List of tables
Table 17.1 Summary of Key Environmental Outcomes and Benefits
LIST OF
Appendices
|
Key
Assessment Assumptions and Limitation of Assessment Methodologies |
|
|
Summary of
Environmental Impacts |
，
Air
Quality;
，
Airborne
Noise;
，
Ground-borne
Noise;
，
Water
Quality;
，
Sewerage
and Sewage Treatment Implications;
，
Waste
Management Implications;
，
Land
Contamination;
，
Ecology
(Terrestrial and Aquatic);
，
Fisheries;
，
Landscape
and Visual;
，
Cultural
Heritage; and
，
Hazard
to life.
Table 17.1 Summary of Key Environmental
Outcomes and Benefits
|
Environmental
/ Social Benefits of the Project |
， Provide a more efficient and environmental friendly railway services to the existing
and future communities in Northwestern New Territories to encourage greater
use of the whole railway system, by enhancing coverage, and thereby improving
the mobility and transport connections to the existing TML and EAL,
alleviating traffic congestion, which in turns reducing the road traffic
noise and vehicular emissions; and ， Unleash the development potential of the
Northwestern New Territories. |
|
Environmentally Friendly Design and Options |
， Avoidance / Minimisation of aboveground
encroachment to ecological sensitive areas (e.g. Mai
Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site, Sha Po Marsh, WCA, WBA and Country Park); ， Adoption of environmentally friendly
construction method (e.g. MiC
and DfMA) to minimize the impacts to surrounding
receivers; ， Adopt underground scheme and proper design (i.e. decking at NTD and noise canopies at the trough area) to avoid/minimise the operational airborne rail noise impact; ， Adoption of proactive measures to avoid
illegal dumping; ， Implementation of environmental monitoring
and auditing system; and ， Integration of sustainability initiatives (e.g. green roof and photovoltaic panels for power
generation) into architectural design during design stage. |
|
Air
Quality Impact |
Construction Phase ， Major potential air quality impacts during
the construction works of the Project would be construction dust arising from
site clearance, site formation, demolition works, excavation, tunnelling
works, backfilling, spoil handling, vehicle movement on haul roads,
mucking-out activities, and wind erosion of exposed works sites. ， With the implementation of recommended dust
suppression measures including regular watering on active works areas,
exposed areas, unpaved haul roads and unloading point of spoils generated by
TBM excavation; provision of hoarding; installation of blast door; provision
of filtration system with watering and dust collector at ventilation exhaust
for tunneling works by drill-and-blast; and mitigation measures specified in
the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation and EM&A
programme, it is anticipated that there would be no significant dust impact
on the air sensitive receivers. Operational Phase ， No
adverse air quality impact is expected from the operation of the Project with
emission free electric-powered rail system. The Non-Road Mobile Machinery to
be used within NTD would also comply with relevant standards and requirements
and therefore no significant air quality impact is anticipated. |
|
Airborne
Noise Impact |
Construction Phase ， Potential construction noise impacts
arising from the operation of powered mechanical equipment (PME) are
expected. Mitigation measures
including adoption of quieter construction methods, good site practice, quiet
PMEs (including Quality Powered Mechanical Equipment (QPME)) and temporary
movable noise barriers/noise enclosures/noise insulating
fabric/silencer/soundproof hammer bracket, as well as avoidance of noisy
construction works during the examination periods where necessary, have been
proposed. The assessment results indicated that the mitigated
noise levels at all NSRs would comply with the construction noise criterion
as set out in EIAO-TM. Operational Phase (Fixed Noise) ，
Maximum
allowable sound power levels (SWLs) emitted from planned fixed plant were
predicted. Proper selection of
quiet plant and adoption of acoustic treatment were recommended for
compliance at existing and planned NSRs with the respective noise criteria. Operational Phase (Rail Noise) ，
The NOL alignment would be located underground
except a short trough section at the tunnel portal connecting to NTD. The trough section has been minimised
and would be covered with noise canopies and vertical louvre walls with natural ventilation feature.
