1                    INTRODUCTION

 

1.1              Background

 

1.1.1          The demand for cremation service in Kowloon area is catered for by the Diamond Hill Crematorium (hereafter referred to as the Existing Crematorium) which started operation in 1979.  The six existing cremators are now approaching the end of their serviceable life and hence the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) proposes to demolish the Existing Crematorium as well as to construct and operate a new crematorium (hereafter referred to as the New Crematorium) in situ as a replacement (hereafter referred to as this Project).

 

1.1.2          The Architectural Services Department (Arch SD) is the works agent for implementing the Project.  After completion of construction works, the new cremators will be handed over to FEHD for operation.

 

1.1.3          The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has been commissioned by Arch SD as the Consultants to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Project.  HKPC has been supported by Townland Consultants Limited, Scott Wilson (Hong Kong) Limited and Atkins China Limited in this EIA study, who have conducted the landscape and visual impact assessment, contaminated land assessment, and asbestos assessment respectively.

 

1.1.4          Having examined HKPC’s Project Profile (PP-166/2002) for the Project on 25 March 2002, EPD issued the EIA Study Brief No. ESB-102/2002 under Section 5(7)(a) of the EIA Ordinance (EIAO) on 7 May 2002.  Under the original agreement between Arch SD and the Consultant, the Consultant  was commissioned to undertake an EIA on the construction and operation of the New Crematorium.  Subsequently, in December 2002, Arch SD commissioned the Consultant to extend the EIA Study to include the assessment of environmental impacts caused by the demolition of the Existing Crematorium as well.  Details of the demolition works of the Existing Crematorium as well as the construction and operation of the New Crematorium (i.e. the Project) are provided in Section 2.

 

1.1.5          Based on the definition laid down under the EIAO as well as the nature of the proposed Project, two designated projects (DPs) requiring environmental permit are identified.  One DP falls into EIAO Schedule 2, Part II, Item 3, which is the decommissioning of a clinical waste incinerator, as the Existing Crematorium once dealt with non-infectious amputated body parts, which is classified as clinical waste under the “Practice Note on the Disposal of Clinical Waste at Landfills” from hospitals during the period of 1994 to 2001.  The other DP falls into category N4 of EIAO Schedule 2, Part I, which is the construction and operation of the New Crematorium.  This EIA report has been prepared to fulfill all the requirements described in the Study Brief for the EIA for the two DPs as well as the EIAO Technical Memorandum (TM).

 

1.2              Purpose and Objectives of the EIA

 

1.2.1          As required by the EIA Study Brief, No. ESB–102/2002, the purpose of this EIA Study is to provide information on the nature and extent of environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the New Crematorium and related activities taking place concurrently as well as demolition of the Existing Crematorium.  In essence, this Study should provide information on:

 

·             The overall acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to arise as a result of the proposed Project;

 

·             The conditions and requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation of the proposed Project to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences wherever practicable; and

 

·             Acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures are implemented.

 

The objectives of the EIA Study are as follows:

 

·             To describe the proposed Project together with the requirements for carrying out the proposed Project;

 

·             To identify and describe elements of community and environment likely to be affected by the proposed Project and/or likely to cause adverse impacts to the proposed Project, including natural and man-made environment and the associated environmental constraints;

 

·             To describe the considerations given in selecting the proposed site, layout, design (including technology to be adopted for the new cremators), and construction and demolition methods; to provide reasons for selecting the preferred option and to describe the part environmental factors played in the selection process;

 

·             To identify and quantify emission sources and determine the significance of impacts on sensitive receivers and potentially affected uses;

 

·             To identify and quantify waste management requirements and propose measures to mitigate or prevent impacts, and measures to be adopted to avoid introducing land contamination at the Project site;

 

·             To identify and quantify any potential landscape and visual impacts and to propose measures to mitigate impacts;

 

·             To identify the negative impacts and propose mitigation measures so as to minimize pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during construction, demolition and operation phases of the Project;

