Contents

Executive summary

1                      Introduction

1.1                   Purpose of the Report

1.2                   Key Contact Information

2                      Environmental Status

2.1                   Project Area

2.2                   Environmental Sensitive Receivers

2.3                   Major Construction Activities

2.4                   Monitoring Schedule of The Reporting Period

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                      Environmental Monitoring

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                      Future Key Issues and Conclusion

5.1                   Key Issues for the Next Reporting Period

5.2                   Impact Prediction for the Next Reporting Period

5.3                   Works and Monitoring Schedule for the Next Reporting
Period

5.4                   Conclusion

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1        Contact
Information

Table 2.1        Summary
of Works Undertaken During the Reporting Period

Table 2.2        Cumulative
Quantity of Excavated Materials up to 30 September 2008

Table 2.2        Summary
of Environmental Licensing, Notification and Permit Status

Table 3.1        Environmental
Deficiencies (Observations) from Site Inspections during Reporting Period

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

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The construction
works for the Permanent Aviation Fuel Facility resumed on 9 July 2007.  This seventh quarterly Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A)
report presents the EM&A work carried out during the period from 1 July to 30 September 2008 in accordance with the EM&A Manual.

Breaches of all Action and Limit Levels

Exceedance of the Action Limit Level for
Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen (DO) was found on 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12
September 2008 while exceedance of the
Action Limit Level for Bottom DO was found on 9, 10, 11 and 12 September
2008.  Exceedance
of Action Level of Suspended Solids was found on 4 and 18 September 2008.  Following review of data in accordance
with the procedures specified with the
EM&A Manual, these exceedances were
considered likely due to natural fluctuation from the Pearl
River discharge rather than the Project Works.

Complaint Log

No environmental
complaint was received during the reporting period.

Notifications of any Summons
and Successful Prosecutions

No environmental summon or prosecutions was received in this reporting
period.

Reporting Changes

There were no reporting changes in the reporting period.

Future Key Issues

·
Dust
release and suppression;

·
Dredging
activities; and

·
Water
quality monitoring and dolphin monitoring during dredging activities.

1
Introduction

Leighton
Contractors (Asia) Limited (LCAL) has
appointed ERM-Hong Kong, Limited (ERM) as the Environmental Team (ET) to
implement the Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) programme for the
Permanent Aviation Fuel Facility (the Project) during construction works.

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 EPD in February 2004.

However, the
decision by EPD to grant the above Environmental Permit was 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 EP262/2007/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 resumed on 9 July 2007 following the latest requirements
of the EP-262/2007 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.

1.1
Purpose of the
Report

This is the seventh EM&A Report which
summarizes the monitoring results and audit findings for the EM&A programme
during the reporting period from 1 July to
30 September 2008.

1.2
Key Contact
Information

Key contact
information of the Project is presented in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1        Contact
Information

Name

Position

Telephone

Facsimile

E-mail

Airport
Authority Hong Kong – Environmental
Permit Holder

Mr Amin Ebrahim

Assistant
General Manager Aviation Logistics

2183 3108

2824 2786

[email-masked]

Contractor
– Leighton (Asia) Construction Limited

Brian Gillon

Project
Director

2823 1111

2529 8784

[email-masked]

Boyd Merrett

Project
Manager

2404 8900

2404 0081

[email-masked]

Franchisee’s
Site Representative – ECO Aviation Fuel Development Limited

Philip Siu

Franchisee’s
Site Representative

2963 2820

2563 6311

[email-masked]

Environmental
Team – ERM-Hong Kong Limited

Craig Reid

Environmental
Team Leader

2271 3000

2723 5660

[email-masked]

Independent
Environmental Checker – Hyder Consulting
Limited

Dr Kwok-leung Pun

Independent
Environmental Checker

2911 2233

2805 5028

[email-masked]

2
Environmental
Status

2.1
Project Area

The project area
is in Area 38 of Tuen Mun
and the pipelines are located in Urmston
Road between Tuen Mun Area 38 and Sha Chau.  The site is illustrated in Annex
A.

