2.1.1 The Project proposes to decommission the remaining structures and buildings and the abandoned facilities associated with the former Kai Tak Airport and to clean up any contaminated sites within the former Kai Tak Airport other than the North Apron. The objectives of the Project are to:

l Demolish remaining existing structures / building and remove abandoned facilities of the former Kai Tak Airport within the Project boundary including the off-shore disused fuel dolphin and the associated connecting abandoned fuel pipelines;

l Identify and clean up contaminated areas associated with the previous airport operation within the Project boundary identified during the EIA; and

l Implement appropriate mitigation measures to ensure the site would be safe and free of hazards for the planned future use.

2.2 Site Location and History

2.2.1 The former Kai Tak Airport is located in the south-eastern part of Kowloon Peninsula, comprising the north and south aprons and runway area extending into the Kowloon Bay. The entire airport site covers a total land area of about 260 hectares, of which the land area other than the north apron is about 96 hectares

2.2.2 Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong, which had come into operations since 1920s. The operation of the former Kai Tak Airport was ceased and replaced by the new airport at Check Lap Kok in July 1998. After closure, the former Kai Tak Airport site has been occupied by various temporary uses such as public fill banks, bus depots, car sales exhibitions and recreational grounds. Besides, most of the original buildings and structures within the former airport site have been cleared and the ground contamination identified at the north apron has been decontaminated except the site of the former passenger terminal building and multi-storey carpark building, which remedial works for the ground contamination are near completion.

2.2.3 The Project area covers the former Kai Tak Airport south apron and runway area together with the disused fuel dolphin. The layout of the Project site is shown in Drawing 2.1. It should be noted that the disused fuel dolphin, though within the Project area, does not fall within the boundary of the former Kai Tak Airport as shown in Drawing 2.1. During the operation of former Kai Tak Airport, the south apron and the ex-Government Flying Service (ex-GFS) apron area was used for aircraft / helicopter loading, unloading, fuelling, parking and maintenance while the runway area was only used as the airport runway. After closure of the Kai Tak Airport, the Project area has been occupied by various temporary uses, including a stockpiling area for the Development at Choi Wan and Jordan Valley, Kowloon Motor Bus depot, Cross Roads International Ltd, golf centre car park and a golf driving range.

2.3 Nature, Scope and Benefits of the Project

2.3.1 The nature of the Project is primarily to decommission all remaining facilities, structures and buildings within the former Kai Tak Airport other than the North Apron including the disused fuel dolphin in Kowloon Bay. Any land contamination, if identified, will be decontaminated as appropriate to facilitate the re-development of the site. The Project will make available the remaining former Kai Tak Airport site for future residential, commercial, tourism and leisure developments to meet the long term development, economic and social needs of Hong Kong. The scope of the Project is detailed in Section 2.1.

2.3.2 In regard to Section 1.8 of the EIA Study Brief No. ESB-160/2006, it is clarified that the areas where the ex-GFS building and the Radar Station situated as shown in Drawings 2.2 and 2.2a will not be covered in the scope of this EIA study. These sites will be covered under the forthcoming feasibility study of the Kai Tak Development (KTD) Schedule 3 EIA study prior to the redevelopment of these sites.

2.3.3 In addition, the land contamination issues of the remaining areas that are outside the Project area of this EIA Study but within the boundary of the former Kai Tak Airport namely the EMSD Headquarters and the Hong Kong Aviation Club (see Drawings 2.2 and 2.2a) will be evaluated and covered under the KTD Schedule 3 EIA Study.

2.4 Consideration of Alternative Decommissioning / Decontamination Methods

Decommissioning of Fuel Dolphin Structure and its Connecting Abandoned Fuel Pipelines

2.4.1 According to the current PODP of KTD, there would not be any permanent works required at the existing location of the disused fuel dolphin. The disused fuel dolphin, though within the Project area, does not fall within the former Kai Tak Airport as shown in Drawing 2.1. However, the fuel dolphin structure and its connecting fuel pipelines are considered as part of the fuelling facilities of the former Kai Tak Airport and hence the possible environmental impacts arising from the decommissioning of these facilities should be reviewed under this EIA study. In regard to the decommissioning of the fuel dolphin structures and its associated pipelines, two options have been proposed:

l Option 1 – Complete removal of the fuel dolphin structure and the connecting fuel pipelines

l Option 2 – Demolish the fuel dolphin structure down to 1m below existing seabed and leave the connecting fuel pipelines in-situ; the disused fuel dolphin structure would be demolished by cutting off the piles with mechanical plant to 1m below existing seabed and the sediment around the piles would be pushed aside to facilitate the pile cutting and no dredging would be required for the demolition works

2.4.2 Since the fuel dolphin structure had ceased in use since 1998 and there appeared at present no other beneficial use of the dolphin structure. Option 2 is a preferred approach over Option 1 on environmental ground as it will not involve any dredging and will minimise the disturbance to the potentially contaminated sediment in the vicinity of the fuel dolphin and the fuel pipelines.