 

·             To identify, predict and evaluate the residual (i.e. after practicable mitigation) environmental impacts and the cumulative effects expected to arise during the construction, demolition and operation phases of the proposed Project in relation to the sensitive receivers and potentially affected uses;

 

·             To identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards, to be included in the detailed design, construction, demolition and operation of the proposed Project, which are necessary to mitigate these environmental impacts and cumulative effects and to reduce them to acceptable levels;

 

·             To identify constraints associated with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA Study; and

 

·             To design and specify an environmental monitoring programme, and if required, other environmental monitoring and audit requirements, to ensure the implementation and the effectiveness of the recommended environmental protection and pollution control measures.

 

1.3              Study Area

 

1.3.1          The area of the Project site is approximately 10,300 m2.  The Existing Crematorium is located along Po Kong Village Road in Diamond Hill, between Hammer Hill Road and Po Leung Lane.  The Study area focuses on the immediate environment of the Project but also takes into account the surrounding areas where necessary.  Layout and description of the Existing and New Crematorium are provided in Section 2.

 

 

 

 

1.4              Key Environmental Issues and Study Approach

 

1.4.1          Key environmental issues and concerns as identified in the Project Profile (PP-166/2002) as well as in Clauses 3.2.1, 3.3.2 and Appendix A in ESB –102/2002 have been evaluated in this EIA, including:

 

·             The consideration given in selecting the proposed site, layout, design (including technology to be adopted for the new cremators), and construction and demolition methods for the Project;

 

·             The air quality impacts arising from the construction, demolition and operation of the Project;

 

·             The measures to be adopted to avoid introducing land contamination at the Project site, as well as the waste management for the construction, demolition and operation of the Project;

 

·             The landscape and visual impacts from the construction and operation of the Project;

 

·             The safety requirements related to storage of fuel;

 

·             The noise impacts from the construction, demolition and operation of the Project;

 

·             Handling of any effluent discharge from the air pollution control system for the New Crematorium during operation stage;

 

·             Potential land contamination of the Existing Crematorium, taking into account the present land use and relevant landuse history in relation to possible land contamination and presence of any contaminated materials requiring disposal, in particular those contaminated by dioxin; and

 

·             Disposal of potential contaminated materials, including demolition of building materials containing asbestos and dioxin.

 

The scope of this EIA Study covers the combined impacts of the Project and its associated elements as well as the cumulative impacts of existing, committed and planned developments in the vicinity of the Project site including:

 

·             The Diamond Hill No. 2 Freshwater Service Reservoir: construction is scheduled from 4 July 2002 to end of 2005; and

 

·             The proposed KCRC Shatin to Central Link: preliminary feasibility study is underway, and construction is scheduled from 2004 to 2008.

 

1.4.2          A number of environmental aspects are not considered to be of concern to this Project, they include:

 

·           Ecology

·           Fisheries impact

·          Cultural heritage

 


1.5              Structure of the EIA Report

 

1.5.1          Following this introductory Section, this EIA Report consists of the following sections:

Section 2               Description of the Project

Section 3               Environmental Legislation, Policies, Plans, Standards and Criteria

Section 4               Air Quality Impact Assessment

Section 5               Noise Impact Assessment

Section 6               Land Contamination Impact Assessment

Section 7               Waste Management Implications

Section 8               Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment

Section 9               Water Quality Impact Assessment

Section 10             Hazard to Life

Section 11             Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) Requirements

Section 12             Summary of Environmental Outcomes

Section 13             Conclusion

Section 14             Implementation Schedule of Mitigation Measures

 

1.5.2          In addition, detail supplementary information associated with various EIA Study elements is presented in the following Appendices:

 

Appendix A   Air Quality Modeling Information

Appendix B   Noise Assessment Calculations

Appendix C   Contamination Assessment Plan and Report

Appendix D  Asbestos Investigation Report

Appendix E   Tree Survey

Appendix F   Framework of Environmental Management Plan

               


