Agreement No. CE 42/2008 (CE)

Tseung Kwan O – Lam Tin Tunnel and Associated Works – Investigation

 

Environmental Impact Assessment Report

 

Table of Contents

 

1          INTRODUCTION

1.1       Project Background

1.2       Designated Projects under EIAO

1.3       Objectives of this EIA Study

1.4       Structure of the EIA Report

2          PROJECT DESCRIPTION

2.1       Introduction

2.2       Purpose and Objective of the Project

2.3       Project Components

2.4       Need for the Project

2.5       Scope of the Project

2.6       Consideration of Alternative Options

2.7       Construction Methodologies

2.8       Construction Programme

2.9       Concurrent Projects

2.10     Summary

3          AIR QUALITY IMPACT

3.1       Introduction

3.2       Environmental Legislation, Standards and Criteria

3.3       Description of Environment

3.4       Air Sensitive Receivers

3.5       Identification of Pollutant Sources

3.6       Assessment Methodology

3.7       Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

3.8       Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impacts

3.9       Evaluation of Residual Impacts

3.10     Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements

3.11     Conclusion

4          NOISE IMPACT

4.1       Introduction

4.2       Environmental Legislation, Policies, Plans, Standards and Criteria

4.3       Description of the Environment

4.4       Noise Sensitive Receivers

4.5       Assessment Methodology

4.6       Identification of Environmental Impacts

4.7       Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

4.8       Mitigation of Environmental Impacts

4.9       Evaluation of Residual Impacts

4.10     Environmental Monitoring and Audit

4.11     Conclusion

5          WATER QUALITY IMPACT

5.1       Introduction

5.2       Environmental Legislation, Standard and Criteria

5.3       Description of the Environment

5.4       Water Sensitive Receivers

5.5       Identification of Environmental Impacts

5.6       Assessment Methodology

5.7       Prediction and Evaluation of Potential Environmental Impacts

5.8       Mitigation of Environmental Impacts

5.9       Evaluation of Residual Impacts

5.10     Environmental Monitoring and Audit

5.11     Conclusion

6          ECOLOGICAL IMPACT

6.1       Introduction. 6-1

6.2       Environmental Legislation, Standards and Criteria. 6-1

6.3       Assessment Methodology. 6-3

6.4       Description of the Environment 6-10

6.5       Evaluation of Ecological Value. 6-46

6.6       Identification, Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts. 6-60

6.7       Evaluation of Cumulative Impacts. 6-85

6.8       Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impacts. 6-86

6.9       Evaluation of Residual Impacts. 6-89

6.10     Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements. 6-90

6.11     Conclusion. 6-91

6.12     Reference. 6-92

7          FISHERIES IMPACT

7.1       Introduction

7.2       Environmental Legislation, Standards and Criteria

7.3       Assessment Methodology

7.4       Description of the Environment

7.5       Identification, Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

7.7       Evaluation of Residual Impacts

7.8       Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impacts

7.9       Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements

7.10     Conclusion

8          WASTE MANAGEMENT

8.1       Introduction

8.2       Environmental Legislation and Guidelines

8.3       Assessment Methodology

8.4       Identification of Waste Sources

8.5       Predication and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

8.6       Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impacts

8.7       Evaluation of Residual Impacts

8.8       Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements

8.9       Conclusion

9          IMPACT ON CULTURAL HERITAGE

9.1       Introduction

9.2       Environmental Legislation and Standards

9.3       Assessment Methodology

9.4       Background of Study Area

9.5       Impact Assessments

9.6       Mitigation of Adverse Impacts

9.7       Residual Environmental Impact

9.8       Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements

9.9       Conclusion

10        LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACTS

10.1     Introduction

10.2     Environmental Legislation, Standards and Criteria

10.3     Assessment Methodology

10.4     Scope and Content of the Study

10.5     Baseline Study

10.6     Landscape Impact Assessment

10.7     Visual Impact Assessment

10.8     Mitigation Measures

10.9     Evaluation of Residual Impacts

10.10   Conclusion

10.11   Overall Conclusion

11        LANDFILL GAS HAZARD ASSESSMENT

11.1     Introduction

11.2     Environmental Legislation, Standards and Guidelines

11.3     Assessment Criteria and Methodology

11.4     Assessment of Potential Risk

11.5     Recommendations

11.6     Environmental Monitoring and Audit

11.7     Conclusion

12        Hazard to Life

12.1     Introduction

13.       ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND AUDIT

13.1     Introduction

13.2     Air Quality Impact

13.3     Noise Impact

13.4     Water Quality Impact

13.5     Ecological Impact

13.6     Fisheries Impact

13.7     Waste Management Implications

13.8     Impact on Cultural Heritage

13.9     Landscape and Visual Impact

13.10   Landfill Gas Hazard Assessment

14.       IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE AND RECOMMENDED MITIGATION MEASURES

15        ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES AND CONCLUSIONS

