TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Page
1. Background.............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Project Description.............................................................................................................. 1
Key Works................................................................................................................................. 1
Project Location.......................................................................................................................... 2
Description of the New Cremators............................................................................................... 2
Construction Programme.............................................................................................................. 2
3. Summary of Potential
Impacts and Recommendations.................................... 3
Air Quality Impact....................................................................................................................... 3
Waste Management..................................................................................................................... 4
Land Contamination Impact......................................................................................................... 4
Landscape and Visual Impact....................................................................................................... 4
Water Quality Impact................................................................................................................... 5
Hazard to Life.............................................................................................................................. 5
Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A).............................................................................. 5
4. Conclusion............................................................................................................................... 5
TABLE
Table
2.1 Project Construction
Programme
FIGURE
Figure 2.1
Site Layout Plan
1.1
The Fu Shan Crematorium at Shatin has been in operation for
sixteen years, and complaints of dark smoke emissions from it have been
received. The Electrical & Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has
assessed that the cremators are near the end of their service life, and it is
technically infeasible to upgrade them to meet the latest environmental
standards. The Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department (FEHD), thus, propose to replace the existing cremators of the
Crematorium (the Project). The Project was welcomed by local residents and
supported by the Shatin District Council, when they were consulted in July
2000.
1.2
Crematorium is a Schedule 2 Designated Project, under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
(EIAO), and an Environmental Permit is required prior to its construction. An application (No ESB-071/2001) with a
Project Profile (No PP-123/2001) for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Study Brief was lodged to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in
April 2001, and the EIA Study Brief for
Replacement of Cremators at Fu Shan Crematorium, Shatin (EIA Study Brief No
ESB-071/2001) was issued in May 2001.
The Study Brief requires an EIA Study for the Project to assess the
environmental impacts of the Project and to propose mitigation measures, where
necessary.
1.3
The Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) is responsible
for the design and construction of the Project. After the construction work is completed, the crematorium will be
handed over to FEHD for its operation.
Maunsell Environmental Management Consultant Ltd. (MEMCL) was
commissioned by ArchSD to assess the environmental impacts associated with the
construction and operation of the Project.
The assessment results, respective mitigation measures and environmental
monitoring and audit (EM&A) requirements have been documented in an EIA
Report.
2.1
This
Project proposes to replace the two existing twin cremators of Fu Shan
Crematorium for rectifying the dark smoke emission problem and compliance with
the latest environmental protection requirements. Key works of the Project comprise:
(a)
Construction of a new cremation room with four
flat-bed type single cremators designed to meet the latest EPD’s Standard.
(b)
Construction of a pulverising room with a bone
cremulator for pulverisation of cremated remains.
(c)
Installation of an automatic transport system
for delivering the coffin from the service halls into the cremators.
(d)
Construction of a public toilet as a
replacement for the existing one.
(e)
Provision of emergency generator room, main
switch room, fire services pump room, sprinkler tank and storeroom, etc.
necessary for the operation of the new cremators.
(f)
Re-alignment of the existing vehicle access.
(g)
Re-provision of car parking spaces and
upgrading of the overall landscape area.
(h)
Renovation of the two existing service halls to
cater for the change in the location of the new cremation room.
(i)
Demolition and removal of the existing
cremators after the satisfactory commissioning of the new ones. Renovate the old cremation room into
workshop for EMSD maintenance staff and storerooms.
(j)
Installation of fire services provisions,
including sprinkler system, hose reels, street hydrant etc. to the existing
crematorium to meet current fire safety standards.
2.2
The project site lies within the site boundaries of the
existing Fu Shan Crematorium, which is located in Area 18 of Shatin off Lower
Shing Mun Road. Figure 2.1 gives the site location plan. The
Fu Shan Crematorium site covers approximately 24,000 m2 and is
currently occupied by the existing crematorium, columbarium and staff quarters.
