6.1.1This
Section identifies the solid waste arising from the construction and operation
of the developments recommended in the Draft Recommended Outline Development
Plan (RODP) for the Northshore Lantau Development Feasibility Study (NLDFS) and
Chok Ko Wan Link Road (CKWLR) and assesses the potential environmental impacts
associated with the handling and disposal of the wastes.The options for reuse, minimisation,
recycling, treatment, storage, collection, transport and disposal of solid
wastes arising from the Project have been examined.Where appropriate, procedures for solid waste reduction and
management are considered and environmental control measures for avoiding and
minimising the potential impacts are recommended. Potential environmental impacts associated with treatment and
disposal of sewage generated from the operational phase of the NLDFS
developments are discussed in Section 5.
6.2.1The
criteria and guidelines for evaluating potential waste management implications
are laid out in Annexes 7 and Annex 15 of the EIAO TM under the EIAO (Cap
499).
6.2.2The
following legislation cover, or have some bearing upon, the handling, treatment
and disposal of wastes in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR),
and have been considered in the assessment.
·Public
Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132) - Public Cleansing and Prevention of
Nuisances (Urban Council) and (Regional Council) By-laws; and
·Dumping
at Sea Ordinance (1995).
Waste
Disposal Ordinance
6.2.3The Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO) prohibits
unauthorised disposal of wastes, with "wastes" being defined as any
substance or article which is abandoned.Construction and demolition (C&D) waste is not directly defined in
the WDO but is considered to fall
within the category of "trade waste".Trade waste is defined as waste from any trade, manufacturer or
business, or any waste building, or civil engineering materials, but does not
include animal waste.
6.2.4Under the WDO, wastes can only be disposed of at a
licensed site.A breach of these
regulations can lead to the imposition of a fine and/or a prison sentence. The WDO also provides for the issuing of
licences for the collection and transport of wastes.Licences are not, however, currently issued for the collection
and transport of C&D waste or trade waste.
6.2.5Chemical
waste as defined under the Waste Disposal
(Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation includes any substance being scrap
material, or unwanted substances specified under Schedule 1 of the Regulation,
if such a substance or chemical occurs in such a form, quantity or
concentration so as to cause pollution or constitute a danger to health or risk
of pollution to the environment.
6.2.6A person
should not produce, or cause to be produced, chemical wastes unless he is
registered with the EPD.Any person who
contravenes this requirement commits an offence and is liable to fine and
imprisonment.
6.2.7Producers
of chemical wastes must treat their wastes, utilising on-site plant licensed by
the EPD or have a licensed collector take the wastes to a licensed
facility.For each consignment of
wastes, the waste producer, collector and disposer of the wastes must sign all
relevant parts of a computerised trip ticket.The system is designed to allow the transfer of wastes to be traced from
cradle-to-grave.
6.2.8The Regulation prescribes the storage
facilities to be provided on site including labelling and warning signs.To minimise the risks of pollution and
danger to human health or life, the waste producer is required to prepare and
make available written procedures to be observed in the case of emergencies due
to spillage, leakage or accidents arising from the storage of chemical
wastes.He/she must also provide
employees with training in such procedures.
Land
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap 28)
6.2.9Construction
and demolition materials ([1]) which are wholly inert may be taken to
public filling areas.Public filling
areas usually form part of land reclamation schemes and are operated by the Civil
Engineering Department (CED) and others.The Land (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Ordinancerequires that
Dumping Licences are obtained by individuals or companies who deliver inert
C&D material (or public fill) to the public filling areas.The licences are issued by the CED under
delegated authority from the Director of Lands.
6.2.10Individual
licences and windscreen stickers are issued for each vehicle involved.Under the licence conditions public filling
areas will accept only inert building debris, soil, rock and broken
concrete.There is no size limitation
on the rock and broken concrete, and a small amount of timber mixed with inert
material is permissible.The material
should, however, be free from marine mud, household refuse, plastic, metal,
industrial and chemical wastes, animal and vegetable matters and any other
materials considered unsuitable by the public filling supervisor.
Public
Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisancesby-Laws
6.2.11These
by-laws provide a further control on the illegal tipping of wastes on
unauthorised (unlicensed) sites.The
illegal dumping of wastes can lead to fine and imprisonment.
