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).
1.2.1
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.
1.3.1
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.
1.4.1
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
1.5.1
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
2.1.1
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.
2.2.1
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
2.3.1
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.
|
2.4.1
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:
Potential air pollution issues (particularly the compliance with
relevant legal requirements)
Minimise the potential odour nuisance and black smoke complaints to be
generated by the New Crematorium
Improvement in local environmental condition and at the same time coping
with increasing cremation loading
Operational efficiency (including the turnaround time for each
cremation and energy efficiency)
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.
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.
2.5.1
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.
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.
2.6.1
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:
(a)
Demolition of facilities in Existing
Crematorium in the southern side of the Project site, including
Existing sitting out area
Garden of remembrance
Existing building structure, including CLP secondary substation,
toilets, pavilion and retaining walls
(b)
Construction of the New Crematorium main
facilities, including:
One (1) cremator plant room housing six (6)
cremators
Three (3) fuel tanks (with total capacity of
34,000 L)
Two (2) service halls (each can hold 120
people)
One (1) pulverizing room
One (1) mortuary
One (1) office
Toilets for public
Ancillary service rooms including battery fork
lift, transformer and switch room, emergency generator room and joss burners
Two (2) automatic transportation systems for
coffins and part of an underground service tunnel for coffin circulation
Vehicular loading bay for coffin van, coach
Landscape area
Dangerous goods store
Installation of temporary CLP electricity
transformer at Phase II boundary
(c)
Demolition of Existing Crematorium main
facilities, including:
Two (2) service halls
One (1) cremation room with six (6) cremators
One (1) transformer room
One (1) underground oil fuel storage tank
(9,092 L)
One (1) mortuary
One (1) machine room
One (1) general store plus water tank
One (1) dangerous goods store
One (1) chimney (10 m in height)
(d)
Construction of the rest of the New
Crematorium, including:
Two (2) service halls (each can hold 120
people)
Two (2) automatic transportation systems for
coffins and remaining part of the underground service tunnel for coffin
circulation
Vehicular loading bay for coffin van, coach
etc.
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.
2.7.1
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
2.8.1
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)
2.9.1
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.
2.10.1
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:
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.
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.
The likely increasing down-time of the
existing cremators might adversely affect the normal provision of cremation
service to the public.