2                    DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

 

2.1              Needs for the Project

 

2.1.1          The Existing Crematorium has been handling the cremation service in Kowloon area since 1979 (i.e. operated for more than 24 years).  A total of 105 fault incidents on the 6 cremators in the Existing Crematorium were recorded during the period from April 2002 to March 2003 (i.e., about 2 fault incidents every week), and the downtime incurred due to such faults and the associated repair works was, on average, about 217 hours per cremator over this period, which represent 7.4% of the annual operating hours of each cremator (8 x 365 or 2,920).  Judging from the long years of operation and the frequent breakdowns over the past year, it is considered that the cremators in the Existing Crematorium have been approaching the end of their serviceable life.  In other words, further continuous operation of the existing cremators for long hours would probably give rise to more frequent breakdowns and even longer down time, thereby adversely affecting the provision of cremation service to the public.

 

2.1.2          There are now 29 commonly used cremators in the territory and 6 of them are installed at the Existing Crematorium at Diamond Hill.  These 6 cremators handled over 20% of the total cremations taken place in 2002.  If these cremators were to cease operation eventually without any replacement or reprovisioning, it would be impossible for the other 23 cremators to absorb the current cremation loading.  Replacement of the cremators at the Existing Crematorium is therefore essential for maintaining the normal level of service to the public.  At a Legislative Council Case Conference meeting held in January 2003, Members urged for early implementation of the Existing Crematorium upgrading on the basis of environmental improvement. 

 

2.1.3          According to FEHD’s statistical data derived from population census in 2001, as a result of Government’s efforts in promoting cremations, the number of cremations has been rising steadily at about 1% per year.  The percentage of cremations to the total number of deaths registered has risen from 47% in 1979, when the Existing Crematorium was commissioned, to 82% in 2002.  The actual number of cremations carried out in Hong Kong per year has increased substantially by about 55% over the past 15 years from some 18,400 in 1988 to over 28,400 in 2002.  With the increase in the overall population and change in demographic profile, the number of deaths is expected to increase in the coming years and the demand for cremations will follow a continuously rising trend.  With the use of present-day technology, the cremation time of the new cremators can be shorter.  Similarly, with up-to-date pollution control cremation technologies as demonstrated in later Sections, the new cremators are capable to maintain the pollutant emissions within the relevant environmental standards.  In other words, with improved environmental performance and greater cremation efficiency, the total handling capacity of the cremators will be enhanced and hence the number of daily cremation sessions will be increased.  The replacement of the Existing Crematorium by the New Crematorium will therefore help meet part of the increasing demand for cremations.  The adoption of up-to-date cremation technology and air pollution control system will not only increase the cremation efficiency but also improve environmental performance even with increased cremation demand.

 

2.1.4          There is a demonstrated need for the replacement of the Existing Crematorium by the New Crematorium (i.e. the Project) to upgrade the existing cremators and to meet the increasing cremation demand. Arch SD, in consultation with FEHD, has considered different options in siting, crematorium layout, and cremation and pollution control technologies in order to arrive at the practicable and environmentally sound design and arrangement for the proposed Project.  Details of the key considerations leading to this Project are provided in the following sections.

 

2.2              Considerations on Siting of New Crematorium

 

2.2.1          To replace the existing cremators that have been approaching the end of their serviceable life and to ensure that future cremation demand will be met, the formerly-USD (presently FEHD) had explored various siting options as described below:

 

Option 1: Building additional new cremators at existing crematoria

 

2.2.2          The option of building additional six new cremators at existing crematoria to reprovision the six existing ones at Diamond Hill Crematorium had been considered.  After reviewing the space availability of all existing crematoria, it was found that, apart from the Existing Crematorium at Diamond Hill, no other existing crematoria had space readily available for accommodating the additional six cremators. Therefore, this option was considered not feasible.