15.1     Impact Summary

15.2     Summary of the Measures taken for the Minimization of Environmental Impacts

15.3     Environmental Outcomes

15.4     Overall Conclusion

 

 LIST OF TABLES

 

Table 2.1         Improvements to Journey Time by TKO-LT Tunnel

Table 2.2         Improvements to Queue Length by TKO-LT Tunnel

Table 2.3         Evaluation Criteria and Associated Key Issues and Constraints

Table 2.4         Summary of Public Consultation/Engagement Activities

Table 2.5         Summary of Public’s Views Collected during the Consultation Process

Table 2.6         Summary of Options Evaluation for Landscape Deck at Road P2

Table 2.7         Summary of Options Evaluation at Tseung Kwan O Section

Table 2.8         Summary of Options Evaluation at Lam Tin Hill Section

Table 2.9         Summary of Options Evaluation at Lam Tin Interchange Section

Table 2.10       Summary of Options Evaluation at Cha Kwo Ling Village Section

Table 2.11       Existing and planned concurrent projects

Table 3.1         Hong Kong Air Quality Objectives

Table 3.2         Tunnel Air Quality Guidelines (TAQG)

Table 3.3         Annual Average Concentrations of Pollutants in the Latest Five Years (Year 2007 - 2011) at Kwun Tong Po Air Quality Monitoring Station

Table 3.4         Representative Air Sensitive Receivers During Construction Phase

Table 3.5         Representative Air Sensitive Receivers During Operation Phase

Table 3.6         Rock Crusher and Barging Facilities – Dust Emission Design Control Measures

Table 3.7         Emission Factors for Dusty Construction Activities

Table 3.8         Total Emission of NOx and RSP (in ton/year) for different Road Types among Year 2021, 2029 and 2036

Table 3.9         PATH Model Grid Cells for Extraction of Meteorological Data and Background Pollutant Concentrations

Table 3.10       Design of TKO-LT Tunnel Ventilation Buildings

Table 3.11       Summary of Portals and Ventilation Building Emissions within 500m Study Area (Lam Tin side)

Table 3.12       Summary of Portals and Ventilation Building Emissions within 500m Study Area (Tseung Kwan O side)

Table 3.13       Summary of Total Emissions from Ventilation Building Emissions within 500m Study Area

Table 3.14       Predicted Cumulative Maximum Hourly, Daily and Annual Average TSP Concentrations at Representative Air Sensitive Receivers (Unmitigated)

Table 3.15       Predicted Cumulative Maximum Hourly, Daily and Annual Average Air Pollutants Concentrations at Representative Air Sensitive Receivers at Lam Tin

Table 3.16       Predicted Cumulative Maximum Hourly, Daily and Annual Average Air Pollutants Concentrations at Representative Air Sensitive Receivers at Tseung Kwan O

Table 3.17       Predicted Cumulative Maximum Hourly, Daily and Annual Average TSP Concentrations at Representative Air Sensitive Receivers (Mitigated Tier 1)

Table 3.18       Predicted Cumulative Maximum Hourly, Daily and Annual Average TSP Concentrations at Representative Air Sensitive Receivers (Mitigated Tier 2)

Table 3.19       Summary of Localised Exceedance

Table 4.1         Construction Noise Criteria for Activity other than Percussive Piling

Table 4.2         Acceptable Noise Levels for Percussive Piling

Table 4.3         Permitted Hours of Operation for Percussive Piling

Table 4.4         Ground-borne Noise Assessment Criteria

Table 4.5         Operational Noise Criteria for Fixed Noise Sources

Table 4.6         Summary of Measured Prevailing Background Noise Level

Table 4.7         Representative NSRs and APs for Noise Impact Assessment

Table 4.8         Wave Propagation Properties of Soil

Table 4.9         Loss factor for Coupling into Building Foundation

Table 4.10       Summary of Cumulative Unmitigated Construction Noise Levels at Representative NSRs during Normal Daytime Working Hours

Table 4.11       Predicted Construction Ground-borne Noise Impact

Table 4.12       Sensitivity Test for the Need of Direct Mitigation Measures

Table 4.13       Predicted Maximum Allowable Sound Power Levels for Fixed Noise Sources

Table 4.14       Summary of Predicted Operation Noise Levels

Table 4.15       Summary of Cumulative Mitigated Construction Noise Levels at Representative NSRs during Normal Daytime Working Hours

