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Release
Dredging
and dumping of mud from Central Reclamation Phase III under control
In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) said today (October 9) that measures
have been put in place to control the environmental impact of the
dredging and dumping of mud from the Central Reclamation Phase III
project.
The spokesman said the project had gone through the statutory environmental
impact assessment (EIA) process. The public and the Advisory Council
on the Environment were consulted on the EIA before endorsement.
The EIA concluded that with the implementation of the recommended
mitigation measures, the amount of contamination released from marine
sediments during dredging should be minimal and not result in any
adverse impacts on the surrounding waters.
An Environmental Monitoring and Audit Programme is in place to ensure
that the environmental impact resulting from the project is kept
to within acceptable levels.
The mitigation measures include providing silt curtains around the
dredging sites, controlling the dredging rate, using closed grab
dredgers, etc.
The dredged contaminated mud would be disposed of at the special
seabed pits at East Sha Chau using the confined aquatic disposal
method.
"As the recent court hearing did not grant an injunction, we do
not anticipate any problem with issuing permits under the Dumping
At Sea Ordinance for the disposal of contaminated mud from the project
site at the East Sha Chau Contaminated Mud Disposal Site.
"A long-term extensive environmental monitoring programme has been
put in place since the early 1990s. It consists of water quality,
sediment and biota monitoring, together with a risk assessment on
the impact on dolphins and humans.
"No adverse environmental impact has been detected," the spokesman
noted.
The report on the results of the monitoring programme was submitted
to the Scientific Group Meeting of the International Maritime Organisation
(IMO) in May 2002.
The report was well received without dispute from participants of
the Meeting including Greenpeace International.
The spokesman said: "A team from the Civil Engineering Department
is stationed on site at East Sha Chau to ensure strict disposal
procedures and depth filling level are followed and observed.
"The daily disposal rate is also regulated to ensure no impact from
excessive dumping. Capping of the pit is practised to prevent dispersion
of the contaminated mud from the pit.
"Only specified vessels are allowed to carry out the dumping operation.
The barges are equipped with satellite based Automatic Self-Monitoring
Devices to prevent short dumping."
End/Thursday, October 9, 2003
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