Considering the train speed and train frequency are relatively low at the
trough section and there would be no direct line of sight from any NSRs to
the airborne railway noise sources at the trough section and NTD, adverse
airborne railway noise impact due to the operation of the Project is
therefore not anticipated. |
|
Ground-borne
Noise Impact |
Construction
Phase
， Potential
ground-borne noise impacts would be induced by the use of PME and TBM during
tunnelling works. Assessment results demonstrated the compliance of daytime
criteria at the representative GBNSRs, while exceedance was predicted at a
planned school site during examination period. Close liaison with the
representatives of the education institution and avoidance of TBM operation
during the examination period is recommended. Operational
Phase
， With the
installation of Type 1a (Alt 1) trackform,
compliance of noise criteria at the representative GBNSRs was predicted, and
thus no adverse operational ground-borne noise impacts would be anticipated. ， Nevertheless,
it is recommended to review the ground-borne noise predictions based on the
findings of tunnel impact test to be conducted after the completion of tunnel
construction. Cumulative
Operational Ground-borne Noise Impact
， Potential
cumulative impacts were evaluated and no adverse
impacts would be anticipated. |
|
Water
Quality Impact |
Construction
Phase
， Water quality
impacts from the construction activities would be controlled by implementing
the recommended mitigation measures and good site practices. Regular site
inspections would be carried out to minimise water quality impacts.
Operational
Phase
， Proper sewage
and wastewater collection and diversion, and best management practices for
stormwater discharge will be adopted for the Project to minimise the
potential water quality impact during operational phase. |
|
Sewerage
and Sewage Treatment Implications |
， Liaison with
concurrent projects at the vicinity will be conducted for proper arrangement
of sewerage interfaces to reduce potential sewerage impact. |
|
Waste
Management Implications |
， The main waste types to be generated during
the construction phase of the Project will include inert and non-inert
construction and demolition (C&D) materials, general refuse, chemical
waste and excavated land-based sediment. Reduction measures have been
recommended to minimise the amount of materials
generated by the Project by reusing C&D materials and excavated sediment
as far as practicable before offsite disposal, and adopting good site
practices. Provided that the waste is properly handled, transported and
disposed of in accordance with good waste management practices, relevant
legislation and waste management guidelines, no adverse environmental impacts
would be expected. Operational
Phase ， The main waste types to be generated during
the operational phase of the Project will include municipal solid waste and
chemical waste. Provided that the waste is properly handled, transported and
disposed of using approved methods, no adverse environmental impacts would be
expected. |
|
Land
Contamination |
，
Further site appraisal,
associated SI works and any necessary remediation action are recommended to
be carried out after site operation has ceased but prior to the commencement
of construction works by mean of excavation at the concerned sites. The recommended further works,
including the submission of Supplementary
CAP(s), CAR(s) / RAP(s) and RR(s), would need to follow EPD¨s Guidance
Manual, Guidance Note and Practice Guide. ，
With the implementation of the recommended further works, any soil /
groundwater contamination would be identified and properly treated. Land contamination impacts are
therefore considered not insurmountable. |
|
Terrestrial
and Aquatic Ecology |
Construction
Phase
，
Habitats
identified within the assessment area include developed area/wasteland,
grassland, shrubland, mixed woodland, woodland, dry agricultural land,
marsh/reed, pond, watercourse, village/orchard. Egretries
and ardeid night roosts with ecological resources such as Little Egrets and
Chinese Pond Herons habituating are also identified within assessment area. ，
Direct
impacts include the loss of marsh/reed with moderate ecological value, loss
of a bat day-roost in Pok Wai Public School and potential direct
injury/mortality of the roosting bats, if any, terrestrial habitats and
impacts on the associated species. Indirect impacts include disturbances to
ecological sensitive resources, water quality and hydrology. ， With the implementation of mitigation measures including noise and glare reduction measures, bat inspection before commencement of demolition of the deserted Pok Wai Public School, installation of bat exclusion devices, provision of bat shelter and compensatory wetland, adoption of site hoarding and barriers, careful arrangement of work programme to avoid noisy construction activities near the Kam Po Road Egretry during breeding season as far as practicable, control of working hours to avoid noisy construction activities within buffer zone from the Kam Po Road night roost with due consideration of peak time return of ardeids to night roost, and good site practices to control construction runoff, no unacceptable ecological impacts are anticipated to arise from the construction of the Project. Operational Phase ，
With
the provision of glare reduction measures and careful landscape design to
avoid tall landscape plants in the green roof system at Stations, no
unacceptable ecological impacts are anticipated from the operation of the
Project. |
|
Fisheries
Impact |
，
With
the implementation of water quality and groundwater drawdown control
measures, unacceptable residual impacts would not be anticipated during both
construction and operational phases.
