5.                       NOISE

 

5.1                   Environmental Legislation

 

5.1.1             Construction Noise Criteria During Non-restricted Hours

 

5.1.1.1        Non restricted hours include the daytime hours on working days which are not a Sunday or a public holiday between 07:00-19:00. The noise generated by the construction of the Project during the non-restricted daytime hours will be assessed with reference to Table 1B of Annex 5 of the TMEIA, as shown in Table 5.1.

 

               Table 5.1        Recommended Construction Noise Levels (Non-restrict­ed Hours)

 

Noise Sensitive Re­ceiver

Noise Level Leq(30 min) dB(A)

Dwelling

75

School

70 (Normal school hours)

65 (During examination)

 

5.1.2             Construction Noise Criteria During Restricted Hours

 

5.1.2.1       If construction works during restricted hours are specified in the construction programme or percussive piling is to be undertaken, a Construction Noise Permit (CNP) will be required for the works and the noise impacts will be assessed to ensure compliance with the relevant Noise Control Ordinance (NCO) noise limits as specified in Annex 5 of the TMEIA.  Once applied for, the CNP will be assessed by the Noise Control Authority based upon the contemporary situation at the time of the application. 

 

5.1.2.2       An application for a CNP for percussive piling is assessed in accordance with the Technical Memorandum on Noise from Percussive Piling under the NCO.  The NCO limits for percussive piling are shown in Table 5.2 below.

 

Table 5.2      Acceptable Noise Levels for Percussive Piling

 

Time Period

Acceptable Noise Level

(dB(A))

NSR (or part of NSR) with no windows or other openings

100

NSR  with central air conditioning system

90

NSR with windows or other openings but without central air conditioning system

85

 

5.1.2.3       The CNP may contain permitted hours of operation as a condition with reference to the predicted noise levels at noise sensitive receivers.  However, it is not anticipated that percussive piling works will be required during the construction of this project.

 

5.1.2.4       The NCO construction noise limits during restricted hours are determined with reference to the type of area within which a Noise Sensitive Receiver (NSR) is located.  For village and low-density residential areas not affected by noise, an Area Sensitivity Rating (ASR) of ‘A’ is applied, while a low-density residential areas in which traffic noise is noticeable but not dominant, an ASR of ‘B’ is employed.  For a similar area in which noise from a major road is readily noticeable and dominates the noise environment, an ASR of ‘C’ is applied.  The definition of a major road is provided in the Technical Memorandum on Noise from Construction Work Other than Percussive Piling.

 

5.1.2.5       The NCO limits for noise levels during restricted evening and night-time hours (19:00 to 07:00) and Sundays and general holidays for each sensitivity rating are given in Table 5.3.

 

Table 5.3      Acceptable Noise Level during the Construction Phase (Restricted Periods)

 

 

Time Period

Acceptable Noise Level

Leq(5 min dB(A))

for Area Sensitivity Rating (ASR)

ASR = A

ASR = B

ASR = C

Restricted Period 1

All days during the evening (19.00-23.00) and general holidays (including Sundays) during the daytime and evening (07.00-23.00)

 

60

 

65

 

70

Restricted Period 2

All days during the night-time (23.00-07.00)

45

50

55

 

5.1.2.6       The construction noise criteria for each NSR are applied to the noise arising from operation of construction equipment. Nonetheless, it should be noted that depending upon the exact locations and orientations of the receiver points/noise sources and the shielding effect of other structures or topographical features, the effect of influencing factors on the receivers and hence the ASRs/ANLs may vary. 

 

5.1.2.7       Despite any description or assessment made in this EIA Report on construction noise aspects, there is no guarantee that a Construction Noise Permit (CNP) will be issued for the project construction.  The Noise Control Authority will consider a well justified CNP application, once filed, for construction works within restricted hours as guided by the relevant Technical Memoranda issued under the Noise Control Ordinance.  The Noise Control Authority will take into account contemporary conditions/situation of adjoining land uses and nay previous complaints against construction activities at the site before making his decision in granting a CNP.   Nothing in the EIA Report shall bind the Noise Control Authority in making his decision.  If a CNP is to be issued, the Noise Control Authority shall include in it any condition he thinks fit.  Failure to comply with any such conditions will lead to cancellation of The CNP and prosecution action under the NCO.

 

 

5.2                   Noise Sensitive Receivers

 

5.2.1             The Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) and Technical Memorandum on the Environmental Impact Assessment Process (TMEIA) specify  criteria for the identification of Noise Sensitive Receivers (NSRs).  In accordance with this criteria, no NSRs are present within 300m of the site boundary, the study area as specified by the Study Brief.