Dumping
at Sea Ordinance
6.2.12This Ordinance came into operation in April
1995 and empowers the Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) to control the
disposal and incineration of substances and articles at sea for the protection
of the marine environment.Under the Ordinance, a permit from the DEP is
required for the disposal of regulated substances within and outside the waters
of the HK SAR.The permit contains
terms and conditions that includes the following specifications:
·type and quantity of substances to be dumped;
·location of the disposal grounds;
·requirement of equipment for monitoring the
disposal operations; and
·the need for environmental monitoring.
Other
Relevant Guidelines
6.2.13Other
'guideline' documents which detail how the contractor should comply with the
regulations are as follows:
·Waste
Disposal Plan for Hong Kong (December 1989), Planning, Environment
and Lands Branch Government Secretariat;
·Environmental
Guidelines for Planning In Hong Kong (1990), Hong Kong
Planning and Standards Guidelines, Hong Kong Government;
·New
Disposal Arrangements for Construction Waste (1992),
Environmental Protection Department & Civil Engineering Department;
·Code
of Practice on the Packaging, Labelling and Storage of Chemical Wastes
(1992), Environmental Protection Department.
·Works
Branch Technical Circular No. 6/92, Fill Management;
Works Branch, Hong Kong Government;
·Works
Branch Technical Circular 22/92, Marine Disposal of Dredged Mud;
·Works
Branch Technical Circular, 32/92, The Use of Tropical Hard Wood on Construction
Site; Works Branch, Hong Kong Government;
·Technical
Circular No 1-1-92 Classification of Dredged Sediments for Marine Disposal,
Environmental Protection Department;
·Works
Branch Technical Circular No. 2/93, Public Dumps,
Works Branch, Hong Kong Government;
·Works
Branch Technical Circular No. 16/96, Wet Soil in Public Dumps;
Works Branch, Hong Kong Government;
·Works
Bureau Technical Circular No. 4/98, Use of Public Fill in Reclamation and Earth
Filling Projects; Works Bureau, HK SAR Government;
·Works
Bureau Technical Circular No 5/98, On-site Sorting of Construction Waste on
Demolition Site; Works Bureau, HK SAR Government;
·Waste
Reduction Framework Plan, 1998 to 2007, Planning,
Environment and Lands Bureau, Government Secretariat, 5 November 1998;
·Works
Bureau Technical Circular No 5/99, Trip-ticket System for Disposal of
Construction and Demolition Material; Works Bureau, HK SAR
Government; and
·Work
Bureau Technical Circular No. 25/99, Incorporation of Information on
Construction and Demolition Material Management in Public Works Sub-committee
Papers; Works Bureau, HK SAR Government.
Classification
of Marine Sediment for Marine Disposal
6.2.14Dredged
sediments destined for marine disposal are classified according to their level
of contamination by seven heavy metals as stipulated in theEPDTC 1-1-92.The seven metals are cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu),
mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn).Definition of the classification is as follows:
Table 6.2a -
Classification of Dredged Sediment
Class
Type
Class A
Uncontaminated
material, for which no special dredging, transport or disposal methods are
required beyond those which would normally be applied for the purpose of
ensuring compliance with EPD's Water Quality Objectives (WQO), or for
protection of sensitive receptors near the dredging or disposal areas.
Class B
Moderately
contaminated material, which requires special care during dredging and
transport, and which must be disposed of in a manner which minimises the loss
of pollutants either into solution or by resuspension.
Class C
Seriously
contaminated material, which must be dredged and transported with great care,
which cannot be dumped in the gazetted marine disposal grounds and which must
be effectively isolated from the environment upon final disposal.
Table 6.2b -
Classification of Sediments by Metal Content (mg kg-1 dry weight)
Class
Cd
Cr
Cu
Hg
Ni
Pb
Zn
Class A
0.0-0.9
0-49
0-54
0.0-0.7
0-34
0-64
0-149
Class B
1.0-1.4
50-79
55-64
0.8-0.9
35-39
65-74
150-199
Class C
1.5
or more
80
or more
65
or more
1.0
or more
40
or more
75
or more
200
or more
6.2.15It should
be noted that for sediments to be identified within a particular class, the
concentration of only one metallic species needs to be exceeded.In the case of both Class B and Class C
contamination, the final determination of appropriate disposal options, routing
and the allocation of a permit to dispose of material at the designated
disposal site will be made by the EPD and Fill Management Committee (FMC) in
accordance with WBTC 22/92.
