This section presents the
potential hazard and land contamination issues and impacts associated with the
operation of the Project, including karting
activities, re-fuelling activities and the repair and maintenance activities to
be carried out on site. This section identifies potential sources of hazard and land
contamination and where appropriate, proposes mitigation measures.
Assessments of land contamination
are guided by the EPD's guidance document the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact
Assessment Process (EIAOTM).
The following legislation,
documents and guidelines may also cover or have some bearing upon contamination
and the handling, treatment and disposal of contaminated waste in
·
Waste
Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354);
·
Waste
Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation (Cap 354);
and
·
Code
of Practice on the Packaging, Labelling and Storage of Chemical Wastes,
Environmental Protection Department (1992).
Site levelling, compacting, track
paving works, planting and fence installation are the major construction works
and these would take approximately two months. Potential sources of land contamination
impacts associated with the construction of the karting
tracks comprise:
·
Use of fuel and lubricants for
machinery; and
·
Use of paints and improper handling of
asphalt.
Based on the desktop review, site
survey and experience from the HKKC, the potential sources of soil and
groundwater contamination with specific relevance to the Project were
identified as summarised as follows:
·
Use of fuel (petroleum) during karting activities and re-fuelling activities; and
·
Use of lubricant and solvents during
repair and maintenance activities.
In addition, the main operational
hazard associated with the karting track is the use
of petroleum for the karting activities. Also, it should be noted that all petrol
kart drivers must have a licence issued by the HKKC. The licence is issued under the
condition that adequate training on kart driving and safety is obtained. All drivers will have to follow standard
safety regulations of kart racing.
Not withstanding the above,
should there be an accident with fire, all the activities inside the track area
will be stopped compulsorily and staff members will perform fire fighting using
the extinguisher and/or the fire-fighting sand. Extinguisher and fire-fighting sand will
be provided along the karting track at every 100m
interval. Extinguishers will also
be provided within the service area and the office.
In addition, the karts will be
re-fuelled once or twice a day within the service area. As petrol is a highly flammable,
explosive and volatile colourless or pale brown liquid, and presents a severe
fire and explosion hazard when exposed to heat, flame or oxidisers, only
limited quantities of petrol, a standard 18 litre safety petrol tank, will be
stored on site during the daytime. A licence dangerous goods (DG) vehicle
would transport the petrol tank to site for re-fuelling and the karts will be
re-fuelled using hand pump. Any
unused petrol will be collected by the DG vehicle after the operating time of
the karting track.
Potential sources of land
contamination include:
·
Use of fuel, oil and lubricants for
construction machinery and vehicles;
·
Release of grouting and cement
materials with rain wash; and
·
Wash water from dust suppression sprays
and vehicle wheel washing troughs.
Land
contamination may result if the construction site runoff and fuel / oil
leakages are allowed to drain into the storm sewer or natural drainage. Nevertheless, with the proper
implementation of the good site practices and housekeeping, as discussed in Section 6.6.1, unacceptable land
contamination impacts are not expected.
On-site
construction site activates may cause land contamination due to spillages of
liquid stored on-site, such as oil, diesel and solvents etc. The spillage of liquid may result in
soil and groundwater contamination.
However, the
effects on land contamination from the construction activities are likely to be
limited, provided that the site are well maintained and good construction
practices are implemented to ensure that oil, fuel and solvents are managed,
stored and handled properly.
Potential
leakage of fuel or lubricants during servicing
The main identified source of
potential impact on land contamination during the operation phase will be
leakage of fuel or lubricants during servicing, maintenance or refuelling
activities. There would be a
vehicle and plant servicing area and repair / maintenance area at where
maintenance of karts and oil filling activities would take place (see Figure 8.1). Both the service and repair / maintenance
areas will be concrete-paved. In
addition, karting activities will be undertaken on
asphalt-paved tracks. Any leakage
of minimal amounts of oil, grease and grit may cause land contamination if
uncontrolled.
As discussed in Section 8.3.2,
the main identified source of potential hazard during the operation phase
includes re-fuelling of the kart vehicles.
Petrol is a highly flammable,
explosive and volatile colourless or pale brown liquid, and presents a severe
fire hazard when exposed to heat, flame or oxidisers. If immediately ignited
a flammable liquid will form a burning pool whilst delayed ignition of the
vapour may result in a flash fire.
However, in view of the limited quantities, the potential hazard is not
expected to be a concern. However,
mitigation measures are recommended to further minimise the risk of any fire
hazard.
