13 CONCLUSION

13.1 Introduction

13.1.1 The Project is a designated project in accordance with Item A1, Part 1 of Schedule 2 f the EIAO, which specifies an “a road which is an expressway, trunk road, primary distributor road or district distributor road including new roads, and major extensions or improvements to existing road”.

13.1.2 This EIA Report has provided an assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of the Project, with the consideration of the potential cumulative impact from Traffic Improvement to Tuen Mun Road Town Centre Section Project. Specific mitigation measures requirements for the Project, as well as an environmental monitoring and auditing programme, have been developed in the study. The Implementation Schedule of the recommendations is presented in Section 14. The key environmental outcomes arising from the EIA study and the principal findings of the study are summarized in Section 13.2.

13.2 Environmental Outcomes

13.2.1 The major sensitive areas within the study area include residential buildings, commercial buildings, hospital, recreational areas and educational institutions. With the implementation of the proposed mitigation measures, no adverse environmental impacts would be expected at the air, noise and water quality sensitive receivers within the study area during both construction and operational phases. A summary of the key environmental outcomes arising from the EIA study and benefits of the environmental protection measures recommended are presented in Table 13.1 below.

Table 13.1 Summary of Key Environmental Outcomes/Benefits

Issue	Environmental Outcomes/Benefits
The Project	Requirements: · Widening of the 240m long dual 2-lane section of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange to a 11m wide dual 3-lane carriageway. · Construction of associated earth retaining structures, slope works, geotechnical works and works on environmental mitigation, landscape, drainage, road lightings, water mains and traffic aids. Benefits: · The Project can relieve the traffic congestion at the Tsing Tin Interchange road section of Tuen Mun Road. Potential consequences without the Project: · Without the Project, Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange will be severely affected as it would become a bottleneck due to increased traffic from HK-SWC. Long queues would be anticipated at both ends of Interchange and as a result of severely congested in Tuen Mun Road. · As severe traffic congestion at both ends of Tsing Tin Interchange, there would have consequential adverse air quality impacts to the nearby ASRs as the vehicles are in idling condition in traffic congestion.
Development Alternatives	The widening of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange is the direct method to solve the traffic congestion problem in view of engineering aspects. In view of environmental aspects, the widening of existing road section would pose the least environmental impacts to the surrounding environment as it would involve the least construction area.
Construction Air Quality Impact	Impact/Problem · Potential air quality impacts are dust nuisance. Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended: · Mitigation measures: implement the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation and good site practices. · No adverse air quality impacts are anticipated.
Operational Air Quality Impact	Impact/Problem · No adverse traffic emission impacts are anticipated at the existing and future ASRs.
Construction Noise Impact	Impact/Problem · Unmitigated cumulative construction noise levels: 63 dB(A) to 85 dB(A). Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended & Environmentally sensitive areas protected: · Recommended mitigation measures: adopting quiet construction plant, movable noise barriers and scheduling of PMEs/construction activities; and implementing good site practices. · Under mitigated scenario, the predicted noise levels at all representative NSRs would comply with the daytime construction noise standard as set out in the EIAO-TM.
Road Traffic Noise Impact	Impact/Problem · Unmitigated noise levels: 65 dB(A) to 85 dB(A). Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended & Environmentally sensitive areas protected: · Recommended mitigation measures include: (1) about 100m long of 6m high cantilevered barrier with 3.5m cantilever inclined at 23° on the Kowloon bound of TMR; and (2) about 80m long of 6m high cantilevered barrier with 2.5m cantilever inclined at 23° on the Tuen Mun bound of TMR; and (3) Low noise material surfacing on the ‘New’ road section (185m for Kowloon bound and 195m for Yuen Long bound). · Mitigated noise levels: 64 dB(A) to 85 dB(A). Noise exceedances at all the representative NSRs are due to the existing roads. The ‘new’ road noise contributions to the overall noise levels at all representative NSRs would be less than 1.0 dB(A) and the ‘new’ road noise levels would all be below the relevant noise criteria. No adverse noise impacts arising from the ‘new’ roads are predicted at any of the representative NSRs. None of the representative NSRs is eligible for consideration for indirect technical remedies. · The proposed noise barriers would alleviate the traffic noise impacts from ‘new’ road on the NSRs including Tuen Mun Hospital Quarter, Victory Building, and Lakeshore Building, and SKH Mung Yan Primary School. About 200 residential units would be benefited from the noise barriers. ·
Construction Water Quality Impact	Impact/Problem · General construction activities associated with the construction of the Project could lead to site runoff. Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended: · All of the recommended mitigation measures are implemented and all construction site / work area discharges comply with the TM-DSS standards. · No unacceptable residual water quality impacts are expected during the construction of the proposed infrastructure.
Operational Water Quality Impact	Impact/Problem · Adverse water quality impacts associated with the operation of the Project are not expected at the water sensitive receivers within the study area. Thus, there will be no residual impact associated with the operation of the Project.
