Contents
1.1 Purpose of the Report
2.1 Project Area
2.2 Environmental Sensitive Receivers
2.3 Major Construction Activities
2.4 Monitoring Schedule of The
Reporting Month
2.5 Status of Environmental Approval
Documents
2.6 Community Liaison Group Meeting
2.7 Summary of Non-Compliance With The
Environmental Quality Performance Limits
2.8 Summary of Environmental
Complaints
2.9 Summary of Environmental Summons
3 Environmental Issues and Actions
3.1 Previous Environmental
Deficiencies and Follow-up Actions
3.2 Description of Actions Taken in
Event of Non-Compliance and Deficiency Reporting
3.3 Implementation Status on
Environmental Protection Requirements
4.1 Air and Noise
4.2 Water Quality
4.3 POPs Monitoring
4.4 Waste Management
4.5 Cultural Heritage
4.6 Landscape and Visual
4.7 Land Contamination, Hazard to Life
and Fuel Spill Risk
4.8 Ecology
4.9 EM&A Manual
4.10 Baseline Water Quality Monitoring
5.1 Key Issues for the Next One Month
5.2 Impact Prediction for the Next One
Month
5.3 Works and Monitoring Schedule for
the Next One Month
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Summary
of Works Undertaken During the Reporting Period
Table 2.2 Cumulative Quantity of Excavated
Materials up to 31st March 2008
Table 2.3 Summary of Environmental
Licensing, Notification and Permit Status
LIST OF ANNEXES
Annex A Project Location
Annex B Water Quality Monitoring Stations, Water Quality and Ecological Sensitive Receivers
Annex C Monitoring Schedule for the
Reporting Period and Next Month
Annex D Cumulative Complaints Statistics
Annex E Implementation Programme of
Mitigation Measures
Annex F QA/QC Results of Laboratory Testing
for Suspended Solids
Annex G Impact Water Quality Monitoring Results
Annex H Monitoring Results and QA/QC Reports of Laboratory
Testing for POPs
Annex I Dolphin Sighting Records
The construction
works for the Permanent Aviation Fuel Facility resumed on 9th July
2007. This seventeenth monthly Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A)
report presents the EM&A works carried out during the period from 1st March to 31st March 2008 in
accordance with the EM&A Manual.
Breaches of all Action and Limit Levels
No exceedances of
Depth-averaged Turbidity and Depth-averaged Suspended Solids (SS) were recorded
during the monitoring month. One
exceedance of Limit Level of Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen was found on 19
March 2008. Following review of data in
accordance with the procedures specified in the EM&A Manual, this exceedance was considered due to natural
fluctuation from the
Complaint Log
No environmental
complaints were received during the reporting period.
Notifications of any Summons
and Successful Prosecutions
No environmental summon or prosecutions were received in this reporting
period.
Reporting Changes
There were no reporting changes in the reporting period.
Future Key Issues
·
It
should be noted that dredging activities have been suspended from 1st
April onwards and are tentatively scheduled to resume in September 2008; and,
·
Dust
release and suppression.
Leighton
Contractors (
The construction
works for PAFF commenced in November 2005 based upon the previous EIA (EIAO Register Number AEIAR-062-2002)
conducted and the Environmental Permit EP-139/2002
granted on the 28th August 2002.
Due to minor changes to the detailed layout of the site and the site
boundary, application for Variation to the Environmental Permit (VEP) (VEP-133/2004) was submitted to the
Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) for approval. The variation to the EP (EP-139/2002/A) was granted by the EPD in February 2004.
The decision by
the EPD to grant the above Environmental Permit was, however, subject to a Judicial
Review. The Judicial Review sided in the
favour of the DEP, as did the subsequent Judgement from the Court of Appeal
from the High Court for Judicial Review in March 2005. However, the DEP’s decision to grant the EP
was quashed by the Judgement of the Court of Final Appeal of July 2006.
The construction
works were stopped following the Judgement of the Court of Final Appeal of July
2006. As such, in order to continue with
the construction of the project, the project went through the statutory procedures
under the EIAO again with a new design in order to obtain an environmental
permit. The revised EIA was submitted in
2007 and the environmental permit (EP-262/2007)
was granted in May 2007. EP-262/2007 has been amended to EP-262/2007/A and issued by the EPD on
30 November 2007.
It should be
noted that at the time of reporting, a further Variation to the Environmental
Permit has been approved, primarily to allow for dredging works to continue
during March 2008. As such, EP-262/2007/A has been amended to EP-262/2007/B and issued by the EPD on
27 February 2008.
The construction
works and EM&A requirements were resumed on 9th July 2007
following the latest requirements of the EP-262/2007/B
and EM&A Manual. Details regarding the EM&A requirements
and changes should refer to the updated EM&A
Manual. For the marine works, all
piling activities were completed before the previous suspension of construction
works in 2006.