2.4.3 In summary, the fuel dolphin will be demolished down to 1m below existing seabed while the disused fuel pipelines will be left in place and, if necessary, grouted with concrete. This approach will eliminate the need for any major dredging, filling, and sediment disposal activities and hence reduce the environmental impacts associated with the decommissioning works. Besides, prior to the decommissioning works, the liquid within the disused fuel pipelines will be tested to ensure that there is no residual aviation fuel retained in the pipelines, if any, that would contribute to water pollution during the proposed decommissioning / demolition of the fuel dolphin. An assessment of the water quality impacts associated with the decommissioning of the disused fuel dolphin is presented in Section 5 of this report.

Decontamination of Contaminated Areas

2.4.4 Remediation is required to clean up the contaminated areas associated with the previous airport operation to ensure the site would be safe and free of hazards for the planned future uses. Common treatment technologies for soil remediation have been reviewed and discussed in details in Section 3 of this EIA report.

2.5 Construction Activity and Project Programme

2.5.1 The scope of existing structures and buildings for decommissioning as well as the related construction activities of the Project is summarized in Table 2.1 below and location of the decommissioning / decontamination is depicted in Drawing 2.3.

^{Table 2.1}^{Summary of Construction Activities}

Decommissioning Works

Decontamination Works

l removal of an existing fuel hydrant system buried in south apron of the former Kai Tak Airport;

l removal of underground fuel tanks near the ex-GFS building and fuel supply system (including refuelling pits and underground pipelines) in the ex-GFS apron area; and

l demolition of the fuel dolphin structure down to 1m below the existing seabed level. The abandoned fuel pipelines will be left in place and, if necessary, grouting it with concrete.

l decontamination works, including excavation and the necessary treatment of the contaminated soil identified at the south apron, the narrow strip of the north apron near the Kai Tak Tunnel and the ex-GFS apron area (details of the decontamination works can be referred to Section 3 of this EIA report).

2.5.2 It should be noted that the decommissioning activities mentioned in the above table shall comply with the (1) Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations, Cap 295, Laws of Hong Kong; and (2) ‘Guidance for the Design, Construction, Modification and Maintenance of Petrol Filling Stations’, November 1999, the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA) and the Institute of Petroleum (IP).

2.5.3 The construction activities listed in Table 2.1 above would commence in early 2008 and be completed not earlier than late 2009. A summary of the tentative project programme is provided in Table 2.2 below.

^{Table 2.2}^{Tentative Project Programme}

Activity	Preliminary Working Period
Activity	From	To
Site preparation works	Early 2008	Early 2008
Decommissioning works of the fuel hydrant system, underground fuel tanks and fuel supply system in the south apron and the ex-GFS apron area, including the decontamination works at the south apron, the narrow strip of the north apron and the ex-GFS apron area	Early 2008	Late 2008 / Early 2009
Soil decontamination treatment works at the northern part of the south apron	Mid 2008	Mid 2009
Decommissioning works of fuel dolphin	Not earlier than late 2009 (indicative only)	Not earlier than late 2009 (indicative only)

2.5.4 Apart from those existing remaining structures / buildings and abandoned facilities of the former Kai Tak Airport within the Project boundary that have been mentioned in Table 2.1 above, this EIA has also assessed the cultural heritage significance of several heritage resources including three wind poles, the airport pier, Fire Stations B (and associated pier) and Fire Station C, seawall and runway and the potential land contamination in the vicinity of these structures / buildings. Section 3 of this EIA Report confirmed that no land contamination is identified in the vicinity of these structures / buildings. Besides, Section 8 of this EIA Report also confirmed that all these heritage resources are of low cultural heritage significance and none of them will be affected by this Project, therefore no mitigation will be required. Based on the currently available information, the wind pole located on the south-western side of the runway near the airport pier (WP-1) and the wind pole located at the very south-western tip of the runway (WP-2) will be removed under other project in the near future for storage and to be reinstated within the future Kai Tak Development to reflect the aviation history of the site. Whereas Fire Station C and the airport pier may be demolished in the future subject to the future development of the respective area.