Waste Management Implications	Impact/Problem · Wastes generated by construction activities: general refuse from the workforce, chemical waste from plant and equipment maintenance, and C&D material from excavation works and the demolition of existing structures. Environmentally friendly designs recommended: · C&D material with suitable characteristics should be reused on-site as far as practicable (approx 1,500 m^3). Surplus material would require disposal to a public fill reception facility (approx. 16,000 m^3). Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended: · With the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures and practices for the handling, transportation and disposal of the identified waste arisings, no adverse environmental impacts are expected.
Land Contamination Impact	· Based on the finding from the desktop studies and site inspection, no contaminated sites were identified within/in vicinity of the Project boundary. · Although a petrol filling station was found approximately 30m away from the Project boundary, it was observed that the petrol filling station was kept in tidy and the ground was well paved with concrete. Since the general groundwater pattern of the Project site likely flows from east to west (i.e. from the direction of alignment to that of the filling station), potential land contamination impacts from this petrol filling station to the Project site are not expected. · No adverse environmental impacts on land contamination for the Project are anticipated.
Hazard to Life Impact	Impact/Problem & Environmentally friendly designs recommended · No construction hazard was identified that would affect the storage, use or on-site transport of chlorine in the TMWTW. · Individual Risk at the construction site is acceptable. · No significant change in the Societal Risk during construction stage (Year 2009) and Operation Stage (Year 2024) of the project.
Ecological Impact	Impact/Problem & Environmentally friendly designs recommended · The proposed construction works would only be conducted in the developed area. No direct impact on ecological important habitats, such as woodland habitat, would be resulted from the proposed works. · Approximately 47 roadside trees located within the proposed works area would be removed. All of the affected species are widespread and are not protected or threatened in Hong Kong. The potential loss of these individuals is considered minor. Nevertheless, such impact would be mitigated by transplanting and compensatory planting after the construction works. · Disturbance impacts to habitats and associated communities adjacent to the proposed works area would be resulted due to the construction works. Wildlife within the proposed works area and the adjacent woodland also adapted to high levels of human disturbance, heavy traffic flow and traffic noise, thus the disturbance impact is considered low. · Impacts resulting from improper dumping of construction materials/wastes and deposition of dust on vegetation adjacent to works areas would be resulted in the construction phase. The potential impacts can be avoided and minimized to acceptable levels through the implementation of standard good site practice. · Sediment and runoff if uncontrolled, would carry pollutants into Tuen Mun River Channel. With the implementation of adequate construction site drainage and provision of sediment removal facilities, it is anticipated that unacceptable water quality impacts on the River Channel would not arise. · Potential disturbance on Little Egret found at Tuen Mun egretry and Tuen Mun River Channel as well as water quality impact on its feeding habitat would be resulted. With the implementation of effective noise and water quality control mitigation measures, such construction phase disturbance would be minimised. In addition, in view of the already highly disturbed nature of the egretry and availability of alternative similar foraging area along the Tuen Mun River Channel, potential impact to breeding and feeding activities of Little Egret is considered as low. Environmentally friendly designs recommended: · Noise barrier with transparent panels implemented in the operation phase would cause potential bird mortality. As the transparent panels would appear invisible to birds or mirrors the facing landscape, birds are unable to recognize them as physical barriers. With bird-friendly design of noise barriers, such as using non-glaring and tinted materials, putting falcon stickers on the transparent panels. Environmental benefits of environmental protection measures recommended: · the bird collision due to the noise barrier would be minimized.
Landscape and Visual Impact	Impact/Problem & Environmentally friendly designs recommended · Under the proposed development, approximately 1.03ha of Castle Peak Road (San Hui) Park will be temporarily closed and affected during the construction stage. Approximately 0.09ha area of the park will be permanently lost for the widening of Tuen Mun Road. It is considered that the residual landscape impact during operation on Castle Peak Road (San Hui) Park is slight with the implementation of mitigation measures. · Based on broad brush survey, approximately 47 trees will be affected by the construction of noise barrier, road widening and associated slope works. None of these are LCSD Champion Trees or Registered Old and Valuable Trees. There are no rare species or endangered specie but common species. All the trees with high amenity value which are unavoidably affected by the works will be transplanted where possible. Detailed tree preservation, transplanting and felling including compensatory planting proposals will be submitted to relevant government departments for approval in accordance with ET WBTC no. 3/2006. · Impact on Landscape Character Areas during construction will be primarily due to the construction activities including associated temporary works for the road widening works and construction of noise barrier. After implementation of mitigation measures, there will be moderate residual impacts on Transportation Corridor LCA and Park Urban LCA. During Operation, all the LCAs will have insubstantial impacts with the implementation of mitigation measures. · With implementation of mitigation measures during construction, there will still be some moderate negative visual impact on the VSRs adjacent or close to the works area. Residual impacts on VSRs further away the works area will become slight to insubstantial. During operation, residual visual impacts on all VSRs are insubstantial after the implementation of proposed mitigation measures.
Cultural Heritage Impact	Impact/Problem · Since there are no archaeological resources within the study area, cultural heritage impact due to the construction activities is not expected.