2.3
The new cremation room will be built as an extension to the
southwestern side of the existing crematorium, which is currently occupied by a
public toilet, car park and garden. A
chimney of 19 metres high (above the existing ground) will merge at the base of the new
crematorium hallwith its lower part at the farthest
end of the new cremation room.
New emergency generator room and main switch room, providing upgrade of
power supply for the replacement cremators, are located to the north-east of
the existing crematorium and next to the existing transformer room
respectively. The proposed site layout
plan is shown in Figure 2.12.
2.4
Four new flat-bed type single cremators will replace the
existing two twin cremators. To cater for the varying sizes and weights of
coffin to be handled, three cremators of design capacity 170kg and one cremator
of 250kg maximum design capacity will be provided.
2.5
The cremators are designed to ensure complete combustion and
are fitted with a secondary combustion zone at high temperature satisfying the
latest EPD’s requirements and emission concentration limits stipulated in BPM
12/2 – A Guidance Note on the Best Practicable
Means for Incinerators (Crematoria).
Adequate secondary air is allowed in the primary combustion zone to
ensure good turbulence and combustion.
The gases are held at 850oC for minimum of 2 seconds in the
secondary combustion zone. A flue gas
filtering plant will be installed to bring down the pollutant emission prior to
its discharge. Dioxin
emission is controlled by rapid quenching of the flue gas and activated carbon
along the filtering system. A fabric filtering system is installed
downstream to further remove particulate and dark smoke of the flue gas.
2.6
The flue gas after treatment will be ducted to a chimney of 19
metres above the existing ground. The
chimney is higher than the physical structure of the new crematorium building
and the adjacent existing Fu Shan Crematorium by more than 3 meters, to ensure
good dispersion of pollutants.
2.7
To
maintain the uninterrupted crematorium services, the Project will be
implemented under two stages:
·
Stage I: Construction
of a new cremator plant room, new generator room and ancillary facilities,
installation of four new single cremators, renovation of the existing service
halls in the crematorium. A specified process licence will be obtained for the
operation of the new cremators.
·
Stage II: Demolition
of the two existing twin cremators after the satisfactory commissioning of the
new cremators and renovation of the old cremator rooms.
2.8
The program of the Project will last from August 2002 to June
2004, taking 17 months for Stage I to construct the new cremators and 3 months
for Stage II to demolish the old cremators. Table 2.1 shows the Project
construction programme.
Table 2.1 Project
Construction Programme
|
Project Construction Activity
|
From
|
To
|
|
Stage I
construction
|
August 2002
|
March 2004
|
|
Commissioning of new
cremators
|
January 2004
|
March 2004
|
|
Stage II
construction
|
April 2004
|
June 2004
|
|
Operation of new cremators
|
April 2004
|
--
|
2.9
During the commissioning
test period, there would be no more than 4 cremators in operation accounting
for old and new cremators. The old cremators would
ceased operation and be demolished and removed, upon satisfactory
commissioning of the new cremators. Tthe
new cremator is anticipated to be operational in April March 2004.
3.1
The Project Profile has identified that air quality impact,
land contamination impact & waste management, landscape and visual impact,
hazard to life and water quality are the key issues of the Project. Assessment guidelines and criteria
stipulated in the Technical Memorandum on
Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM) have been adopted for the
EIA Study. Potential environmental
impacts of the key issues associated with the construction and operation of the
Project have been assessed, and the findings are summarized below.
3.2
A total of ten Air Sensitive Receivers (ASRs) have been
identified for this assessment, namely Villages in Lower Shing Mun Road, Staff
quarters of the crematorium, Lakeview Garden, Po Leung Kuk Y.C. Cheng Centre,
Fu Shan Public Mortuary, Village at Heung Fan Liu, Granville Garden, and the
proposed developments in Area 38A and Area 4C, Shatin.
3.3
Dust will be emitted during the to be the major air quality
pollutant during theconstruction phase of the Project. As the scale of construction works is small,
the dust generated from the Project is expected to be low. With the incorporation of mitigation measures stipulated
in the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation, the dust criteria will be satisfied at all the ASRs.