 

5.2.2             The Tuen Mun Area 38 site is located on newly formed reclaimed land in an area zoned for industrial use.  The existing land adjacent to the site is occupied by the cement plant and Shui Wing Steel Mill, with Castle Peak Power Station further to the west.  To the east, a further lot of reclaimed land is proposed for use as a recycling facility, and this is bordered by a sea area earmarked for formation in the near future.  The River Trade Terminal are located further down the coast. 

 

5.2.3             The closest sensitive receivers to the proposed PAFF are low rise residential properties at Lung Kwu Tan and high rise residential blocks at Butterfly Beach in Tuen Mun, both about 2km and 3km away respectively.  In addition, the sensitive receivers are shielded from the PAFF site by topography and there will be no line of sight to the facility.   The relative locations of the industrial and residential properties to the PAFF are shown in Figure 5.1.

 

5.2.4             In addition, according to the current planning aims, all future sensitive receivers in this area will be industrial/utility and will not be sensitive to noise.

 

5.3                   Existing Conditions

 

5.3.1             As described above, the setting of the PAFF is industrial in nature with many existing industrial facilities in operation.  The area is served by one single lane road, the Lung Mun Road, which is largely used by heavy vehicles serving both the facilities in this area but Black Point Power Station and WENT landfill further round the coastline.

 

5.3.2             In addition, as the majority of facilities also accept marine traffic, the waters off the proposed PAFF site are well utilised, with about 35 vessels an hour using the adjacent waters (see Table 10.3 for a further breakdown).  Based upon this, despite the isolated location from major built-up areas, the noise levels in the area would already be expected to be relatively high and levels in the region of 65 dB(A) would be anticipated.

 

5.4                   Construction Activities

 

5.4.1             Typical construction activities for the construction of the tank farm, jetty and pipe laying works have been defined.  The works can be broadly divided into land based construction and marine works.  The land based works will comprise the site formation, construction of the tanks foundations and erection of the tanks, utilities, and construction of access roads and ancillary buildings. The tank farm will initially house 4 storage tanks each of 40m diameter by 29m in height and providing a storage capacity of 35,0000m3.   It is intended that the tankage capacity would be increased in stages of 4 tanks at a time to match the anticipated growth in aviation fuel demand to an ultimate tankage capacity of about 420,000m3 by 2034.   The initial capacity of 140,000m3 is expected to be sufficient until about 2010.  It is currently forecast that additional tanks would need to be brought on stream at the rate of about 1 new tank every three years up to a maximum of 12 tanks.  The tanks would likely be built in clusters of 2, 3 or 4 tanks at each increase, with 4 tanks being considered to be the most likely scenario.

 

5.4.2             Marine works will comprise the construction of the jetty, requiring percussive piling, construction of the dolphin and associated decking and the submarine activities associated with the pipe laying, requiring dredging of the pipe trench, pipe laying and backfilling with sand and rock armour protection.

 

5.4.3             Typical equipment requirements for each of the key activities have been determined, as shown in Table 5.4, with the equipment for the tanks based upon the initial 4 tank requirement for 2005. Each piece of equipment will have a sound power level as defined in the Technical Memorandum on Noise from Construction Work Other than Percussive Piling and Technical Memorandum on Noise from Percussive Piling.  The equipment listed in Table 5.4 has been confirmed by the Project Proponent as being practical for completing the works.

 

5.5                   Key Issues

 

5.5.1             Noise during the construction phase will be associated with the construction of the tank farm and ancillary buildings and infrastructure and all these activities will require the use of heavy machinery. Noise will also arise during the construction of the supplementary fuel tanks, which will be undertaken on a periodic basis from 2010.

 

5.5.2             Operational noise will potentially result from the overall operation of the plant, maintenance activities and during berthing of the vessels.  Noise generation is expected to be intermittent based upon infrequent berthing requirements and periodic maintenance activities.  General operational noise is expected to be insignificant as all pumping of fuel will be largely undertaken via the underground pipeline which will provided effective attenuation for any noise.

 

5.5.3             Underwater noise during construction and operation phases is a key issue to the Chinese White Dolphins (Sousa chinensis). This issue has been assessed in the Ecology Section 7 and is not considered further here.

 

 

 

 

 

5.6                   Impact Assessment

 

5.6.1             As detailed above, there are no sensitive receivers within the designated study area of 300m of the proposed site and works and in fact no sensitive receivers within about 2km.