13.3 Air Quality Impact

Construction Phase

13.3.1 In view of limited scale of construction area, adverse dust impact at the ASRs would not be expected from the Project. Nevertheless, appropriate dust control and suppression measures as stipulated in the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation should be implemented to minimize any potential dust impact.

Operational Phase

13.3.2 The potential impacts arising from the background pollutant levels within and adjacent to the widened section of Tuen Mun Road, vehicle emissions from open road networks and the implementation of roadside noise barriers were assessed. Results showed that the predicted air quality at the ASRs would comply with the AQOs. No mitigation measures are proposed.

13.4 Noise Impact

Construction Phase

13.4.1 This assessment has predicted the construction noise impacts of the Project during normal daytime working hours. With the use of quiet PME, movable noise barriers and scheduling of PMEs/construction activities, the predicted construction noise levels arising from the Project at all representative NSRs would comply with the EIAO-TM construction noise criteria.

13.4.2 A construction noise EM&A programme is recommended to check the compliance of the noise criteria during normal daytime working hours.

Operational Phase

13.4.3 The potential road traffic noise impacts have been assessed based on the worst case traffic flows in 2024. The noise levels at most of the NSRs in the areas of Tuen Mun Road are predicted to exceed the EIAO-TM traffic noise criteria due to the existing roads or both ‘New’ road and existing roads. As a result, direct mitigation measures have been proposed to mitigate the noise impacts at the NSRs where ‘New’ road noise contributions to the overall noise levels would be more than 1.0 dB(A).

13.4.4 With two 6m high cantilevered noise barrier in place, the ‘New’ road noise contributions to the overall noise levels at all representative NSRs would be less than 1.0 dB(A) and the ‘New’ road noise levels would all be below the relevant noise criteria, though the overall noise levels at most of the NSRs would still exceed the relevant noise criteria. However, it should be noted that such noise exceedances at the representative NSRs are due to the existing roads.

