12   ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND AUDIT

12.1      Introduction

12.2      Air Quality Impact

12.3      Noise Impact

12.4      Water Quality Impact

12.5      Waste Management

12.6      Land Contamination

12.7      Marine Ecology

12.8      Landscape and Visual

12.9      Cultural Heritage

 

 

 

12                ENVIRONMENTAL mONITORING AND AUDIT

12.1          Introduction

12.1.1      This section further elaborates the requirements of EM&A for the construction and operation of the Project, based on the assessment results of various environmental issues.

12.1.2      The objectives of carrying out EM&A for the Project include the following:

·                     to provide a database against which any short or long term environmental impacts of the Project can be determined

·                     to provide an early indication should any of the environmental control measures or practices fail to achieve the acceptable standards

·                     to monitor the performance of the Project and the effectiveness of mitigation measures

·                     to verify the environmental impacts predicted in this EIA

·                     to determine project compliance with regulatory requirements, standards and government policies

·                     to take remedial action if unexpected problems or unacceptable impacts arise

·                     to provide data to enable an environmental audit.

12.1.3      The following sections summarise the recommended EM&A requirements.  Details of EM&A are provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.

 

12.2          Air Quality Impact

Construction Phase

12.2.1      Negligible dust impact is expected from DP6 as dredging is a marine-based activity.  As there is only one dredger to be operated for DP6, insignificant additional marine traffic emission would be anticipated.  Adverse odour impact from dredging activities is not expected as the dredging area is not seem to have highly contaminated sediment.    

12.2.2      Negligible dust impact, marine emission and odour impact from the DP6 would be expected, air quality monitoring and audit is therefore not required.

Operational Phase

12.2.3      There will be no exceedance of AQOs at the sensitive receivers.  No mitigation measures or environmental monitoring are considered necessary during the operation phase of the Project


12.3          Noise Impact

Construction Phase

12.3.1      The proposed cross harbour water mains will extend from Wan Chai near the HKCEC Extension to connect to the existing system near the Museum of Arts at the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. The noise sensitive receivers located within 300m of construction sites at Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui are basically the buildings equipped with central air-conditioning system. The first layer of NSRs near Tsim Sha Tsui site, which are centrally air-conditioned, would provide considerable acoustic shielding to those receivers at further distance behind. No adverse noise impact would be anticipated and therefore noise monitoring would not be required for DP6. However, weekly site inspection shall be carried out throughout the construction phase to ensure that appropriate noise control measures would be properly implemented with a view to minimizing the  construction noise impact.

Operational Phase

12.3.1      In view of the project nature, no adverse noise quality impact during the operation phase would be anticipated and therefore monitoring and audit programme is not required.

 

12.4          Water Quality Impact

Construction Phase

12.4.1      There would be potential water quality impacts upon the water sensitive receivers due to the marine works.  Appropriate mitigation measures are recommended in order to minimize the potential impacts.  Water quality monitoring and audit during construction phase will need to be carried out to ensure that such mitigation measures are implemented properly.

Operational Phase

12.4.2      No unacceptable water quality impacts would be expected from the Project.  No monitoring programme specific for operational water quality would be required.

 

12.5          Waste Management

12.5.1      Waste management will be the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that all wastes produced during the construction of the Project are handled, stored and disposed of in accordance with the recommended good waste management practices and EPD’s regulations and requirements.  The mitigation measures recommended in Section 6 should form the basis of the site Waste Management Plan to be developed by the Contractor at the construction stage.

12.5.2      It is recommended that the waste arisings generated during the construction activities should be audited periodically to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with approved procedures and the site Waste Management Plan.  The audits should look at all aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage, transport and disposal.  An appropriate audit programme would be to undertake a first audit near the commencement of the construction works, and then to audit on a quarterly basis thereafter.  In addition, the routine site inspections should check the implementation of the recommended good site practices and other waste management mitigation measures.


12.6          Land Contamination

12.6.1      As no adverse land contamination impacts were identified for the Project, EM&A works for land contamination were considered not necessary.

 

12.7          Marine Ecology

12.7.1      No monitoring programme specific for marine ecology would be required.

 

12.8          Landscape and Visual

Introduction

 

12.8.1      The EIA has recommended landscape and visual mitigation measures to be undertaken during construction and operation phases of the Project. This Section defines the EM&A requirements to ensure the proposed landscape and visual impact mitigation measures are effectively implemented.

12.8.2      The construction phase EM&A of the landscape and visual environment and mitigation works shall be carried out as part of the site audit programme. Specific EM&A during operation phase of the Project is not required as long as the proposed mitigation measures in the EIA and as depicted in the Landscape Mitigation Plan are fully implemented.

Baseline Monitoring

12.8.3      Baseline changes with respect to the landscape and visual environments should be carried out in reference to the recorded baseline conditions of the site as described in Section 10 of the EIA. The monitoring should in particular record changes of each landscape resource, landscape character area and the view conditions of each visually sensitive receiver. Parameters used to describe changes in each of the above should be the same as in Section 10 of the EIA.

12.8.4      The baseline monitoring should be conducted as a one-off site survey prior to commencement of any construction works.

Construction Phase

12.8.5      The proposed landscape and visual mitigation measures for the construction phase are described in Sections 10 and 13.  The measures are on-site management measures to be undertaken by the Contractor.  All mitigation measures proposed in the EIA and implemented by the Contractor should be audited by a landscape auditor, as a member of the Environmental Team, on a regular basis to ensure compliance with the intended aims of the measures. Site inspection should be undertaken at least once every two weeks throughout the construction period.

12.8.6      In particular, the extent of the agreed works areas should be regularly checked during the construction phase. Any trespass by the Contractor outside the limit of the works, including any damage to the existing trees, woodland and vegetation should be noted.

12.8.7      The landscape auditor should also audit the proposed operation phase mitigation measures in the EIA and as depicted in the Landscape Mitigation Plan to ensure that they are fully implemented within the Project design and construction.


Operation Phase

12.8.8      During operation, there will be no impacts as the cross-harbour water mains will be underneath the harbour.  No monitoring programme specific for operational phase would be required.

 

12.9          Cultural Heritage

 

12.9.1      There is no monitoring and audit requirement for the marine archaeology.