Table 4.16       Sensitivity Test for the Need of Further Direct Mitigation Measures for Mitigated Scenario (Existing NSRs)

Table 4.17       Sensitivity Test for the Need of Further Direct Mitigation Measures for Mitigated Scenario (Planned NSRs)

Table 4.18       Construction Noise Residual Impacts

Table 4.19       Summary Table of Noise Levels during Construction and Operation Phase

Table 5.1         Summary of Water Quality Objectives for Junk Bay WCZ

Table 5.2         Summary of Water Quality Objectives for Victoria Harbour WCZ

Table 5.3         Summary of Water Quality Objectives for Eastern Buffer WCZ

Table 5.4         WSD Standards for Flushing Water at Seawater Intakes

Table 5.5         Summary Statistics of 2009 and 2010 Marine Water Quality in Junk Bay WCZ

Table 5.6         Summary Statistics of 2009 and 2010 Marine Water Quality in Victoria Harbour WCZ

Table 5.7         Summary Statistics of 2009 and 2010 Marine Water Quality in Eastern Buffer WCZ

Table 5.8         Water Sensitive Receivers

Table 5.9         Coastal Developments Incorporated in the Construction and Operational Phase Coastline Configurations

Table 5.10       Concurrent Marine Works

Table 5.11       Summary of Suspended Solids Concentrations from EPD Routine Monitoring Stations (from Year 2001 to 2010)

Table 5.12       Summary of Allowable SS Elevations at EPD Routine Monitoring Stations due to Construction Impacts

Table 5.13       Summary of Allowable SS Elevations at Water Sensitive Receivers due to Construction Impacts

Table 5.14       Predicted Maximum Suspended Solids Elevations in Dry Season

Table 5.15       Predicted Maximum Suspended Solids Elevations in Wet Season

Table 5.16       Predicted Maximum Sedimentation Rates at Major Ecological Sensitive Receivers

Table 5.17       Depth Averaged Current Velocities in Operational Scenarios

Table 5.18       Action Plan for Potential Changes in Groundwater Regime during Tunnel Construction

Table 6.1         Ecological Survey Programme

Table 6.2         Habitats Recorded within the Assessment Area

Table 6.3         Avifauna of Conservation Interest Previously Recorded from the Assessment Area and its Vicinity

Table 6.4         Avifauna Species of Conservation Interest Recorded within the Assessment Area during the Recent Surveys

Table 6.5         Locations and Habitat Characteristics of the Sampling Locations for Intertidal Surveys

Table 6.6         Number of Taxa and Abundance of Intertidal Species Recorded during the Intertidal Surveys

Table 6.7         Ecological Attributes and Substratum of the REA Transects

Table 6.8         Summary of the Results on Each REA Transect

Table 6.9         Coral Species Recorded in the Survey Area during 2009 Dive Surveys

Table 6.10       Total Number of Species, Abundance, Biomass, Species Diversity and Evenness at Each Sampling Point Recorded During the Benthos Surveys

Table 6.11       Comparison of Mean H’ and J of Benthic Communities at Different Hong Kong Waters within Survey Area (Data after Shin et al., 2004)

Table 6.12       Fish Species Recorded during the Fish Surveys

Table 6.13       Ecological Value of Mixed Woodland and Disturbed Woodland within the Assessment Area

Table 6.14       Ecological Value of Grassland/Shrubland Mosaic and Village/Orchard within the Assessment Area

Table 6.15       Ecological Value of Plantation and Wasteland / Developed Area within the Assessment Area

Table 6.16       Ecological Value of Pond and Stream within the Assessment Area

Table 6.17       Ecological Value of Intertidal Habitat (Natural Rocky Shore) within the Assessment Area

Table 6.18       Ecological Value of Intertidal Habitat (Sandy Shore) within the Assessment Area

Table 6.19       Ecological Value of Intertidal Habitat (Artificial Seawall) within the Assessment Area

Table 6.20       Ecological Value of Hard Substrata Subtidal Habitat within the Assessment Area

Table 6.21       Ecological Value of Soft Substrata Subtidal Habitat within the Assessment Area

Table 6.22       Ecological Value of Pelagic Subtidal Habitat within the Assessment Area

Table 6.23       Species of Conservation Interest Recorded within the Assessment Area during Recent Surveys

Table 6.24       Direct Terrestrial Habitat Loss Resulting from Proposed Works

Table 6.25       Predicted SS (mg/L) Level at Coral Sites

Table 6.26       Overall Impact Evaluation for Mixed Woodland and Disturbed Woodland

Table 6.27       Overall Impact Evaluation for Grassland/Shrubland Mosaic and Village/Orchard