|
|
Landscape
and Visual |
，
Approximately
6,168 existing trees were estimated within proposed works sites and areas, of
which trees will not be affected by the proposed works will be
retained, while trees will be directly
affected by the proposed works will be proposed to be removed or proposed to
be transplanted as appropriate. There are neither OVT, rare species nor
endangered species affected by the proposed works, and the surveyed trees
mainly are common tree species with some rare species identified and are in
fair quality and medium sensitivity. ， Opportunities for tree compensation have been fully explored and incorporated in the proposed mitigation measures as much as practicable. During the course of EIA study, potential sites for on-site and off-site tree compensation were identified/studied in consultation with relevant stakeholders (relevant government departments including DEVB, ArchSD, HA/HD, HyD, LCSD, AFCD, CEDD and LandsD etc.). The exact number of trees to be retained, transplanted and felled as well as the associated compensation proposal would be further explored with the consideration of available areas for tree planting and operation constraints during the preparation of a detailed Tree Preservation and Removal Proposals (TPRPs) in accordance with LAO Practice Note 6/2023 to be submitted to relevant government departments in later stage of the Project with an aim to achieve a tree compensation ratio of 1:1 in terms of number as far as practicable. ，
Although
the Project will have certain adverse landscape and visual impacts, they will
be mitigated as far as practicable by appropriate mitigation measures with
both on-site and off-site compensatory planting. In view of the above, it is
considered that, with the implementation of the appropriate mitigation
measures such as tree transplanting, aesthetically pleasing design of
aboveground structures, compensatory tree planting and landscape treatments
on slope of retaining structure, the overall residual landscape impacts are
minimised to marginally acceptable level, and the overall residual visual
impacts are minimised to acceptable level during the construction and
operational phases of the Project. |
|
Cultural
Heritage |
Built Heritage ，
A total of two other identified items (i.e. Pok Wai Public School and Fung Kat Vegetable
Marketing Co-operative Society Ltd.) within the project area would be
anticipated to be demolished unavoidably and preservation in means of
cartographic and photographic record and other documentation means (including
3D scanning) prior to the commencement of construction works at the
respective area are recommended. ， Indirect impact would include disturbance to the other identified item (i.e. San Yau Vegetable Marketing Co-operative Society Ltd.) due to ground-borne vibration, settlement and tilting during construction phase. Monitoring of ground-borne vibration, tilting and ground settlement under Buildings Ordinance is proposed to be employed for this identified item that may be impacted by ground-borne vibration, tilting and ground settlement. Archaeology
，
Archaeological survey-cum-excavation at Long
Ha Archaeologically Sensitive Area (ASA) and Ngau Tam Mei ASA, further
archaeological investigation at NTM-TP3, and further archaeological survey at the south
of SAT Station to be undertaken by archaeologist(s) at later stages after
land resumption and before commencement of site formation and construction
works is recommended. Scope, methodology and programme of the archaeological
fieldwork should be agreed with AMO in advance. ，
Archaeological watching brief at the northwest
of SAT Station to be carried out by archaeologist(s) during the course of
excavation works is recommended.
The details of watching brief should be agreed with AMO in advance. ，
If
antiquities or supposed antiquities under the Antiquities and Monuments
Ordinance (Cap. 53) are discovered during the construction phase, the project
proponent is required to inform AMO immediately for discussion of appropriate
mitigation measures to be agreed by AMO before implementation by the project
proponent to the satisfaction of AMO. |
|
Hazard
to Life |
，
According
to the latest information available, AT WTW has been delisted and will no
longer classified as a Potentially Hazardous Installations, no hazard-to-life
concerns are anticipated. ，
Given that
the proper design and maintenance of the blasting face and provision of blast
door or cover, together with the fact that the blasting would be conducted
inside the tunnel section and with the blast cover shut, the associated risk
for the use of explosives at drill-and-blast tunnel and underground tunnel
sections would be well within the acceptable region. ，
The risk for the use of explosives is within
｀acceptable¨ region, while the risks for overnight storage and transportation
of explosives slightly entered the ＾ALARP￣ region. ，
The
individual risk due to the use, overnight storage and transport of explosives
complies with the criteria in EIAO-TM and therefore is considered acceptable. ，
The
cumulative risk from the use, overnight storage and transport of explosives
falls within the ALARP region of stipulated criteria under EIAO-TM. A cost-benefit analysis has been
undertaken to consider a range of options of alternatives (e.g.
methods of construction, magazine sites, explosive types and quantities,
etc.) and mitigation measures to demonstrate that all reasonably practicable
measures have been taken to reduce risks. ，
Good practices are recommended to further
manage and minimize the potential risks during construction phase of the
Project. |