This is the seventeenth EM&A Report which
summarizes the monitoring results and audit findings for the EM&A programme
during the reporting period from 1st
March to 31st March 2008.
The project area
is in Area 38 of Tuen Mun and the pipelines are located in
No air and noise
sensitive receivers were identified close to the project area. However, water sensitive receivers and
ecological sensitive receivers were identified in the EIA study, and are shown
in Annex B.
A summary of the
major works undertaken in this reporting period is shown in Table 2.1. Table
2.2 presented the cumulative quantity of excavated materials up to 31st
March 2008. The cumulative dredging
volume during the reporting period was presented in Figure 2.1.
Table 2.1 Summary
of Works Undertaken During the Reporting Period
Area |
Works
undertaken |
Tuen Mun Area 38 |
Tank Farm and Bund Wall Construction Permanent Drainage Construction Operational & Fire Services Buildings
Construction Jetty Works (Non-piling) |
Submarine |
Dredging Operations |
Table 2.2 Cumulative
Quantity of Excavated Materials up to 31st March 2008
Type of Excavated Materials |
Cumulative Bulk Volume (m3) |
Contaminated
Mud |
105,974 |
Uncontaminated
Mud |
97,815 |
Daily water quality monitoring during dredging
activities was conducted during the monitoring period. The monitoring schedule on March 2008 is
presented in Annex C.
A summary of the relevant permits, licences, and/or
notifications on environmental protection for this Project since July 2007 is
presented in Table 2.3.
Table 2.3 Summary
of Environmental Licensing, Notification and Permit Status
Permit/ Licenses/ Notification |
Reference |
Validity
Period |
Remarks |
Environmental
Permit |
EP-262/2007/B |
Throughout
Project |
Issued
on 27 February 2008 (EP-262/2007/A on
30 November 2007, EP-262/2007
issued on 31 May 2007, EP-139/2002
originally granted on 28 August 2002 and EP-139/2002/A
granted on 24 February 2004 were superseded) |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
Chemical
Waste Producer Registration |
WPN 5111-421-L2174-25 |
Throughout
Project |
Issued
on 10 November 2005 |
Notification
of Construction Works under Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust)
Regulation |
H2104/U1D/5542/DG/DH/PL |
Throughout
Project |
Notification
on 6 July 2007 |
Construction
Noise Permit |
GW-RW0676-07 |
21
December 2007 to 19 June 2008 |
For
land-based works including air compressors, breakers, excavators, wheeled
loaders, mobile cranes, concrete lorry mixers, hand-held pokers, bar
benders/cutters, wood saws, grinders, submarine water pump, lorries with
crane, dump trucks, rollers, ventilation fans and generators |
|
GW-RW0677-07 |
21
December 2007 to 29 February 2008 |
For
marine dredging operation including grab dredger, tug boat, split hopper
barge and motor sampan |
|
GW-RW0678-07 |
21
December 2007 to 18 June 2008 |
For
marine jetty works including concrete pump derrick barges, hand-held
grinders, generators, air compressors, boring machines, water pumps, tug
boat, grout mixers and grout pumps |
|
GW-RW0094-08 |
1
March to 31 March 2008 |
For
marine dredging operation including grab dredger, tug boat, split hopper
barge and motor sampan |
Marine
Dumping Permit |
EP/MD/08-064 |
13
December 2007 to 29 February 2008 |
For
Type 1 – Open Sea Disposal |
|
EP/MD/08-065 |
13
December 2007 to 12 January 2008 |
For
Type 1d & Type 2 marine disposal |
|
EP/MD/08-071 |
13
January 2008 to 12 February 2008 |
For
Type 1d & Type 2 marine disposal |
|
EP/MD/08-090 |
3
March to 31 March 2008 |
For
Type 1d & Type 2 marine disposal |
|
EP/MD/08-091 |
3
March to 31 March 2008 |
For
Type 1 – Open Sea Disposal |
Wastewater
Discharge License |
EP760/421/011399/l |
15 March 2006 to 31 March 2011 |
Issued
on 15 March 2006 |
According to the EP requirements, a Community Liaison
Group (CLG) shall be established within three months after commencement of
construction of the Project. The major
duty of the CLG is to advise on and monitor the proper design, construction and
operation of the Project. The CLG
comprises representatives from Airport Authority, members of Tuen Mun community
and academics. During the reporting
month, a meeting was organised by the CLG on 7 March 2008.
