Table of
Contents
1.2 Purpose and Nature of the Project
1.4 Location and Scale of the Project & History of the Site
1.5 The Scoping of Environmental Issues
The Water
Supplies Department (hereinafter referred to as WSD) is proposing the
development of a medium-sized desalination plant in Hong Kong, at a site
reserved in Tseung Kwan O (TKO Area 137).
The proposed desalination plant will produce potable water with an
initial capacity of 135 million liter per day (Mld), expandable to an ultimate capacity of 270Mld in
the future to provide a secure and alternative fresh water resources complying
with the World Health Organizsation (WHO) standards. This project is entitled “Desalination Plant
at Tseung Kwan O” (hereinafter referred to the Project).
Under the
Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO), an Environmental Permit (EP)
will be required for the construction and operation of the proposed
Project. In relation to this, WSD has
prepared a Project Profile for application for an Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) study brief under section 5(1) of the EIAO (No. PP-497/2013).
The Project Profile was submitted to EPD on 5 December 2013. The EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-266/2013) was issued by EPD on 16 January
2014.
Black &
Veatch Hong Kong Limited (B&V) was commissioned by WSD under Agreement
No. CE 21/2012 (WS) to provide
consultancy services to investigate and formulate a detailed proposal for the
Project and conduct the EIA study.
The proposed
Project comprises the following:
·
Construction of a new desalination plant in TKO Area 137 with a capacity
of 135Mld, expandable to 270Mld in the future;
·
Natural slope mitigation works consist of construction of debris
barriers and boulder traps at the toe of and stabilization of natural slopes
and boulders on the natural slope within the Clear Water Bay Country Park (Figure 1.1), which overlooks the
northeast boundary of the new desalination plant at TKO Area 137;
·
Construction
of a dedicated trunk feed system for the transfer of fresh water output from
the desalination plant to the existing Tseung Kwan O Fresh Water Primary
Service Reservoir (TKOFWPSR). The system
consists of an about 9 km of 1,200 mm diameter fresh water mains along Wan Po
Road, Po Hong Road and Tsui Lam Road (fresh water
main is indicated in Figure 1.1), the associated pipeworks and ancillary facilities including
fittings/valves, leakage, flow and pressure monitoring facilities, and a new treated water pumping station and new
treated water storage tank with estimated size about 22,500m3
located in the desalination plant; and
·
All the associated civil, structural, geotechnical, landscaping,
electrical and mechanical works.
The location
of the Project and the associated works are shown in Figure 1.1.
The
following elements of the Project are classified as Designated Projects under
the Environmental Impact Assessment
Ordinance (Cap. 499) (EIAO) and
are addressed in this EIA Report:
·
Schedule 2, Part I, Item E.2 – Water treatment works with a capacity if
more than 100,000 m3 per day.
·
Schedule 2, Part I, Item K.13 – A dangerous good godown with a storage
capacity exceeding 500 tonnes.
·
Schedule 2, Part I, Q.1 – Earthworks partly in an existing country park.
This EIA
Report is prepared in accordance with the EIA
Study Brief (No. ESB-266/2013) and the Technical
Memorandum of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM).
The purpose
of this EIA Study is to provide information on the nature and extent of
environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the
Project and related activities that take place concurrently. This information will contribute to decision
by the Director on:
·
The acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are
likely to arise as a result of the Project;
·
The conditions and requirements for the design, construction and
operation of the Project to mitigate against adverse environmental
consequences; and
·
The acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation
measures is implemented.
The specific
objectives of the EIA Study are described in Clause 2 of the EIA Study
Brief, and the detailed requirements of the EIA Study are set out in Clause 3 of the EIA Study Brief. As
specified in the EIA Study Brief, the
EIA Study has addressed the key environmental issues associated with the
construction and operation of the Project in Hong Kong waters and land.
The proposed site for the desalination plant is located in Tseung Kwan O
(TKO) Area 137 with an earmarked area of about 10 hectares. TKO Area 137 is located to the south of the
Southeast New Territories (SENT) Landfill and the Tseung Kwan O Industrial
Estate. It faces the Clearwater Bay
Country Park to its east, the Joss House Bay to its south and the Tathong
Channel to its west. The nearest
residential area is the LOHAS Park which is located about 2.5 km from the
site.
The site is on reclaimed land which was reclaimed between 1998 and 2000.
According to the draft Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) S/TKO/21, the
TKO Area 137 is zoned as “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Deep Waterfront
Industry” (“OU (DWI)”) which is intended for special industries which require
marine access, access to deep water berths or water frontage. It is considered that amendment to the OZP is
required to rezone the site to an appropriate zone under Town Planning Ordinance.
The natural slope overlooking the northeast boundary of the new
desalination plant at TKO Area 137 has a history of minor landslides and contains
some potentially unstable boulders.
Landslide and boulder hazard mitigation works including mainly passive
debris barriers and boulder traps along
the crest of the cliff area at lower portion of the natural slope, soil and
rock stabilization works including soil nailing and dowelling at the cliff area,
stabilization of individual boulders
by buttressing may be required to protect the new desalination
plant for the landslide and boulder hazards from this slope. While such mitigation works may be required
to be implemented within the Clear Water Bay Country Park, the mitigation works
will be avoided and minimized as far as practicable to minimize any potential
environmental impact to the Country Park.
No permanent major infrastructure has been built in and around the
proposed site. At present, three major
facilities are located in the vicinity of the site, namely a temporary public
fill bank, a temporary explosive magazine and an explosives off-loading barging
pier. These facilities are discussed in
further detail in Section 3.8.
The potential environmental impacts which may arise from the
construction and operation of the Project were identified and discussed in the
Project Profile ([1])
for this EIA. The specific scope for
this EIA Study is presented in Clause 3.2
of the EIA Study Brief.
Following the
introductory section, the remainder of this EIA Report is arranged as follows:
Section 2 This section of the EIA
Report presents the findings of assessments in considering alternative
development options (including extent, layout and design of the Project), and
alternative construction methods for the proposed Project. This section concludes with an introduction
to the preferred scenario for the proposed Project.
Section 3 Provides a description of the
Project highlighting the key facilities to be constructed, the timeline for
implementing the Project and the operational activities. This section forms the basis of the technical
assessment presented in Sections 4 – 13
below.
Section 4
Presents details of an
assessment of impacts from the construction and operation of the Project to air
quality sensitive receivers.
Section 5 Presents details of an
assessment of impacts from the construction and operation of the Projects to
noise sensitive receivers.
Section 6 Details the assessment of
impacts to water quality sensitive receivers arising from the construction and
operation of the Project.
Section 7 Presents the sewerage and
sewage treatment implications from operation of the Project.
Section 8 Presents details the waste management
implications from the construction and operation of the Project.
Section 8A Identifies
the potential land contamination problem due to historical land use of the
Project.
Section 9 Presents details of an
assessment of impact from the construction and operation of the Project to
terrestrial and aquatic ecological resources.
Section 10 Details the assessment of
impacts to fisheries resources and fishing operations arising from the
construction and operation of the Project.
Section 11 Presents the details of an
assessment of impacts from the construction and operation of the Project to
landscape and visual sensitive receivers.
Section 12 Presents the details of landfill
gas hazard assessment of the Project.
Section 13 Presents the hazard to life assessment
from the construction and operation of the Project.
Section 14 Introduces a summary of the
environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) measures for the Project.
Section 15 Presents a summary of the
environmental outcomes of the EIA Study.