13.4.5 Monitoring of road traffic noise is recommended to verify the effectiveness of the mitigation scheme during the first year after road opening.

13.5 Water Quality Impacts

Construction Phase

13.5.1 Water quality impacts from land-based construction, including road works, minor slope modification works and construction of noise barriers, are associated with the surface runoff, effluent discharge from the site, and sewage from on-site construction workers. Impacts can be controlled to comply with the WPCO standards by implementing the recommended mitigation measures. No unacceptable residual impacts on water quality are anticipated.

Operational Phase

13.5.2 It is considered that impacts resulting from the operation of the Project, in terms of water quality, will be minimal provided that the widen section of TMR are designed with adequate drainage systems.

13.6 Waste Management Implications

13.6.1 Wastes generated by the construction activities are likely to include C&D material, general refuse from the workforce and chemical waste from the maintenance of construction plant and equipment. Provided that these identified waste arisings are handled, transported and disposed of using approved methods and that the recommended good site practices are strictly followed, adverse environmental impacts would not be expected during the construction phase.

13.7 Land Contamination Impact

13.7.1 Based on the findings from the desktop studies and site inspection, no contaminated sites were identified within/in vicinity of the Project boundary. No adverse environmental impacts on land contamination for the widening of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange Project are anticipated.

13.8 Hazard to Life

13.8.1 A hazard assessment has been conducted following the criteria for evaluating hazard to life as stated in Annexes 4 and 22 of the TM (Hong Kong Risk Guidelines).  The assessment has evaluated hazardous scenarios from Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works (TMWTW) to both the construction and operation stages of the Project.

13.8.2 Hazardous scenarios associated with the chlorine storage and on-site transport in the TMWTW and the respective occurrence frequencies has been identified and confirmed by reviewing of historical database to ensure hazards and its respective occurrence frequencies are acceptable for use.

13.8.3 A quantitative risk assessment (QRA) expressing population risks in both individual and societal terms has been conducted to evaluate the risk to population in the vicinity of the TMWTW. This assessment considered the future growth of nearby population and the increase of traffic flow in future due to the opening of the HK-SWC and DBL and the Widening of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange

13.8.4 In accordance with the results of the QRA, individual risk at the construction site is found to be less than 1E-08 per year which is acceptable in comparison with the criteria (1E-05 per year) as specific in the Risk Guidelines. With respect to societal risk, the FN curves indicated that no significant change in the risk level during construction stage and operation stage of the Project when compared with the baselines FN curve.  Furthermore, no construction hazard was identified that would affect the storage, use or transport of chlorine in the TMWTW.

13.8.5 Recommendations for the construction period are given in order to ensure that the construction workers in the project site are well understanding of evacuation procedures when working in the consultation zone of the TMWTW.

13.9 Ecological Impact

13.9.1 No direct impact on ecological important habitats, such as woodland habitat, would be resulted from the proposed works. The proposed construction works would only be conducted in the developed area where mainly comprises of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange and the partly Castle Peak Road (San Hui) Park adjacent to and below the Tsing Tin Interchange. These developed areas do not function as potential nursery or breeding grounds of the wildlife, and was not structurally or functionally linked to any high ecological value resources, such as woodland habitat. Hence, the impact on the habitat loss of developed area of low ecological value in the Project is considered low.

13.9.2 Approximately 47 roadside trees located within the proposed works area would be directly impacted by widening of Tuen Mun Road at Tsing Tin Interchange. All of the affected species are widespread and are not protected or threatened in Hong Kong. The potential loss of these individuals is considered minor. Nevertheless, such impact would be mitigated by transplanting and compensatory planting after the construction works.

13.9.3 Potential disturbance on Little Egret found at the Tuen Mun egretry and Tuen Mun River Channel as well as water quality impact on its feeding habitat would be resulted. With the implementation of effective noise and water quality control mitigation measures, such disturbance impact would be minimised. In addition, in view of the already highly disturbed nature of the egretry and availability of alternative similar foraging area along the Tuen Mun River Channel, potential impact to breeding and feeding activities of Little Egret is considered as low.