The details of the CLG (including
Membership and its Terms of Reference) and the meeting minutes can be found on
the Project website (http://www.paffhk.com).
There was
exceedance of the Limit Level of Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen (DO) on the 19
March 2008. Such exceedance is discussed
in Section 3.2.
No environmental
complaints were received during the reporting period. A summary of environmental complaints since
project commencement is presented in Annex D.
No summons were
received in this reporting period. A
summary of legal proceeding since project commencement is presented in Annex D.
As no environmental
complaint was received over the last reporting period, no follow-up action was
required.
Weekly site
inspections were carried out by the ET on 5, 14, 20 and 28 March 2008. Overall, the site was in good orderly manner
and no non-compliance was found. Environmental
deficiencies and follow-up actions/mitigation measures were identified during
the inspections, as follows:
Air Quality
·
Water tankers were used regularly to wet the road surface to minimize
dust emission.
·
Site entrance was paved and wheel-washing facility was provided to avoid
dust deposit on the public road.
·
Main access road within the site (between site office and exit) was
paved to avoid dust emission. Other
sections of the major access road in the construction area were paved with
stones.
·
During the site inspection on 14 March 2008, sand piles were observed to
be temporarily stored near the operation building under construction. The contractor was recommended to cover the
unused sand piles with impervious sheets to avoid wind erosion.
Noise
·
No noisy activities were conducted during the audit.
·
All air compressors on site were operated with a valid noise label.
Water Quality
·
During the site inspection on 28 March 2008, sediment plumes were
spotted on seawater near the seawall opposite from the operation building. While no such observation was identified in
the subsequent inspection, investigations revealed that the incident could be
contributed by uncontrolled storm water releases from other operations that
share the discharge pipe. The contractor
was recommended to maintain good site practices and avoid soil and sediment
runoff into sewers.
·
Site toilets were provided on site.
A soil soakaway system with holding tanks was installed to treat the
sewage from the toilets. No effluent
discharge out of the site was made.
Waste Management
·
During the site
inspection on 14 and 20 March 2008, piles of general and wood wastes from
construction works at the operation building were piled up on open areas
without proper containers. The
Contractor was recommended to arrange a suitable waste bin for temporary
collection of wastes in accordance to the waste management plan developed from
the approved EIA.
·
During the site
visit on 5 and 20 March 2008, chemical waste bins in the chemical waste storage
were not labelled properly. The
Contractor was recommended to ensure proper chemical management in accordance
with the procedures presented in the EIA.
·
During the site
visit on 28 March 2008, chemical waste bin on the dredger GD31 was not properly
positioned. The Contractor was
recommended to ensure proper chemical management in accordance with the
procedures presented in the EIA.
Landscape and Visual
·
The transplanted
trees at the new site were in good and healthy condition; and,
·
The berm was
habilitated by vegetation.
Overall, the site
was in a good orderly manner. The ET
will keep track on the EM&A programme to ensure compliance of environmental
requirements and the proper implementation of all necessary mitigation
measures.
Water quality
monitoring during dredging activities recorded one exceedance of Limit Level of
Depth-averaged DO on Impact Station MPB2 during mid-ebb tidal condition on 19
March 2008. Details of exceedance were
presented in the monitoring results Annex G.
Although dredging
operations were undertaken during the reporting period, the exceedances were
unlikely to be caused by the Project and were considered to be an isolated case
due to the following reasons:
·
No
exceedance of AL Levels of other parameters (ie Bottom DO, SS and Turbidity) of
all Impact Stations during the same tidal period
·
No
exceedance of AL Levels of all parameters of all Impact Stations during the subsequent
monitoring period
The exceedance
was hence considered to be isolated case and may be due to the regional natural
fluctuation.
As per the
requirements of the EM&A Manual,
incident was notified to the Franchisee’s Site Representative, the Contractor
and the Independent Environmental Checker upon identification of an exceedance.
The
implementation status of environmental mitigation measures and requirements as
stated in the EIA Report, Environmental Permits and EM&A Manual during the reporting
period is summarized in Annex
E.