 

5.6.2             The total sound power levels of the equipment for each construction scenarios as detailed in Table 5.4 are shown in Table 5.5. Based upon the worst case construction scenario, the sound power level is 128.1 dB(A) during site formation (Earthwork - soil compaction[1]). Taking this worst case noise level and without applying any noise mitigation measures, the predicted noise level at a distance of 2 km away from the construction site would be 57 dB(A). The predicted noise level from construction activities is, therefore, well below the 75dB(A) criteria and is expected to be lower than the background noise at the sensitive receivers. As such significant noise impacts during the construction phase are not anticipated.

 

5.6.3             During the operational phase, minimal noise is anticipated from the PAFF. There will be a requirement to construct additional tanks at periodic intervals from 2010 but as no future sensitive receivers are anticipated, the noise impacts will be as described above.  The tank farm will contain on-site equipment which has the potential to generate some noise.   A inventory of the main equipment which will be present on the PAFF site during the operational phase is as follows:

 

¨             7 electric fuel pumps on the tank farm comprising 3 pumps to pump fuel from the tank farm to the airport, 2 pumps for internal transfer within the tank farm and 2 small product recovery pumps;

¨             2 small product recovery pumps on the jetty, one on each berth;

¨             23 electric fire pumps;

¨             1 standby generator for emergency power;

¨             7 ventilation fans in the roof of the fire service room; and

¨             4 air conditioners for the site buildings.

 

5.6.4             The standby generator and the fire service pumps will normally only generate noise when tested which will be on a monthly basis for 1-2 hours at the most and the ventilation fans will only be operational when activated.  The noise from the fuel pumps and the air conditioners will be insignificant given the small numbers involved, the industrial setting of the area and the lack of sensitive receivers in this area.

 

5.6.5             The other key noise source during normal operation will be the delivery of fuel by tankers, with general maintenance and pumping operations considered not to be a significant noise source, in light of the industrial nature of the study area and the existing activities in adjacent areas.  As shown in Table 3.1 in Section 3, the maximum delivery rate in 2040 will be an average of 3.6 tankers per week, rising from 2 vessels per week at the commissioning of the PAFF.  In comparison, the existing marine traffic in this area is about 35 vessels per hour, or 1680 vessels per week, based upon a conservative 8 hours per day, and this rate would be expected to significantly rise over the next 35 years.  The PAFF vessels at the commissioning date will form only about 0.1% of the total marine traffic.  While some of these vessels are small and would not be expected to generate the same level of noise, the volume of existing traffic in comparison to that projected for the PAFF is so much higher that the PAFF vessels would not yield any additional marine traffic noise impacts in this area.

 

5.7                   Mitigation Measures

 

5.7.1             Notwithstanding that no significant noise impacts on NSRs are predicted during the  construction phase of the PAFF, measures to minimise noise levels as far as possible are recommended.  Based upon the equipment requirements detailed in Table 5.1, measures which could be employed are as follows.  As no sensitive receivers will be affected by the project, the mitigation measures are advisory in nature only and will not form part of the Environmental Permit.

 

¨             use quiet equipment with suitable noise levels and labels;

 

¨             regular maintenance of equipment;

 

¨             ensure noise attenuation devices are fitted to plant and equipment such as:

 

-      fitting more efficient exhaust sound reduction equipment and ensuring the Manufacturers’ enclosure panels are kept closed on dump trucks, lorries, excavators and cranes;

-      fitting suitably designed muffler or sound reduction equipment and using dampened bit to eliminate ringing on breakers; and

-      ensure all leaks in air lines are sealed on all pneumatic equipment.

 

¨             use temporary noise barriers where applicable;

 

¨             restrict or modify working hours to minimise high noise activities;

 

¨             provide awareness training in the need to minimise noise;

 

¨             proper planning of work area; and

 

¨              good site practice to limit noise emissions at source.

 

5.7.2             Measures to minimise underwater noise for the protection of dolphins are discussed in the Ecology chapter, Section 7.

 

5.8                   Residual Impacts

 

5.8.1             Adverse residual impacts are not predicted during the construction or operational phases provided that the recommended mitigation measures are implemented.

5.9                   Environmental Monitoring and Audit

 

5.9.1             The assessment has concluded that no sensitive receivers will be affected by construction noise, although mitigation measures have been proposed to reduce noise levels to a practical minimum.  Based upon this, no noise monitoring is considered necessary during the construction phase.  However, in order to ensure noise is kept to a minimum, audit of the construction activities is recommended during the construction phase.  No operational phase EM&A is required.   EM&A requirements during the construction phase are described in more detail in Section 15 of this report and in the EM&A Manual.

 


[1]     Note: Percussive piling is controlled under Noise Control Ordinance and should not be included in this assessment.