At present, traffic queues are already
observed on the northern approach of the Pok Oi Roundabout (POR) during the
evening peak period and on the southern approach at both morning and evening
peaks. The situation will likely
deteriorate further when the nearby developments are completed. The tailback of traffic onto the
southbound carriageway on the northern approach to POR may block the through
traffic from Tai Lam Tunnel / New Territories (NT) North to Tuen
Mun / Tin Shui Wai /
The Technical
Feasibility Statement (TFS) for the Improvement to Pok Oi Interchange was
completed in November 2005. In
September 2006, Highways Department (HyD)
commissioned Mott Connell Ltd (MCL) to undertake the Traffic Impact Assessment and Alignment
Design Study (Agreement No. WD 3/2006). The Study reviewed the
preliminary improvement layouts proposed in the TFS, presented recommendations
on the preferred alignment, configuration and layout, and investigated the
traffic carrying capacities of the improvement scheme.
An application under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
(EIAO) for an Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) Study Brief was submitted by HyD
in May 2007 with the EIA Study Brief
(No. ESB-166/2007) issued in July 2007.
ERM-Hong
Kong, Ltd (ERM), supported by Halcrow China
Ltd (Halcrow), has been commissioned by HyD to undertake the Improvement
to Pok Oi Interchange – Environmental Impact Assessment Study (hereafter
referred to as “the Assignment”) under Agreement No. WD 6/2007. As part of the Assignment, an EIA Study
has been undertaken in accordance with the EIA
Study Brief (No. ESB-166/2007).
This EIA
Report addresses the nature and extent of the potential environmental
impacts associated with the construction and operation of the Improvement to
the Pok Oi Interchange (hereafter referred to as “the Project”).
1.2
Objectives of the
EIA Study
The overall objectives of the EIA Study
are to provide information on the nature and extent of environmental impacts
arising from the Project and related activities that take place concurrently; to
recommend appropriate mitigation measures to control the potential
environmental impact so that it complies with the requirements of the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact
Assessment Process of Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO-TM), and to confirm the
environmental acceptability of the Project. An analysis to identify elements of the
Project that qualify as Designated Projects (DPs) is
presented in Section 2.2.
The specific
objectives of the EIA Study described in the EIA Study Brief are as follows:
(i)
to describe the Project and associated works together with the
requirements for carrying out the Project;
(ii)
to identify and describe elements of community and environment
likely to be affected by the Project and/or likely to cause adverse impacts to
the Project, including natural and man-made environment and the associated
environmental constraints;
(iii)
to provide information on the consideration of alternatives to
avoid and minimise the potential environmental impacts to environmentally sensitive
areas and other sensitive uses; to compare the environmental benefits and dis-benefits of each of the different options; to provide
reasons for selecting the preferred option(s) and to describe the part of
environmental factors played in the selection of preferred option(s);
(iv)
to identify and quantify all environmental sensitive receivers,
emission sources and determine the significance of impacts on sensitive
receivers and potential affected uses;
(v)
to identify and quantify any potential landscape and visual
impacts and to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;
(vi)
to propose the provision of mitigation measures so as to minimize
pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during construction and
operation of the Project;
(vii)
to investigate the feasibility, practicability, effectiveness and
implications of the proposed mitigation measures;
(viii)
to identify, within the Study Area, any individual project(s) that
fall under Schedule 2 and/or Schedule 3 of the EIAO; to ascertain whether the findings of this EIA Study have
adequately addressed the environmental impacts of those projects; and where
necessary, to identify the outstanding issues that need to be addressed in any
further detailed EIA study;
(ix)
to identify, predict and evaluate the residual environmental
impacts (i.e. after practicable mitigation) and the cumulative effects expected
to arise during the construction and operation phases of the Project in relation
to the sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;
(x)
to identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards,
to be included in the detailed design, construction and operation of the
Project which are necessary to mitigate these environmental impacts and
cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;
(xi)
to investigate the extent of the secondary environmental impacts
that may arise from the proposed mitigation measures and to identify
constraints associated with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA
Study, as well as the provision of any necessary modification; and
(xii)
to design and specify environmental
monitoring and audit requirements to ensure the effective implementation of the
recommended environmental protection and pollution control measures.
As specified in the EIA Study Brief, the EIA Study will address the following key
environmental issues due to the construction and operation of the Project:
·
potential noise and air quality impacts from the construction and
operation of the Project to sensitive receivers along or near the Project,
taking into account the cumulative impact from the operation of existing and
planned roads and developments in the assessment area of the Project;
·
potential water quality impact on the relevant water system(s)
from the construction and operation activities of the Project;
·
waste arising as a result of the construction activities of the
Project and potential land contamination from land to be resumed for the
Project; and
·
potential landscape and visual impacts from the
construction and operation of the Project especially impact caused by the above
ground structures including noise mitigation measures.
1.3
Organisation of
the Report
The remainder of this report is organised
as follows:
·
Section 2 describes the scope and the outline implementation
programme of the Project and identifies the DP elements;
·
Section 3 presents the need for the Project and considerations
given to alternative construction methods and works sequences;
·
Section 4 presents the noise assessment;
·
Section 5 presents the air quality assessment;
·
Section 6 presents the water quality assessment;
·
Section 7 assesses the waste management implications;
·
Section 8 presents the landscape and visual assessment;
·
Section 9 summarises the environmental outcomes associated with
the Project; and
·
Section 10 describes the requirements for environmental
monitoring and audit.