Air and Noise
monitoring is not required for the project.
In accordance to
the EM&A Manual, during dredging activities, water quality monitoring
commenced on 17 December 2007. QA/QC reports for Suspended Solids testing are
presented in Annex F. Monitoring data and graphical
presentations of the results are included in Annex G.
Results of the
monitoring demonstrated that all measured dissolved oxygen levels of all Impact
Stations were compliant with the Action and Limit (AL) Levels specified in the EM&A Manual with the exception of
depth-averaged DO on Station MPB2 during mid-ebb tidal condition on 19 March
2008. A review of the exceedance
concluded that this was not attributable to Project works and was likely due to
natural variation (see Section 3.2
for further details). All measured
Turbidity and Suspended Solids (SS) were compliant with the Action and Limit
(AL) Levels during the reporting month.
Biweekly
monitoring of water samples was conducted for POPs analysis. At the time of this report, results were
available for 20 February and 10 March 2008.
All POPs parameters (ie total PCBs, total DDTs and total PAHs) were
below detection limits. Monitoring
results and QA/QC reports for POPs
testing are presented in Annex H.
The remaining
results of February’s monitoring will be presented in the next Monthly Monitoring Report once they
become available.
A marine
archaeological Watching Brief of two sub-surface anomalies was implemented from
21st to 28th February 2008. No archaeological sites or relics were found
and it is considered by the licensed Marine Archaeologist that the anomalies
have no cultural heritage significance.
No additional mitigation measures were thus required to be implemented
by the PAFF project in regard to the anomalies SS1 and SS2.
The details and
findings of this watching process will be presented in the Watching Brief Report and submitted separately to EPD and AMO for
review.
According to the EIA report and EM&A Manual, mitigation measures and site inspection are
required during the landscaping/planting works.
The berm/landscaping bund was habilitated by vegetation which was grown
during the project suspension period.
The transplanted trees were in good and healthy condition.
The weekly site
inspections included audits on landscape and visual issues to ensure that the
site was in orderly acceptable manner.
According to the
EIA report and EM&A Manual, mitigation measures and design phase audit are
required to minimise the risk of fuel spill and hazards. The Contractor will
submit the updated design audit plan according to the EP requirements.
Pursuant to Condition 3.5 of the EP, the Contractor
submitted three design drawings which address the specific sub-clauses on Condition 3.5a of the EP concerning the
containment systems of aviation fuel storage tank farm. The ET and the IEC have provided certification
and verification to the drawings respectively and the drawings were submitted
to the EPD on 7 November 2007.
Weekly site
inspection covered the waste management aspects which included measures to
prevent land contamination by chemical wastes.
In accordance
with EM&A Manual, dolphin
monitoring has been undertaken during dredging activities since 17 December
2007. During the reporting period, a
total of seven dolphin sightings were recorded.
Appropriate action was taken in accordance with the EM&A Manual. The
sighting locations and field records are presented in Annex I.
The EM&A Manual for the Project has been
updated by the ET to include the detailed arrangements of setting up a
Community Liaison Group, carrying out design audit, and monitoring of
Persistent Organic Pollutants during construction of the Project. The updated EM&A Manual was revised
accordingly to the comments received from the EPD on 6 December 2007 and was
submitted to the EPD on 10 December 2007.
Comments were received from the EPD on 22 January 2008. The ET will update the EM&A Manual accordingly within the next reporting period.
Baseline water
quality monitoring was conducted between 24 October and 30 October 2007 at six
designated monitoring stations (three impact stations and three control
stations) established for the Project in accordance with the EM&A Manual. The Final Baseline Monitoring Report was submitted to the EPD on 21
November and comments were received from the EPD on 6th
December. A revised Final Baseline Monitoring Report was submitted to the EPD on 20th
February 2008 with no further comments received and later placed under the EIAO
register.
It should be
noted that dredging activities have been suspended from 1st April
onwards and are tentatively scheduled to resume in September 2008. No dredging operation will be undertaken in
the next reporting period. As such, a
key issue to be considered in the next one month will be:
·
Dust
release and suppression.
Provided that
environmental mitigation measures including good on-site practises are properly
implemented, it is not expected that unacceptable adverse impacts will arise.
Work programme
for the next one month includes jetty platform works (non-piling) and site
works (construction works for tank farm, operational and fire services
buildings, drainages, bund wall, security wall etc). Weekly site inspections will be
undertaken.