2.6 Interactions with Other Projects

2.6.1 Given the comparatively minor in scale of the decommissioning and decontamination works in such a large area and the pressing need to proceed with the permanent development, construction in some areas where ground contamination is found, would immediately commence after the site clean up is confirmed. Elsewhere ground contamination is not found, the construction would proceed upon the approval of the EIA report in concurrent with the decontamination works as long as they are demonstrated to be environmentally compatible and acceptable. Based on the latest information, the cruise terminal construction and its associated advance works will be carried out while the decommissioning / decontamination works at other parts of the Project area are underway.

2.6.2 The proposed decontamination works will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will mainly include the excavation of the contaminated soils identified in the south apron, the narrow strip of the north apron and the ex-GFS apron area. The excavated contaminated soil will then be transported to the soil decontamination treatment area proposed in the northern part of the south apron. After confirming that all the contaminated soil has been excavated for treatment, the excavation areas will be backfilled with clean and/or treated soil. During the second phase of the decontamination works, the decontamination activities will be limited to those carried out within the treatment area in the northern part of the south apron. The treatment area will be operated until satisfactory completion of the treatment process. Drawings 2.4a and 2.4b show the concurrent activities anticipated during the first phase and the second phase of the decontamination works in the vicinity of the project area.

2.6.3 As shown in Drawing 2.4a, during the first phase of the decontamination works, in Area 1 which include mostly the entire runway area where ground contamination is not found (refer to Section 3 for details of the land contamination assessment), the construction activities of other projects including the barging points, works area, and the construction site for the proposed cruise terminal etc would proceed in concurrent with the decontamination works in Area 2 and Area 3. For Area 2 in the south apron area of the former Kai Tak Airport with ground contamination identified, no concurrent construction activities will be carried out in the vicinity of the south apron. The access road(s) crossing the south apron area will be temporarily diverted, if required, to provide sufficient separation of not less than 20m between the access road and the contamination area during excavation. Upon completion of the first phase of the decontamination works, all the contaminated soil should have been removed and the excavation areas will be backfilled with clean soil.

2.6.4 Subsequently in the second phase of the decontamination works, as shown in Drawing 2.4b, only the treatment area in the northern part of the south apron will be operational. The construction activities of the Advance Works of the Kai Tak Development would only be commenced in the ex-GFS apron area after the site clean up in that area is confirmed through the submission of site closure assessment report to EPD. These construction activities would be in concurrent with the soil decontamination treatment works to be carried out in Area 3.

2.6.5 Referring to construction programme of the Project and other projects within the Project area, it is noted that construction period of other projects listed in Table 2.3 below would overlap with the Project.

^{Table 2.3}^{Summary of Concurrent Projects}

Concurrent Project	Anticipated Construction Period
Kai Tak Development Advance Works – Construction of local access roads (Roads TD3, TD4 and Road L14), sewage pumping station, public landing steps cum fireboat berth, electricity substation (by CLP) etc	2008 to early 2012
Cruise Terminal Construction (including dredging, and construction of berth structure, transition structure, and terminal building)	Later half of 2008 to 2020
Operation of the barging points and works area for removal of C&D materials from Development at Choi Wan and Jordon Valley at former Kai Tak Airport runway	Current –12/2008
Operation of the barging point at southwest of the former Kai Tak Airport runway and haul road within Kai Tak for removal of C&D materials from Development at Anderson Road	01/2008 – 12/2012

2.6.6 Twin 400mm diameter steel submarine gas pipelines are currently aligned 235m west of and parallel to the former Kai Tak Airport runway. It is noted that there is a potential diversion of this submarine gas main, however, the diversion programme and the alignment of the new gas main are still subject to confirmation by detailed design and it is not expected the marine works related to the proposed diversion will commence before early 2009. It is possible that the proposed decommissioning of the disused fuel dolphin might overlap with the gas main diversion works. However, as discussed in Section 5 of this EIA Report, as no dredging would be required for the decommissioning works of the disused fuel dolphin and that the area of the work site would be small and the duration for the removal of the fuel dolphin is anticipated to be short, any water quality impacts associated with the decommissioning of the disused fuel dolphin would be localized and transient, adverse cumulative environmental impacts (including water quality impact) due to the possible concurrent decommissioning of the disused fuel dolphin with the proposed gas main diversion works are therefore not expected.