This section
presents the air quality impact assessment for the construction and operational
phases of the Project. Potential
sources of air quality impact and Air Sensitive Receivers have been identified
and an assessment has been performed.
Mitigation measures are recommended if necessary.
The principal legislation for the
management of air quality in
Table 4.1
|
Air
Pollutant |
Averaging Time |
|||
|
|
1 Hour (b) |
24 Hour (c) |
3 Months (d) |
1 Year (d) |
|
Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) |
- |
260 |
- |
80 |
|
Respirable
Suspended Particulates (RSP) (e) |
- |
180 |
- |
55 |
|
|
800 |
350 |
- |
80 |
|
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) |
300 |
150 |
- |
80 |
|
Carbon Monoxide (CO) |
30,000 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Photochemical Oxidants (as ozone (O3)) (f) |
240 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Lead (Pb) |
- |
- |
1.5 |
- |
|
Notes: (a)
Measured at 298K (25°C)
and 101.325 kPa (one atmosphere) (b)
Not to be exceeded more than three
times per year (c)
Not to be exceeded more than once per
year (d)
Arithmetic means (e)
Suspended airborne particulates with
a nominal aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometres or
smaller (f)
Photochemical oxidants are determined
by measurement of ozone only |
||||
The proposed karting
track is located at Lung Kwu Sheung
Tan which is a rural area surrounded by open storage, plastics recycling
factories and dangerous goods stores located to the west of the site. There are an existing
village house and a Tsz Tong located within
the site area but the village house would be used as an office of the karting track without any modification of the
structure. The Tsz
Tong will be kept without any modification for villagers’ private functions.
A cement plant is located about
350 m to the northwest of the site.
An enclosed DSD outfall chamber
is located to the north of the site.
The existing air quality in the
vicinity is dominated by the local vehicle emissions from
Air Sensitive Receivers (ASRs)
have been identified in accordance with the criteria stated in the Section 2 of Annex 12 of EIAO-TM. The identified ASRs are summarized in Table 4.2 and are shown in Figure 4.1. All the identified ASRs are either open storage, recycling factories or canteens for the
workers in the vicinity. No
existing residential use is identified within 1 km from the Site. In addition, as confirmed with the
District Lands Office (DLO), there are no planned residential uses identified
within the Study Area.
Table 4.2 Identified
Air Sensitive Receivers
|
ASR |
Location |
Distance from the nearest Site
Boundary (m) |
|
A1 |
Plastic
Recycling Factory |
30 |
|
A2 |
Plastic
Recycling Factory |
67 |
|
A3 |
Plastic
Recycling Factory |
100 |
|
A4 |
Asphalt
Plant |
190 |
|
A5 |
Canteens |
215 |
|
A6 |
LKT
Transportation Co. |
105 |
|
A7 |
GAMMON
Construction Material Storage |
155 |
In addition,
the village house (to be used as an office) and the Tsz Tong located
within the site area are also considered as ASRs (see Figure 3.1).
Site levelling, compacting, track
paving works and fence installation are the major
construction works. Dust emission
is likely from materials handling, on-site truck movement, temporary
stockpiling of dusty materials.
Given the small scale of the construction works, the dust impact at ASRs
is not expected.
A bulldozer, an excavator and a truck
would be involved for the site levelling works. An asphalt paver
and a road roller would be involved for the track paving works. In view of small scale of the site area
and limited number of equipment operating on site, air quality impact during
construction phase is not expected.
Although no construction air
quality impact is expected, it is recommended to implement good site practices
and housekeeping stated in Section 4.5.1.
During operation,
vehicular emissions from the karts and the additional traffic generation on
The karting track would operate from Monday to Sunday with
operating hours from 09:30 to 19:00.
A maximum of 40 karts would be allowed on the track for training or
rental run and 34 karts for match.
Each session of kart running will last for a maximum of 30 minutes
including running time and break time.
For a worst case assessment, it is assumed a maximum of 40 karts and
each run would last for 30 minutes with a short time break between each run.
The karts to
be running on the track are powered by Rotax Max
FR125 2-stroke single cylinder engines with displacement of
125 c.c. The information of
the engine could be found at www.maxchallenge-rotax.com. The engine power is assumed to be 21 kW
and normal unleaded gasoline would be used.
Hydrocarbons
and nitrogen oxides (HC+NOx) are the major
air pollutants. Since the engine is
produced in
Due
to the combustion process of 2-stroke engine, NOx
emission is minor compared with HC.
With reference to Section 2.10 of
“Technical Report No. 49 COPERT III
Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport – Methodology and
Emission Factors (V2.1), November 2000, European Environment Agency” [2],
the emission factors of HC and NOx of
similar engine (2-stroke motorcycles with displacement > 50 cm3)
are 4 g/km and 0.1 g/km, respectively.