Table 6.28       Overall Impact Evaluation for Plantation and Wasteland / Developed Area

Table 6.29       Overall Impact Evaluation for Pond and Stream

Table 6.30       Overall Impact Evaluation for Intertidal Habitat (Natural Rocky Shore)

Table 6.31       Overall Impact Evaluation for Intertidal Habitat (Sandy Shore)

Table 6.32       Overall Impact Evaluation for Intertidal Habitat (Artificial Seawall)

Table 6.33       Overall Impact Evaluation for Hard Substrata Subtidal Habitat

Table 6.34       Overall Impact Evaluation for Soft Substrata Subtidal Habitat

Table 6.35       Overall Impact Evaluation for Pelagic Subtidal Habitat

Table 6.36       Overall Impact Evaluation for Terrestrial Species of Conservation Interest Recorded from in the Assessment Area during Recent Surveys

Table 6.37       Overall Impact Evaluation for Marine Species of Conservation Interest Recorded from in the Assessment Area during Recent Surveys

Table 7.1         Recent Hong Kong Capture Fisheries Industry Figures

Table 7.2         Summary of Capture Fisheries Data in the Assessment Area

Table 7.3         Fisheries Production (kg/ha) of the Top Ten Families in the Assessment Area

Table 7.4         Recent Figures for Hong Kong Marine Culture Fisheries Industry

Table 7.5         Summary of Potential Fisheries Impact during Construction Phase

Table 7.6         Summary of Concurrent Projects

Table 8.1         Identification of Waste Types and Sources in the Construction and Operation Phases of the Project

Table 8.2         Summary of Inert Construction and Demolition Materials Quantities Generated

Table 8.3         Summary of Chemical Screening Results

Table 8.4         Summary of Biological Screening Results

Table 8.5         Disposal Quantity for Marine Sediment

Table 8.6         Summary of Waste Disposal for Operation Phase

Table 8.7         Summary of Waste Generation and Recommended Disposal Methods for Construction and Demolition Works

Table 9.1         List of Built Heritage Resources within the 300m Study Boundary

Table 9.2         Proximity of Notable Built Heritages and Structures to the Project Worksites

Table 10.3.1    Evaluation of Significance of Landscape and Visual Impacts

Table 10.4.1    Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TKO/20 – Zones Land Uses affected by the Project

Table 10.4.1    Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong and Lei Yu Mun Outline Zoning Plan No S/K15/19 - Zoned Land Uses affected by the Project

Table 10.5.1    Tseung Kwan O Landscape Resources and their Sensitivity

Table 10.5.2    Tseung Kwan O Landscape Character Areas and their Sensitivity

Table 10.5.3    Lam Tin Landscape Resources and their Sensitivity

Table 10.5.4    Lam Tin Landscape Character Areas and their Sensitivity

Table 10.5.5    Tseung Kwan O Visual Sensitive Receivers and their Sensitivity 

Table 10.5.6    Tseung Kwan O Visual Sensitive Receivers and their Magnitude of Change

Table 10.5.7    Lam Tin Visual Sensitive Receivers and their Sensitivity 

Table 10.5.8    Lam Tin Visual Sensitive Receivers and their Magnitude of Change

Table 10.6.1    Magnitude of Landscape Impacts during the Construction & Operation Phase – Tseung Kwan O

Table 10.6.3    Significance of Landscape Impacts in the Construction and Operation Phases - Tseung Kwan O

Table 10.6.4    Significance of Landscape Impacts in the Construction and Operation Phases - Lam Tin

Table 10.7.1    Significance of Visual Impacts in the Construction and Operation Phases - Tseung Kwan O

Table 10.7.2    Significance of Visual Impacts in the Construction and Operation Phases – Lam Tin

Table 10.8.1    Construction Phase Mitigation Measures

Table 10.8.2    Operation Phase Mitigation Measures

Table 11.1       Classification of Risk Category

Table 11.2       Summary of General Categorization of Risk

Table 11.3       Generic Protection Measures for Planning Stage Categorization

Table 11.4       Definition of Control Terms

Table 11.5       Landfill Gas Monitoring Results in Sai Tso Wan Landfill (November 2009 to October 2010)

Table 11.6       Groundwater Quality Monitoring Results in Sai Tso Wan Landfill (March 2010 and September 2010)

Table 11.7       Groundwater Level in Sai Tso Wan Landfill (March 2010 and September 2010)

Table 11.8       Qualitative Risk Assessment Matrix

Table 11.9       Actions in the Event of Landfill Gas Being Detected in Excavations/ Confined Areas

Table 14.1       Implementation schedule of Recommended Mitigation Measures

Table 15.1       Summary of Key Environmental Outcomes / Benefits