 

Option 2: Building a new crematorium at a new site

 

2.2.3          The formerly-USD conducted a site search for the development of a new crematorium for reprovisioning of the Existing Crematorium.  The required site should be easily accessible by the public, and provided with the necessary infrastructure, including water and electricity supplies, drainage and sewerage system and road access.  The new crematorium should also be environmentally compatible with the site and satisfy the statutory land requirement.  However, as advised by the Planning Department (Plan D), most part of the urban area had been fully developed and no readily available new sites meeting these criteria could be identified.  As for the New Territories, Plan D had, in a similar proposal to relocate Fu Shan Crematorium, commented that relocation should not be contemplated if upgrading (i.e. in-situ replacement) was a solution.  In the absence of a suitable alternative site, this option was not feasible.

 

Option 3: Reprovisioning of the cremators at the Existing Crematorium site at Diamond Hill

 

2.2.4          Having studied the various possible options, to build six new cremators to replace the six existing cremators at the Existing Crematorium at Diamond Hill site is found to be the only feasible option as well as a straight-forward and most efficient approach in providing the proposed replacement cremators for meeting the demand in cremation service. The proposal was supported by the Environmental Committee of the formerly Wong Tai Sin Provisional District Board (PDB).  At a Legislative Council Case Conference meeting held in January 2003, Members urged for early implementation of the Project so as to improve local environmental quality.

 

Proposed Project Site

 

2.2.5          After consideration of the above 3 options, it is proposed to adopt option 3, i.e., to build the New Crematorium at the Existing Crematorium site at Diamond Hill. As shown in Figure 2.1, the Project site is located along Po Kong Village Road in Diamond Hill, between Hammer Hill Road and Po Leung Lane.  To the North of the Project site is an urn cemetery.  The Diamond Hill Columbarium lies on the Eastern and Western sides of the Project site.  The Northern part of the Project site is higher than the Southern part, making it sloping in nature.

 

2.3              Considerations on Layout of New Crematorium

 

2.3.1          Layout of the New Crematorium (see Figures 2.2-2.5) has been designed with due considerations to the following key factors:

 

 

 

 

 

New Crematorium Layout

Rationale Behind/Benefits

·            Cremators and related facilities of the New Crematorium to be located at the Southern side of the Project site.

·            Main facilities of the Existing Crematorium are currently located at the Northern side of the Project site.  To ensure provision of continuous services by the Existing Crematorium before commissioning of the New Crematorium, the cremators of the New Crematorium will have to be located at the Southern side of the Project site.  While these new cremators will be moved from the Northern side to the Southern side, it has been assessed that the surrounding air quality will be in full compliance with the relevant standards and guidelines (see Section 4 for details).

·            Chimney of the New Crematorium to be located at the Southern side of the Project site

·            This proposed arrangement enables the shortest flue length, which can minimize the formation of undesirable pollutant formation inside the flue (e.g. dioxin).  The adoption of the new cremators with state-of-the-art technology with air pollution control systems will be able to control the emission within acceptable standards (see Section 4 for details).

·            3-level terraces design

·            As mentioned in Section 2.5.2, the Project site is sloping in nature.  Therefore, the terrace design of the New Crematorium will be able to fully utilize the Project site and to avoid large scale excavation.

·            Construction of perimeter road

·            This is to provide easy access for the public.  Adequate drop off area will be provided for various vehicles segregating vehicular access and parking for the public from those for hearse, mortuary and the diesel unloading to ensure safety for both the public and operators.

 

2.4              Considerations on Selection of Cremation and Pollution Control Technologies

 

Cremation Technology

 

2.4.1          While the design of the New Crematorium has not yet been finalized, the cremation technology to be adopted will be carefully selected with due considerations given to the following key factors:

 

Ÿ                 Potential air pollution issues (particularly the compliance with relevant legal requirements)

Ÿ                 Minimise the potential odour nuisance and black smoke complaints to be generated by the New Crematorium

Ÿ                 Improvement in local environmental condition and at the same time coping with increasing cremation loading

Ÿ                 Operational efficiency (including the turnaround time for each cremation and energy efficiency)

Ÿ                 Ease of maintenance and serviceability

 

2.4.2          The cremation technologies under review and recent technologies adopted in other similar projects are as described in Section 4.