2.2
Environmental
Sensitive Receivers

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.

2.3
Major
Construction Activities

A summary of the major
works undertaken in this reporting period is shown in Table 2.1.
Dredging operation has been suspended from 1 April to 31 August 2008 and
was resumed on 1 September 2008.  Table
2.2 presented the cumulative quantity of excavated materials up to 30
September 2008.  Daily and
cumulative dredging production rates are illustrated 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 Pipeline Route

Dredging Operations

Table 2.2        Cumulative
Quantity of Excavated Materials up to 30 September 2008

Type of Excavated
Materials

Cumulative Bulk Volume (m3)

From 17
December 2007 to 31 March 2008

Contaminated
Mud

105,974

Uncontaminated
Mud

97,815

From 1
September to 30 September 2008

Contaminated
Mud

3,107

Uncontaminated
Mud

0

2.4
Monitoring
Schedule of The Reporting Period

Daily water quality monitoring during dredging activities
(except public holidays and weekends) recommenced on 1 September 2008.  The monitoring schedule conducted in
September 2008 is presented in Annex C.

2.5
Status
of Environmental Approval Documents

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 2.2        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

GW-RW0312-08

04 July 2008 to 22 December 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-RW0313-08

04 July 2008 to 19 December 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-RW0373-08

1 August 2008 to 20 January 2009

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, generators, stirrer, jet chisel, water jet machine and
dehumidifier

GW-RW0368-08

1 September to 30 November 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

EP/MD/09-018

1 September to 30 September 2008

For Type 1d & Type 2 marine
disposal

EP/MD/09-032

1 October to 31 October 2008

For Type 1d & Type 2 marine
disposal

EP/MD/09-017

1 September to 30 November 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

2.6
Community Liaison
Group Meeting

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 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 10 September 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).

2.7
Summary of non-compliance with the environmental
quality performance limits

Water quality
monitoring during dredging activities recorded exceedances of the Action Limit Level for
Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen (DO) on 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 September
2008.  There were exceedances of the Action Limit Level for Bottom DO on 9,
10, 11 and 12 September 2008.  Exceedance of Action Level of Suspended Solids was found on
4 and 18 September 2008.  A
description of the actions taken following these non-compliances is discussed
in Section 3.2.

2.8
Summary of
Environmental Complaints

No environmental complaint was received during the reporting
period.  A statistical summary of
environmental complaints since project commencement is presented in Annex D.

2.9
Summary of
Environmental Summons

No summons was
received in this reporting period.
A statistical summary of legal proceeding since project commencement is
presented in Annex D.

3
Environmental
Issues and Actions

3.1
Previous
Environmental Deficiencies and Follow-up Actions

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 4, 10, 18, and 24 July 2008, 1, 8, 15,
and 29 August 2008, and 5, 12, 18, and 26 September 2008.  Overall, the site was in good orderly
manner and no non-compliances were found.
Environmental deficiencies and follow-up actions/mitigation measures
were identified during the inspections and summarised in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1        Environmental
Deficiencies (Observations) from Site Inspections during Reporting Period

Reporting Month

Observation

Follow-up Action

July 2008

Chemical waste storage
area was observed to be full.

Contractor
arranged chemical waste collection.

General waste
skips were observed to be full near the oil pumping facility and the
operation building.

Contractor arranged
more frequent collection of general wastes.

Stagnant water
pools were observed at some locations on site.

Contractor
arranged clearance of stagnant water pools.

Oil sheens were
observed on the ground in the workshop and near the diesel storage tank.

Contractor
arranged clearance of oil sheens and provided spillage control measures.

August 2008

Stagnant water
pools were observed at some locations on site.

Contractor arranged
clearance of stagnant water pools.

Tank wall
preparatory works were observed to be generating excessive dust without
mitigation measures.

Contractor
provided enclosure around dust generating works to minimize dust impact.

