
NM7 |
|
D23 |
Kam Hing Wai |
NM8 |
|
D26 |
Scattered House opposite to proposed P6 |
NM9 |
|
D30 |
Scattered House beside Kam Sheung Live Church |
NM10 |
|
D39 |
Kam Kong Villa |
NM11 |
|
D41 |
Shui Tsan Tin Tsuen |
NM12 |
|
D28 |
Scattered House opposite to Leung Uk Tsuen |
NM13 |
|
D32 |
Ng Ka Tsuen |
NM14 |
|
D27 |
Hip Tin Kung |
NM15 |
12.3.2 Operational Noise
In order to ensure that compliance with the noise limits specified in this report are achieved, operational noise monitoring at the site boundary of the proposed sewage pumping stations, Kam Tin P1 (OM1), Sha Po P2 (OM2), Nam San Wai P3 (OM3), Shui Tsan Tin P4 (OM4), Ng Ka Tsuen P5 (OM5), Pang Ka Tsuen P6 (OM6), & Leung Uk Tsuen P7 (OM7), will be required during the commissioning stage.
12.4
Water Quality Impact
12.4.1 Construction Phase
No monitoring of water quality will be required during the construction phase. However, as part of the regular audit procedures (see EM&A Manual), it is recommended that the Environmental Team Leader confirms that the Contractor has implemented the specified mitigation measures, as described in Section 5.7.1.
Any wastewater discharges from the construction sites will require a WPCO discharge licence to be issued. It may be that there will be a requirement for monitoring the quality/quantity of the discharges to show compliance with the conditions of the licence. Such monitoring, however, would not form part of the EM&A programme.
12.4.2 Operation Phase
No monitoring of water quality would be required during the operational phase of the Designated and Potentially Designated Elements of the Project.
Routine monitoring of the quality of the treated sewage effluent from the Yuen Long STW is currently being carried out by the Drainage Services Department (DSD) in order to satisfy the conditions of the WPCO discharge licence. Such monitoring would continue following the upgrade/expansion of the STW. It should be noted that prior to the operation of the Stage 1 works a new discharge licence will be required. Such monitoring, however, would not form part of the EM&A programme for the Stage 1 works.
12.5
Waste Management Impacts
It is recommended that an audit of each waste stream should be carried out on a regular basis (e.g. monthly) by an Independent Environmental Checker to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with approved procedures and the site waste management plan. The audits should look at all aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage, recycling, transport and disposal. An appropriate audit programme would be to undertake a first audit at the commencement of the construction works and then to audit monthly thereafter.
In order to monitor the disposal of C&DM and solid wastes at public filling facilities and landfills, and to control fly-tipping, a trip-ticket system should be included as one of the contractual requirements and be implemented by the Environmental Team during the EM&A programme. An Independent Environmental Checker should be responsible for auditing the results of the system
12.6
Land Contamination
No specific EM&A requirements are considered necessary for contaminated land issues. However, the Contractor should develop procedures for reacting to and assessing any suspected areas that are identified during the construction of the Project.
12.7
Ecological Impacts
No construction works along a section of the proposed sewerage alignment, which fall within the Deep Bay Wetland Conservation Area and the Deep Bay Wetland Buffer Area (WCA and WBA) and close to the locations of ecologically sensitive species (including Intermediate Egret, Black-faced Spoonbill, Buzzard, Imperial Eagle and Avocet) (Figure 8.7a), are recommended during the winter season (November to March). Regular inspections (at least twice a month) should be carried out during the winter season to ensure proper implementation of this restriction.
For the unavoidable schedule with the remaining sections of the sewerage alignment (including parts of S4, S5 and S6) within the WCA and WBA during winter, regular inspections (at least twice a month) should be carried out by an Environmental Team during the winter season (November to March) to check the number of workfronts and proper implementation of mitigation measures such as erection of movable noise barriers with a suitable footing along the sites. The Environmental Team should report the details in the Monthly EM&A Report. An Independent Environmental Check should review the regular inspections of the Environmental Team and the Contractor is responsible to ensure the proper implementation of the recommended mitigation measures.
The implementation of the terrestrial ecological mitigation measures stated in Section 8.7 should be checked as part of the environmental monitoring and audit procedures during the construction period. No other ecology-specific measures are considered necessary.
12.8
Fisheries
In accordance with the
guidelines in the TM on fisheries impact assessment the general policy
approaches for mitigating impacts to fisheries, including aquaculture fisheries
are, in order of priority, avoidance, minimisation and compensation.
As the proposed construction and
operation of the sewerage system and pumping stations are not predicted to have
significant or unacceptable impacts on aquaculture fisheries resources and
operations in the Study Area, no fisheries- specific mitigation measures are
required.
12.9
Landscape and Visual Impacts
The Project has been designed to avoid the key landscape and visual elements of the Study Area through the minimisation of disturbance to key views and view corridors, minimisation of impacts upon existing vegetation by reducing the extent of excavation of roadside verges and agricultural land and restricting the construction works under the existing roads to the greatest practicable extent. The landscape and visual assessment has identified a number of potential landscape and visual impacts during construction and operation.
In order to mitigate these impacts, a number of on-site landscape mitigation measures are recommended for incorporation into the Project. The mitigation measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule (Annex G). No off-site mitigation measures have been proposed.
12.10
Cultural and Heritage Impacts
The EIA has concluded that there are no unacceptable impacts to archaeological remains, declared/deemed monuments and historic buildings; however, a number of mitigation measures have been recommended with regard to potential impacts on the areas of archaeological potential at P4, P5 and P6 and indirect impacts (noise, air and visual impact in Section 3.5, 4.7, 10.7 and 11.7. of this report) and control of vibration impacts to the historic compound at Ng Ka Tsuen to minimise the risk of damage to the structure and its decorative features.
Although no archaeological investigation was undertaken within P4 and P5 due to site access constraints, the results from two test pits and three auger holes undertaken nearby indicate that there is a potential of re-deposited archaeological remains in the P4 area. The auger results around P5 also indicate that there is a potential for re-deposited archaeological remains at this site. Two auger holes were bored at P6, although no archaeological deposits are identified at these auger holes, recent archaeological investigations (approximately 500m from P6) identified Bronze age archaeological remains which may suggest that archaeological potential at P6. Therefore, the impact on archaeological deposits or features, if any, arising from the construction of P4, P5 and P6 is low and considered acceptable. Since no survey can be undertaken at this stage of the study, a further archaeological investigation is recommended for P4, P5 and P6 after land resumption but before any construction work takes place, to confirm that the impact is low. The archaeological investigation should be stipulated as a condition in the Environmental Permit for the project. The investigation should be undertaken by a qualified archaeologist who should obtain a licence from the Authority under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap. 53) before undertaking any fieldwork.
During construction, set back of construction works to avoid encroachment of safe margins, attention to site works in removing underlying obstructions, careful selection of construction plant and construction method, a structure survey of Ng Ka Tsuen historic compound and vibration monitoring have been recommended to ensure that the structural integrity of the historical compound at Ng Ka Tsuen will not be affected by the construction of the Ng Ka Tsuen Sewage Pumping Station.
During operation, preantionary steps to be taken during pump start up and shut down have also been recommended to ensure any operational vibration impact is kept to a minimum.