 

Pollution Control Technology

 

2.4.3          Appropriately designed air pollution control system will need to be incorporated into the new cremators in order to control the various air pollutant emissions, including particulate matters, heavy metals, organic gases, acidic gases, dioxins and odour, to levels in compliance with the relevant standards.  In particular, considerations have been given to prevent future black smoke / odour nuisance arising from the operation of the New Crematorium.  Different control technologies have been reviewed (see Section 4) and it has been decided to adopt a dry process (air pollutant removal without the use of water or liquid) for air pollution control so as to avoid generating any effluent discharge from the future control system.

 

2.4.4          The exact air pollution control technologies to be employed in the dry process will be carefully selected in order to achieve full compliance with the current Guidance Note on the Best Practical Means for Incinerators (Crematoria) (BPM 12/2) issued by EPD, which will govern stack emission of the New Crematorium.  The BPM 12/2 is issued by EPD as one of the series to provide guidance for process specified under Part IV of the Air Pollution Control Ordinance.  It sets out the basic requirement for the New Crematorium operator to provide and maintain the best practicable means for the prevention of the emission of air pollutants (the target emission level is given in Table 4.1).  Other new crematoria (e.g. Kwai Chung Crematorium) has also adopted new cremation and air pollution control technologies to maintain the stack emission to BPM 12/2 standard.

 

2.5              Description of the Existing and New Crematorium

 

Existing Crematorium

 

2.5.1          As indicated in Figure 2.1, most of the facilities of the Existing Crematorium are provided in the main building at Northern side of the site, which include two (2) service halls and six (6) cremators.  According to the drawing from Arch SD, the Existing Crematorium consists of approximately 1,300 m2 gross floor area (GFA).  The Existing Crematorium is a single-storey building with longitudinal section measuring 58.9 m and transverse section measuring 36.2 m.  The maximum height of Existing Crematorium building is 5.2 m and the chimney height is 10.4 m.  Cremators in the Existing Crematorium are fueled by diesel and there is an underground fuel tank with capacity of 9,092 L.  In addition to cremation of the deceased, the Existing Crematorium processed clinical waste collected from hospitals from 1994 to 2001.  A checklist of the facilities to be demolished is given in Section 2.6.

 

New Crematorium

 

2.5.2          The New Crematorium will comprise six (6) cremators, four (4) service halls and a range of supporting facilities.  It will be located at a sloping site on three (3) terraces at different levels (from 70 mPD to 80 mPD).  The usable site area for accommodation of the major components of the crematorium is limited. 

 

2.5.3          The New Crematorium building will be organized into 2 distinct zones on 3 levels, namely, the podium deck level (service halls and landscaping), arrival hall level (office, public toilets etc) and the ground floor level (building services and cremator plant rooms).  The podium level will be devoted to public use and the ground floor level will be mainly for operation/function/office use.  The operation areas will be separated from the public area by the podium deck and access road.  Figures 2.2 to 2.5 show the layout of the New Crematorium.

 

2.5.4          The service halls will sit on a podium deck with landscaping, which will provide a peaceful setting for the ceremony and will help to convey the atmosphere appropriate to a funeral proceeding.

 

2.5.5          The presence of the landscaped podium deck garden will give opportunity for the funeral participants to experience the ritual in a comfortable environment.  Moreover, the spatial arrangement of the new service halls and circulation pattern of the funeral proceeding would avoid the ‘conveyor belt’ type of funeral services offered in the Existing Crematorium.