The following mitigation measures
should be implemented during the construction of the karting
track:
Construction site runoff and
drainage should be prevented or minimized in accordance with the guidelines
stipulated in the EPD Practice Note for Professional Persons, Construction Site
Drainage (ProPECC PN 1/94), so as to prevent any
potential spillage of fuel or oils from entering the soil or storm water
drains. The practices include the
following items:
·
Maintenance of heavy-duty machinery
shall be minimised and should be carried out off-site.
·
Exposed soil surface shall be protected
by paving as soon as possible to minimise exposure of soil to potential
contaminating sources.
·
Provision of perimeter channels to
intercept storm-runoff from outside the site. These shall be constructed in advance of
site formation works and earthworks.
·
The section of the road between the
wheel washing facilities and the public road shall be paved with backfall to prevent wash water or other site runoff from
entering public road drains.
All fuel tanks and storage areas
shall be provided with locks and be sited on sealed areas, within bunds of a
capacity equal to 110% of the storage capacity of the largest tank. Open storm water drains and culverts
near the works area shall be covered to block the entrance of large debris and
refuse.
Although no unacceptable land
contamination impact is anticipated during the operational phase, the following
measures are recommended:
The servicing area, vehicle
washing bays, lubrication bays and repair / maintenance area would be properly
paved by concrete. In addition, the
servicing area should be located within roofed areas. The drainage serving the servicing area
and oil filling point would be connected to storm drains via a petrol interceptor
with peak storm bypass. Therefore,
it is considered unlikely to produce any quantifiable adverse land
contamination impacts.
From the desktop review and site
survey results, the fuel tank capacity of the kart is relatively small, i.e.,
about 3 litres, and re-fuelling is required once or twice a day. The re-fuelling time would be about 15
seconds. The maximum number of
karts allowed on the track for training or rental run is 40 and 34 for
match. Given the small tank
capacity and infrequent re-fuelling activities, the quantities of petroleum
hydrocarbon products to be used on site would be minimal.
All the re-fuelling activities
and repair and maintenance activities will be carried out under concrete-paved
areas.
·
All karting
activities should only be undertaken on asphaltic
concrete paved tracks.
·
Maintenance of karts should be
performed regularly to avoid leakage of fuel on tracks;
·
Proper handling of petrol storage tank
to avoid leakage of petrol, including the use of a secondary containment of a
capacity equal to 110% of the storage capacity of the largest tank and a roof
cover to separate rainfall.
·
Service area and repair / maintenance
area should be concrete-paved.
·
Drainage serving the open oil filling
point should be connected to storm drains via a petrol interceptor with peak
storm bypass.
·
Vehicle and plant servicing areas,
vehicle wash bays and lubrication bays should be located within roofed
areas. The drainage in these
covered areas should be connected to foul sewers via a petrol interceptor.
·
Oil leakage or spillage should be
contained and cleaned up immediately.
Waste oil should be collected and stored for recycling or disposal in
accordance with the Waste Disposal
Ordinance.
To further
minimise the operational hazard associated with the karting
track, the following mitigation measures are recommended.
·
Smoking is prohibited within the site
area;
·
Extinguishers and fire-fighting sand
are located along the track at 100m interval;
·
Extinguishers are provided in the
office and the service area;
·
Re-fuelling should only be undertaken
within the service area;
·
Only one tank of petrol with a maximum
18 litre is to be stored in a safety petrol tank within the servicing area;
·
No petrol should be stored on site
overnight; and
·
Maintenance of karts should be
performed regularly to avoid leakage of fuel on tracks.
Should
there be an accident with fire, all the activities within the track would be
stopped compulsorily and staff members will perform fire fighting using the
extinguisher and/or the fire-fighting sand.
No monitoring on land
contamination is required as no unacceptable impact on land contamination is
expected.
No operational monitoring on land
contamination is required as no adverse impact on land contamination is
anticipated.
Given the small scale of the
construction works, short duration of construction period and minimal use of
heavy-duty construction machinery, fuel and oils, land contamination impacts
are negligible during construction phase of the Project provided that good site
practices and housekeeping are implemented as suggested in Section 8.5.1. Hence,
it is considered that no land contamination monitoring would be necessary to
carry out during construction phase.
For the operation of the Project,
the main concern is the potential land contaminations caused by the karting activities, servicing, repairing and oil filling
activities. Nevertheless, all the
above activities will be carried out on paved areas. Any leakage can be well controlled by
secondary containments or a proper drainage system with peripheral channel and
petrol interceptor. With
consideration of the infrequent refuelling activities and the minimal amount of
fuel handled each time, as well as proper handling of petrol tank, precaution
on refuelling activities and regular maintenance of karts, no adverse impacts
on land contamination are anticipated.
Therefore, it is suggested that no operational land contamination
monitoring would be required.