6.2.16It should
be noted that Appendix 1 Item (c) of WBTC 22/92 stipulates that the
concentrations of organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and tributyltin (TBT) should also be
tested, if suspected to be present.However,
EPD has not specified the criteria for any of these parameters.
6.2.17In
addition, in accordance with WBTC Nos
6/92 and 22/92 and Building Ordinance Office Practice Note for
Authorised Persons and Registered Structural Engineers No 155, any proposal
to remove more than 500,000 m3 of clean mud or any quantity of
contaminated mud must be justified on both cost and environmental grounds and
rationale for such removal should be provided to enable an allocation for
disposal to be considered.It is
desirable, therefore, to demonstrate that the proposed mud dredging is the
minimum necessary, and to obtain in-principle agreement from the Geotechnical
Engineering Office at early stage.
6.2.18A new set
of regulatory guidelines for contaminated sediments will shortly be promulgated
by the Work Bureau and Food and Environment Bureau and will be effective
by1 January 2002.The new guidelines will include a new set of
sediment quality criteria, as presented in Table
6.2c, which may include organic pollutants and other toxic substances, as
well as a new class of contamination level for highly contaminated sediment
which is not suitable for marine disposal.
Table
6.2c - Dredged/Excavated Sediment Quality Criteria for the Classification under
the New Dredged/Excavated Sediment Guidelines
6.3.1The NLDFS
developments and CKWLR fall within the Tsuen Wan and Outlying Islands Waste
Arising Districts.Municipal solid
waste (MSW) arising in North Lantau is mainly from the Tung Chung New Town, the
Hong Kong International Airport, and the MTRC Siu Ho Wan Depot. Currently, the
MSW collected from North Lantau is delivered to the North Lantau Transfer
Station (NLTS) at Siu Ho Wan.
6.3.2The NLTS
was commissioned in April 1998 has throughput of 650 tpd which will be expanded
to 1,200 tpd to handle the anticipated growth of waste arising from North
Lantau.The anticipated waste
throughput of NLTS are 180, 370, 770, and 880 tpd for the years 2001, 2006,
2011 and 2016, respectively ([2]) .At the NLTS, the waste is compacted into 20 ft ISO containers for bulk
transfer by marine vessels to the Western New Territories (WENT) landfill for
final disposal.The WENT landfill was
commissioned in November 1993 and has design and void capacities of about 61
and 53 M m3, respectively. Based on the currently waste input
forecast, the HK SAR’s strategic landfills with the implementation of Waste
Reduction Framework Plan will be filled by 2019.
6.3.3No public
filling area or barging point is currently available for the disposal of public
fill arising from North Lantau.A pubic
filling area is proposed at Yam Tsai Wan but no commitment is
acknowledged.Currently, there is only
one Public Filling Barging Point in Lantau Island at Mui Wo (operating since
1998).The Siu Ho Wan Public Filling
Barging Point (next to the NLTS) is scheduled to operate in 2004.Before the commissioning of the Siu Ho Wan
Public Filling Barging Point, public fills generated in the construction of the
Theme Park (Phases I and II) and the associated infrastructure will have to be
either re-used on-site as far as practical or delivered to public filling areas
in Kowloon and Tuen Mun or other reclamation sites on Lantau Island.
6.4.1The
potential environmental impacts associated with the handling and disposal of
waste arising from the construction and operation of NLDFS developments and
CKWLR will be assessed in accordance with the criteria presented in Annexes 7 and 15 of the EIAO TM and are
summarised as follows:
·estimation of the types and quantities of the
wastes to be generated;
style='font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>·assessment of the secondary environmental
impacts due to the management of waste with respect to potential hazards, air
and odour emissions, noise, wastewater discharges and traffic; and
·assessment of the potential impacts on the
capacity of waste collection, transfer and disposal facilities.