 

2.5.6          In terms of traffic arrangement, the road approach and the profile of the Existing Crematorium are similar retained.  The New Crematorium will provide adequate drop off area for various vehicles segregating vehicular access and parking for the public from those for hearse, mortuary and diesel unloading to ensure safety for both the operators and the public.  The main parking for coaches (2 nos.), visitors’ cars (4 nos.) and loading/unloading vehicles for mortuary and fuel service tanks will be provided in Phase I of the Project (see Section 2.6).  Additional 14 nos. parking spaces will be provided in Phase II of the Project.

 

2.5.7          It is proposed that Phase I of the Project will be located at the sitting out area and garden of remembrance of the Existing Crematorium, and Phase II of the Project (see Section 2.6) would take up the Existing Crematorium main building area.  The site area will be approximately 10,300 m2 with GFA of about 2,084 m2.  The maximum building height will be 18.5 m from the lowest level and the height of chimney will be 28.5 m from the lowest level.

 

2.5.8          By introducing a new automatic transportation system, the New Crematorium will provide automatic handling of coffins, resulting in greater efficiency and higher-standard services.  Based on an 10-hour work shift per day, the estimated number of cremations at the New Crematorium would be about 6 per day for each automatic cremation system.  Total capacity of the fuel storage tanks in the New Crematorium will be much larger than that of the existing one (34,000 L vs 9,092 L) so as to reduce the frequency of refuel trips from once per 10 days in the Existing Crematorium to once per month in the New Crematorium.  This will help reduce both the traffic loading arising from travelling of fuel vehicles and the potential disturbance to users of the New Crematorium during refueling.   The total capacity of fuel storage tanks in the New Crematorium is still substantially lower than the threshold of 10,000 tones or approximately 12,000,000 L, which is considered as potential hazardous installations under the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG).

 

2.5.9          The buildings of the New Crematorium will be merged with landscaped area. Four lily ponds are integrated into the main stairs of the arrival hall. Various planting areas and slopes with a wide range of plants e.g. trees, climbers are carefully layered into the buildings. Continuous planters along building edges will be adopted to soften the rectilinear building form.

 

2.5.10      Apart from the above improved features in the New Crematorium as compared to the Existing Crematorium, a framework of environmental management plan (see Appendix F) is also proposed to upkeep the environmental management standard in the New Crematorium.

 

2.6              Construction and Demolition Programme

 

2.6.1          The construction and demolition programme is constrained by the operation of the Existing Crematorium.  For the Existing Crematorium to provide continuous service, the Project will be divided into two phases: Phase I (from September 2004 to February 2006) and Phase II (from October 2006 to November 2007).  Boundary of the two phases of works and proposed programme of the Project are provided in Figures 2.6 and 2.7 respectively.  Details of the two phases of works are as follows:

 

Phase I

 

(a)            Demolition of facilities in Existing Crematorium in the southern side of the Project site, including

Ÿ         Existing sitting out area

Ÿ         Garden of remembrance

Ÿ         Existing building structure, including CLP secondary substation, toilets, pavilion and retaining walls

 

(b)            Construction of the New Crematorium main facilities, including:

Ÿ         One (1) cremator plant room housing six (6) cremators

Ÿ         Three (3) fuel tanks (with total capacity of 34,000 L)

Ÿ         Two (2) service halls (each can hold 120 people)

Ÿ         One (1) pulverizing room

Ÿ         One (1) mortuary

Ÿ         One (1) office

Ÿ         Toilets for public

Ÿ         Ancillary service rooms including battery fork lift, transformer and switch room, emergency generator room and joss burners

Ÿ         Two (2) automatic transportation systems for coffins and part of an underground service tunnel for coffin circulation

Ÿ         Vehicular loading bay for coffin van, coach

Ÿ         Landscape area

Ÿ         Dangerous goods store

Ÿ         Installation of temporary CLP electricity transformer at Phase II boundary

 

Phase II

 

(c)            Demolition of Existing Crematorium main facilities, including:

Ÿ         Two (2) service halls

Ÿ         One (1) cremation room with six (6) cremators

Ÿ         One (1) transformer room

Ÿ         One (1) underground oil fuel storage tank (9,092 L)

Ÿ         One (1) mortuary

Ÿ         One (1) machine room

Ÿ         One (1) general store plus water tank

Ÿ         One (1) dangerous goods store

Ÿ         One (1) chimney (10 m in height)

 

(d)            Construction of the rest of the New Crematorium, including:

Ÿ         Two (2) service halls (each can hold 120 people)

Ÿ         Two (2) automatic transportation systems for coffins and remaining part of the underground service tunnel for coffin circulation

Ÿ         Vehicular loading bay for coffin van, coach etc.

Ÿ         Landscape area

 

2.6.2          The columbarium next to the Project site will remain untouched throughout both Phase I and Phase II.

 

2.6.3          To provide cremation service in a continuous manner, operation of the Existing Crematorium will be maintained until the commissioning of the New Crematorium main facilities provided in Phase I of the Project.  Nevertheless, to prevent deterioration of environmental performance, in particular air quality, administrative measures to limit the total number of cremators in operation at any one time to not more than 6 are recommended in (see Section 4) so as to minimize cumulative impact.

 

2.6.4          To maintain continuous electricity supply, a temporary electricity transformer will be installed during Phase I (at Phase II site boundary) before the existing CLP secondary substation is decommissioned.  As polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) containing materials will not be utilized, no land contamination issues related to the installation, operation, decommission and demolition is expected.

 

2.6.5          The 2-phase work schedule proposed above has been carefully planned to minimize large-scale excavation, particularly with the sloping site, with a view to eliminating the use of extensive retaining structures.  The excavated materials will be, as far as practicable, used as backfill for construction of landscaping berms along the access road at the Northern end of the site in order to minimize the materials for dumping and disposal.  The new retaining structures will be constructed using the reinforced fill technique as far as conditions permit.  The reinforced fill structure is more sustainable in terms of energy consumption for its construction and also allows for better landscaping treatment to improve the visual impact.

 

2.7              Construction and Demolition Methodology

 

2.7.1          The demolition and construction works of the Project will be implemented into two phases, namely Phases I and II.  Although the detailed demolition and construction plan has not yet been formulated at this stage, the demolition and construction methodology will be based on the following.

 

Phase I

 

Demolition Works

 

2.7.2          Structures to be demolished in Phase I are mainly reinforced concrete structures.  These structures will be demolished and removed by traditional top down method utilizing hand held tools and mechanical breaking method commonly used by construction industry in Hong Kong. Demolition by implosion is prohibited.

 

Construction Works

 

2.7.3          Site Formation: upon completion of demolition works, new basement walls will be constructed to reform the site into two platforms of level 77 mP.D. and 72 mP.D. to house the New Crematorium with six cremators, 2 service halls and all ancillary facilities. Temporary shoring in the form of sheet pile or soldier pile and open cut excavation are assumed to be employed by the contractor for basement walls construction.

 

2.7.4          Substructure and Superstructure: simultaneously, pad footings and strip footing for columns and walls of the building will be constructed at their founding level by open cut excavation. Subsequently, the two-storey crematorium building which is in the form of reinforced concrete slabs, beams, walls and columns structures, will then be cast by using conventional construction method without requiring any special technique and equipment. No piling works are required.

 

2.7.5          AGV Tunnel: part of the underground AGV tunnel which is in the form of reinforced concrete box structure, will be founded 4m below ground level by open cut excavation.

 

Phase II

 

Demolition Works

 

2.7.6          Phase II demolition works will then be carried out using top down method similar to that used in Phase I. Demolition by implosion is prohibited.

 

Construction Works

 

2.7.7          AGV Tunnel: having finished the demolition works, the rest of the AGV tunnel will be constructed to meet the AGV tunnel of Phase I. Open cut excavation will probably be employed by the contractor to put the tunnel down to the required level.