Dry soil materials
were piled up near the surcharge area and near the operation building.

Contractor
implemented water spraying to control wind erosion.

Sediment plume
was observed at discharge sewer in the surcharge area.

Contractor adopted
practice to settle muddy water in sedimentation tank prior to discharge.

General waste
skips were observed to be full near the tank farms and the operation
building.

Contractor
arranged more frequent collection of general wastes.

Some chemical
wastes were not properly labelled.

Contractors put
suitable labels onto chemical waste containers.

Oil sheens were
observed on ground near the tank farms.
Temporary storage of oil products and chemical wastes were not
provided with drip trays.

Contractor
cleared oil sheens and implemented spillage control measures.

September 2008

Silt curtains
were not properly installed in the dredging area.

Contractor
checked and ensured silt curtains were properly installed prior to commencement
of future dredging activities.

Sediment plumes
were observed on the rear end of hopper barge.

Contractor
stopped dredging activities, investigated the cause of sediment plumes and
ensured no further leakages of sediments from barge.

Sediment plumes
were observed in the marine area near the water discharge outlet.

Contractor
checked efficiency of sedimentation facilities and reviewed effluent
discharge arrangements.

Oil sheens were
observed on the sea surface near the operation building.

Contractor
arranged clearance of oil sheens.

General waste
skips were observed to be full near the tank farms and the operation
building.

Contractor arranged
more frequent collection of general wastes.

Chemical wastes
on the hopper barge were not stored with spillage preventive measures.

Contractor
transported chemical wastes to bunded areas on the
barge.

Oil sheens were
observed on the ground near the workshop.  Temporary storage of oil products and
chemical wastes were not provided with drip trays.

Contractor
cleared oil sheens and implemented spillage control measures.

General wastes were
piled up on the ground near the operation building.

Contractor
provided waste skips for collection of general wastes produced.

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.

3.2
Description of
Actions Taken in Event of Non-Compliance and Deficiency Reporting

Water quality monitoring
during dredging activities recorded exceedances of
the Action Limit Level for Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen (DO) on 4, 8, 9, 10,
11 and 12 September 2008.  There
were exceedances of the Action Limit Level for Bottom
DO on 9, 10, 11 and 12 September 2008.
Exceedance of the Action Level of Suspended
Solids was found on 4 and 18 September 2008.  Details of exceedance
were presented in the monitoring results as 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:

·
Exceedance of the Action Limit Level for depth-averaged DO was
found on 8 September when no dredging was undertaken. These values were
comparable to those of days with dredging operations; and,

·
Depth-averaged
Turbidity did not show the same trend of exceedances
indicating no potential relationship to a sediment plume generated by dredging
activities.

The exceedance was hence considered to be isolated case and may
likely be due to the regional natural fluctuation.

As per the
requirements of the EM&A Manual,
the incident was notified to the Franchisee’s Site Representative, the
Contractor and the Independent Environmental Checker upon identification of an exceedance.

The temporal and
spatial trend of the results collected during the impact monitoring have
been plotted against those collected during the baseline monitoring and are
discussed below.  Results are
illustrated in Figure G3 in Annex G.

Dissolved
Oxygen

During impact
monitoring, depth-averaged DO and bottom DO levels at all stations are
generally comparable with those levels recorded during the baseline
monitoring.  It is noted that there
appeared to be a decreasing trend in both DO levels at Impact Stations between
8 and 12 September, however, as this pattern was also observed in both upstream
and control stations, it is considered unlikely that these levels are
attributable to Project works.

Suspended
Solids

During impact
monitoring on the flood tide, SS levels at all stations were found to be
generally comparable with those recorded during the baseline monitoring.  An exception was noted on 4 and 18
September where maximum levels were higher than those recorded during other
monitoring events.  As levels
returned to levels comparable with other monitoring events the following day,
such fluctuations are not considered to be of a concern but rather isolated events.  Furthermore, it is noted that upstream
Control Station C2 also recorded similar high levels on 5 September at mid ebb,
indicating potentially natural fluctuations.