13.9.4 Key operation phase impact is the potential bird mortality due to the transparent noise barrier for traffic noise impact. With bird-friendly design of noise barriers, such as using non-glaring and tinted materials, putting falcon stickers on the transparent panels, the bird collision due to the noise barrier would be minimized.

13.10 Landscape and Visual Impact

13.10.1 Under the proposed development, approximately 1.03ha of Castle Peak Road (San Hui) Park would be temporarily closed and affected during the construction stage. Approximately 0.09ha area of the park would be permanently lost for the widening of Tuen Mun Road. It is considered that the residual landscape impact during operation on Castle Peak Road (San Hui) Park is slight with the implementation of mitigation measures.

13.10.2 Based on broad brush survey, approximately 47 trees will be affected by the works and these heavy standard trees will be compensated within the Project boundary. Most of them will be planted in San Hui Park within works area. None of these are LCSD Champion Trees or Registered Old and Valuable Trees. There are no rare species or endangered specie but common species. All the trees with high amenity value which are unavoidably affected by the works would be transplanted where possible. Detailed tree preservation, transplanting and felling including compensatory planting proposals will be submitted to relevant government departments for approval in accordance with ET WBTC no. 3/2006.

13.10.3 Impact on Landscape Character Areas during construction would be primarily due to the construction activities including associated temporary works for the road widening works and construction of noise barrier. After implementation of mitigation measures, there would be moderate residual impacts on Transportation Corridor LCA and Park Urban LCA. During Operation, all the LCAs would have insubstantial impacts with the implementation of mitigation measures.

13.10.4 With implementation of mitigation measures during construction, there would still be some moderate negative visual impact on the VSRs adjacent or close to the Project. Residual impacts on VSRs further away the works area would become slight to insubstantial.

13.10.5 Day 1 after the implementation of operation stage mitigation measures, except R1 GIC1, GIC4 and O1 will experience moderate visual impact, there would still be slight adverse visual impact on the VSRs which are close to the Tsing Tin Interchange. 10 years after the implementation of mitigation measures during operation, the residual impacts on all VSRs are insubstantial except R1 GIC1, GIC4 and O1 who will experience slight residual visual impact. Overall, it is considered that the residual landscape and visual impacts of the proposed development are considered as acceptable with mitigation measures during construction and operation phase.

13.10.6 Overall, it is considered that the residual landscape and visual impacts of the proposed development are considered as acceptable with mitigation measures during construction and operation phases.

13.11 Cultural Heritage Impact

13.11.1 There are no archaeological resources found within the Project boundary or in the vicinity of the Project site, therefore, no cultural heritage impact is expected.

13.12 Environmental Monitoring and Audit

13.12.1 Environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) are recommended for construction dust monitoring, construction and operation noise. Site inspection / audit is also recommended for ecology, landscape and visual, water quality and waste management during construction and also for implementation of landscaping measures during operation. Details of the recommended mitigation measures, monitoring procedures and locations will be presented in a stand-alone EM&A Manual. This will enable the Contractor to have early warning and provide necessary action to reduce impacts at specific areas if the assessment criteria are approached. 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.

13.13 Overall Conclusion

13.13.1 The EIA has been conducted based on currently available information. The findings of this EIA have provided information on the nature and extent of environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the Project. The EIA has, where appropriate, identified mitigation measures to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and standards.

13.13.2 Overall, the EIA Report has predicted that the Project would generally comply with the environmental standards and legislation after the proposed construction and operational stage mitigation measures are implemented. This EIA has also demonstrated the general acceptability of the residual impacts from the Project and the protection of the population and environmentally sensitive resources. Environmental monitoring and audit mechanisms have been recommended for construction and operation of the Project, where necessary, to verify the effectiveness of recommended mitigation measures.