 

2.7.8          Substructure and superstructure: pad footings and strip footing for columns and walls of the building will be constructed at their founding level by open cut excavation.  Retaining walls for the new platform which is 3m above the existing ground level, will also be built. On the platform, two service halls of single-storey in reinforced concrete beams, slabs, walls and columns will then be cast by using the similar construction method as used in Phase I.  No piling is required.

 

2.8              Benefits of this Project

 

2.8.1          After due consideration of the siting, layout, design, construction and demolition schedule as discussed in the previous sections, the proposed Project will have the following key environmental and social benefits:

 

·                 The Project will be able to address the increasing cremation demand  without construction of additional cremators as the efficiency of the new cremators is much improved.  Furthermore, as there will be appropriate air pollution control system for the new cremators, the emissions of air pollutants from chimney would be much reduced compared with the existing cremators.

·                 Replacing the Existing Crematorium by the New Crematorium with improved cremation design and air pollution control technologies will lead to the betterment of local air quality (via implementation of the Guidance Note on the Best Practicable Means for Incineration (Crematorium) (BPM 12/2) which strictly control the various air pollutant emission levels) (see Section 4)

·                 The existing cremators are consuming about 547,000 L of diesel per year.  The new cremators would be more fuel efficient (36 L of diesel per cremation as compared to 73 L of diesel per cremation in Existing Crematorium) and therefore utilize less natural resources

·                 Spatial utilization in the Project site will be improved as explained in S.2.3.1

·                 The Project will be able to address the increasing cremation demand in a relatively shorter timeframe by avoiding the long lead time required to get a piece of vacant and earmarked land for adding a new crematorium in the relevant statutory plan (see S.2.2.1-2.2.4)

·                 Building the New Crematorium at the same location of the Existing Crematorium will provide a speedy means to replace the existing cremators, which are at the end of their serviceable life, because less time will be needed for making the infrastructure provisions (see S.2.2.2-2.2.4)

·                 Replacement of the existing cremators by the new cremators would more likely be accepted by the community as evidenced by the support of the Environmental Committee of the formerly Wong Tai Sin PDB in 1997 (see S.2.2.4)

 

2.9              Interactions with Other Projects

 

2.9.1          Based on the proposed Project schedule, the demolition and construction programme could overlap with the construction programme of: (i) Diamond Hill No. 2 Freshwater Service Reservoir and (ii) the proposed KCRC Shatin to Central Link.  Locations of these projects are illustrated in Figure 2.8.

 

2.10          Scenarios with and without the Project

 

2.10.1      As explained in Section 2.1, there is a demonstrated need for the Project to replace the Existing Crematorium, which is near the end of its serviceable life, by the New Crematorium that will be equipped with state-of-the-art cremation technology and pollution control facilities.   With the Project, it will be able to achieve improved environmental quality (particularly the air quality) in the locality as well as to address the increasing cremation demand without the need of building extra cremators (see Section 2.8).  Therefore, it is anticipated that the future air quality in the vicinity of the Project site will tend to be improving after the implementation of the Project.  For other environmental aspects, it is expected that there would be no significant adverse changes when compared to the current situation.

 

2.10.2      Without the Project, on the other hand, the existing cremators that are near the end of their serviceable life will have to continue their operation, which might likely give rise to the following adverse situations:

 

Ÿ           The local environmental conditions, particularly the air quality, at the Existing Crematorium might be worsened due to potential reduction in performance of the existing cremators.

Ÿ           According to the information from FEHD, the total number of odour and black smoke complaints relating to the operation of the Existing Crematorium had risen from 8 in 2000 to 10 in 2002.  Continuing the use of existing cremators with likely increasing faults might see a further increase in the number of these complaints in future.

Ÿ           The likely increasing down-time of the existing cremators might adversely affect the normal provision of cremation service to the public.