Therefore, the fraction of NOx is only
2.4% of total HC+NOx emission. (i.e., 0.1
/ (0.1 + 4) x 100% = 2.4%). Therefore,
the emission factor of NOx become 16.1
g/kW-hr x 2.4% = 0.39 g/kW-hr. Thus, the
total emission rate per track area of NOx is
calculated and presented in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3 Emission
Rates of NOx and RSP from Karts
|
|
Emission Rate Estimation |
|
General Information |
|
|
Engine
power |
21
kW |
|
Time
for running |
30
minutes running with a short time break between each run |
|
Maximum
no. of karts on track |
40
(Training and Rental Run) |
|
Area
of running track |
900m
(length) x 8m (width) =
7,200 m2 |
|
NOx |
|
|
NOx emission factor (a) |
0.39
g/kW-hr |
|
NOx emission rate for each kart |
0.29
x 21 = 8.19 g/hr = 8.19 / 3600 = 0.0023 g/s |
|
Total
NOx emission rate |
Training
and Rental Run : 0.0023 x 40 = 0.091 g/s |
|
Total
NOx emission rate per track area |
Training
and Rental Run : 0.091 / 7,200 = 1.26x10-5 g/m2/s |
|
Note: (a) Reference to Directive 2002/88/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2003/l_035/l_03520030211en00280081.pdf) |
|
In view of the minimal aerial
emissions generated from karts, the air quality impact would not be
anticipated.
The proposed karting
track could hold a maximum of 200 visitors. Shuttle bus service would be provided
for the visit. A 45-person bus
would run between Tuen Mun
Town Centre and the karting track every hour. The traffic generation is therefore,
estimated to be around 10 bus round trips per day. In view of the small number of
additional traffic induced on the existing road traffic, adverse air quality
impact to the surrounding environment is not expected.
Potential petrol odour would come
from incomplete combustion or fuel leakage by the kart engine or during petrol
re-fuelling. To avoid incomplete
combustion or fuel leakage, the kart engines should undergo regular maintenance
to maintain a good operation condition.
For the case of petrol
re-fuelling, re-fuelling is required once or twice a day. Only limited quantities of petrol, a
standard 18 litre safety petrol tank, will be stored on site during the
daytime. Any unused petrol will be
collected by the DG vehicle after the operating time of the karting
track. Only minor maintenance works
will be conducted on-site, including the use of lubricants, chain oil, and
brake cleaner. If any engine
maintenance works are required, the kart vehicle will be transport to a
garage. As the fuel tank capacity
of the kart is small, i.e., about 3 litres, the re-fuelling time would be
short, i.e., about 15 second. Thus,
with such short re-fuelling time and infrequent re-fuelling of the karts and
the separation distance between ASRs and the petrol re-fuelling area, the odour
impact arising from petrol re-fuelling is not expected.
As mentioned in Section 4.3.1,
the surrounding area is occupied by open storage, plastic recycling factories
and dangerous goods stores which are no industrial emissions produced. Therefore, no adverse air quality due to
the industrial emissions from nearby industrial uses on the proposed karting track is anticipated.
The following good site practices
are recommended to minimize the dust nuisance during the construction of the
proposed karting track:
·
Stockpiling of dusty materials should
be entirely covered or watered to avoid fugitive dust;
·
Site area should be kept wet during
excavation;
·
Dusty materials carried by truck
leaving the construction site should be covered by tarpaulin sheet to ensure no
leakage of dusty materials from trucks;
·
Regularly maintenance should be
provided for the diesel-powered mechanical equipment especially black smoke is
emitted; and
·
The engine of the equipment should be
switched off when it is not in operation.
Although no exceedance
of air quality impact is anticipated during the operation of karting track, the following measures are recommended:
·
Maintenance of karts should be
performed regularly to avoid incomplete combustion or fuel leakage;
·
Proper handling of petrol storage tank
and during refuelling to avoid leakage of petrol; and
·
Only limited quantities of petrol, a
standard 18 litre safety petrol tank, will be stored on site during the
daytime. Any unused petrol will be
collected by the DG vehicle after the operating time of the karting
track. Only minor maintenance works
will be conducted on-site, including the use of lubricants, chain oil, and
brake cleaner. If any engine
maintenance works are required, the kart vehicle will be transport to a garage.
No dust
monitoring is required as no exceedance of dust
impact is anticipated.
No operational air quality
monitoring is required as no exceedance is
anticipated.
Potential dust nuisance is a
concern during construction of the karting
track. Site levelling, compacting,
track paving works, planting and fence installation are the major construction
works. Given the small scale of the
construction works, the dust impact at ASRs is minimal and no adverse impact is
anticipated. Due to the small scale
of site area, the number of construction plant operating on site is limited,
therefore, the gaseous emissions from the construction equipment is minimal and
no adverse impact is anticipated.
In view of the limited emissions
from karts on tracks and separation distances between ASRs and tracks, air
quality impact is not expected.
Since the number of shuttle bus running between the karting
track and Tuen Mun Centre
are estimated to be around 10 bus trips per day, the air quality impacts due to
additional traffic arising from karting track would
not be anticipated. Besides, with
the proper handling of petrol stores and re-fuelling and regular maintenance of
karts, no odour nuisance is expected.