3.4
Asbestos containing materials may be removed for the Project,
however, the impact due to asbestos fibre is considered minimal. Precautionary and mitigation measures have
been recommended for the Project to control asbestos fibre release during
removal work. All asbestos containing
materials should be removed prior to the general demolition works.
3.5
Air pollutants including particulate matter, hydrogen
chloride, carbon monoxide, organic compounds, mercury and dioxins would be
emitted via the chimney of the crematorium.
Air quality impacts of these pollutants have been predicted with air
dispersion model. Modelling results
indicated that air quality criteria would be satisfied at all ASRs, under worst
case scenario.
3.6
Cremation of human remains is the likely source of odour
nuisance. In the combustion chambers,
odorous gas will be broken down into simple compounds under high temperature
and sufficient residence time. Also,
the odorous gas escaped from the combustion chamber will be removed by the flue
gas filtering system. Odour emission
from the cremators is not expected.
3.7
It has been
predicted that the increased risk level associated with the operation of the
new cremators is insignificant at all ASRs, under worst case scenario. The health risk associated with the
operation of the facility satisfied the international standard.
Waste ManagementHeung Fan Liu Comprehensive
Development Area (CDA) site and planned development areas 4C & 38A
3.8
Waste to be generated during construction phase is expected to
comprise excavated material, construction and demolition (C&D) materials,
asbestos wastes, chemical wastes and general refuse.
3.9
C&D wastes will be sorted on-site to inert and non-inert
materials and shall be disposed of at public filling areas and landfills
respectively. Strict management and
control of all wastes generated on site during the works will be provided, and
that material will be collected, handled, stored, transported and disposed of
in an appropriate manner. Adverse
environmental impacts are not anticipated.
Environmental impacts arising from the transportation of waste such as
noise, vehicle emissions will be low, as the amount of waste quantity is small.
3.10
Town gas will be used as fuel and all cremations will be
carried out in enclosed cremators, land contamination impact associated with
the operation of cremators is not expected.
3.12
Some landscape areas, including the existing garden, will be
reprovisioned from this Project.
Mitigation measures including compensatory planting have been proposed
for the garden. The landscape and visual impacts of the Project are considered
surmountable.
3.13
Minor visual impacts of the Project are expected on Lakeview
Garden and hikers on the Reservoir Dam. The impacts would be mitigated by
planting tall mature tree around the Crematorium to screen off the unsightly
view.
3.14
The proposed
flue gas filtering system involves only dry processes. There will be no effluent discharge from the
new cremators nor the associated air pollution control system, so adverse water
quality impact is not expected.
3.15
The proposed cremators will be fuelled by commercial town gas
supplied by the local Town Gas company via direct pipelines and there will be
no storage of town gas on site.
Therefore no life hazard associated with fuel gas storage exists.
3.16
The scale of
construction works for this Project is small, and adverse environmental
impacts, including air quality, waste and water quality impacts on the
surrounding sensitive receivers, are not expected.
3.17
During operation phase, chimney emissions including
particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, mercury, organic compounds and
dioxins would be emitted from the crematorium.
With the compliance of BPM 12/2 emission limits, chimney emission from
the cremator is low, and air quality at the ASRs will comply with the relevant
limits and guidelines. Continuous monitoring of temperature, oxygen, carbon
monoxide, particulate matter and smoke density will be conducted at each
stack or inside each cremator, in accordance with the BPM 12/2 requirements. Emission of hydrogen chloride and dioxins will be monitored by
routine monitoring in 6 months intervals.
4.1
Environmental
impacts arising from the Project have been assessed. New cremators, complying with the latest environmental
requirements, will be installed, and relevant environmental criteria and
guideline will be satisfied. The amount
of pollutant emissions will be reduced and the environment will be benefited,
with the new cremators. An EM&A
programme has been recommended to ensure that the relevant emission limits are
satisfied.