Based on the
above, it is likely that the waters in the vicinity of the works site are
influenced by other factors, such as natural fluctuations of DO and SS observed
in the Pearl River Estuary.

3.3
Implementation Status on Environmental Protection
Requirements

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.

4
Environmental Monitoring

4.1
Air and Noise

Air and Noise
monitoring was not required for the project.

4.2
Water Quality

In accordance to
the EM&A Manual water quality monitoring recommenced on 1 September 2008 alongside
dredging activities.  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 turbidity levels of all Impact Stations were
compliant with the Action and Limit (AL) Levels specified in the EM&A
Manual.  Exceedance
of the Action Limit Levels for Depth-averaged Dissolved Oxygen (DO) was found on
4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 September 2008 while exceedance
of the Action Limit Levels for Bottom DO was found on 9, 10, 11 and 12
September 2008.  Exceedance
of the Action Level of Suspended Solids was found on 4 and 18 September
2008.  A review of the above exceedances concluded that these were not attributable to
Project works and were likely due to natural variation (see Section 3.2 for further details).

4.3
POPs Monitoring

Biweekly
monitoring of POPs in water samples was conducted on
3 and 17 September.  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.

4.4
Waste
Management

The
Contractor’s revised Waste Management Plan (Revision 4) (WMP) was submitted
to EPD on 20 September 2007.
Pursuant to EP Condition 3.3,
the Contractor submitted the updated and revised WMP (Revision 5) to the ET.
The revised WMP has been certified by the ET and IEC.

4.5
Cultural Heritage

The Watching Brief Report, verified by the
Independent Environmental Checker, was submitted to the EPD and AMO on 9 May
2008.

4.6
Landscape
and Visual

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 dominated 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.

4.7
Land
Contamination, Hazard to Life and Fuel Spill Risk

The ET and IEC
verified updated design audit plan was 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.

4.8
Ecology

Dolphin
Visual Monitoring

In accordance
with EM&A Manual, dolphin monitoring
has been undertaken during dredging activities since 1 September 2008.  During the reporting period, a total of
11 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.

4.9
EM&A Manual

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 (POPs) during
construction of the Project.  No
further actions regarding the EM&A
manual were required during the reporting period.

4.10
Baseline Water
Quality Monitoring

The Final Baseline Monitoring Report was submitted to the EPD on 20 February
2008 and placed under the EIAO register.

5
Future Key Issues
and Conclusion

5.1
Key Issues for
the Next Reporting Period

Key issues to be
considered in the next one month will be:

·
Dust
release and suppression;

·
Operation
of dredging activities; and,

·
Water
quality monitoring and dolphin monitoring during the dredging activities.

5.2
Impact Prediction for the
Next Reporting Period

Provided that
environmental mitigation measures including good on-site practises are properly
implemented, it is not expected that unacceptable adverse impact will arise.

Based on the
water quality monitoring results recorded to date, it may be expected that
further exceedances in Dissolved Oxygen and possibly
Suspended Solids may be recorded.
However, as with those recorded so far, it is not expected that such exceedances would be attributable to Project Works.

5.3
Works and Monitoring
Schedule for the Next Reporting
Period

Work programme for
the next reporting period includes jetty platform works (non-piling), site
works (construction works for tank farm, operational and fire services
buildings, pump platform, drainages, bund wall, security wall etc) and dredging
operation.  Weekly site inspections
will be undertaken in accordance with the EM&A
Manual.

5.4
Conclusion

The EM&A
works were conducted throughout the construction period and the relevant
monitoring was conducted in accordance with the EP’s requirements.  Mitigation measures were used to
minimise the environmental impacts, where appropriate.  Some environmental deficiencies were
observed during the site inspections and the Contractor implemented corrective
action to mitigate the issues.
Overall, the site was in an orderly manner.