This EIA Report identified the likely
environmental impacts that may arise during the construction and operation
phases of
this Project. In addition, the EIA
concluded that these impacts can be minimised to acceptable levels with
the implementation of appropriate environmental mitigation measures. In this regard, Environmental Monitoring and Auditing
(EM&A) activities are required during the construction and operation phases
of the Project to assess the effectiveness of the recommended mitigation
measures.
To
facilitate effective control of the environmental impacts arising from the Project, the criteria to be followed are listed
below:
¡ Setting up of a project organization with
clear picture of communication and responsibility;
¡ Development of an EM&A programme for all
environmental works involved;
¡ Implementation of environmental monitoring
and auditing for the environmental mitigation measures;
¡ Formulation of an Environmental Management
Plan by the Contractor, setting
out a framework for managing environmental issues;
¡ Approval for method statements prepared by
Contractor(s); and
¡ Development of a complaint handling
procedure.
12.2
Project
Organisation
A
project organisation
consisting of the Project Proponent, the Engineer or Engineer
Representative (ER),
Environmental Team (ET), Independent
Environmental Checker (IEC) and
Contractor(s), detailing lines of communication with respect to
environmental protection works
and the responsibilities of respective parties will be given in the EM&A Manual.
12.3
EM&A
Manual and Implementation Schedule
A project specific EM&A Manual will be
prepared based on the recommendations in this EIA Report, which served as a
guidance document in the preparation of the EM&A Manual. The EM&A Manual shall follow the approach recommended
in EPD’s Generic EM&A Manual, Annex 21 of the Technical Memorandum on the
EIA Process and EM&A Guidelines for Development Projects in
¡ Management framework of the EM&A
programme
¡ Project organization, including the
designation of responsibility and level;
¡ Works programme;
¡ The project construction schedule and the
necessary environmental monitoring and audit programme to track the
environmental impacts;
¡ Technical requirements for monitoring,
including: location, sampling, frequency, laboratory analysis and quality
assurance;
¡ Site auditing procedures;
¡ Definition of Action and Limit levels;
¡ Establishment of Event and Action Plans;
¡ Requirements for the review of pollution
sources and working procedures in the event of non-compliance of the project's
environmental performance criteria;
¡ Requirements for the documentation of
environmental monitoring and audit data, and appropriate reporting procedures;
and
¡ Complaint resolution procedures
An Environmental Mitigation Implementation
Schedule (EMIS) has been developed in Annex A of the EIA Report to summarise
all the required mitigation measures to be incorporated in the EM&A Manual.
12.4
EM&A
Programme
The EM&A Manual shall specify the
requirements for all monitoring and auditing works, including the following:
¡ collection of site data (e.g. baseline,
impact and post-construction monitoring);
¡ provision of remedial actions in case of
exceedance or non-compliance in accordance with the requirement and time frames
set out in Event/Action Plans;
¡ formulation of environmental site inspection
plans; and
¡ preparation and submission of reports such
as Baseline Monitoring Report and Monthly EM&A Reports.
A summary of the EM&A requirements for
different environmental aspects assessed in this EIA is provided below:
12.4.1 Water Quality
Appropriate mitigation measures are recommended to reduce potential water quality impacts during the construction phase. Water quality monitoring and audit will be required to obtain a robust, defensible database of baseline information on water quality before and during construction. The intention is to monitor baseline conditions, variation in water quality and exceedances of WQOs at sensitive receivers (including fish cultural zones) during construction. Subsequently, this will assist in ensuring the recommended mitigation measures are implemented properly. Details of the water quality monitoring and audit programme and the Event and Action Plan are provided in the stand-alone EM&A Manual.
It 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 good waste management practices and EPD’s regulations and requirements. The recommended mitigation measures will form the basis of the site Waste Management Plan which will become part of the Environmental Management Plan according to the requirements as stipulated in ETWB TCW No. 19/2005. This will be developed by the Contractor in the construction phase.
During the construction phase, auditing of each waste stream will be carried out periodically to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with approved procedures and the site Waste Management Plan. The audits will look at all aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage, recycling, treatment, transport and disposal. An appropriate audit programme will include an initial audit at the commencement of the construction works, and further audits on a weekly basis thereafter.
During the construction phase, water quality monitoring will be carried out at sensitive receivers (including some marine ecological sensitive receivers) under an Environmental Monitoring and Auditing (EM&A) Programme. Details of the requirements are listed in the separate EM&A Manual. The water quality monitoring programme with an action plan will allow any potential impact to the marine ecology induced by deteriorations in water quality to be monitored and will allow action to be taken at the earliest stage to alleviate any unacceptable changes. No other marine ecology-specific monitoring programme is considered necessary.
The implementation of the water quality mitigation measures stated in Section 3.8 will be checked as part of the environmental monitoring and audit procedures during the construction period as presented in the stand-alone Environmental Monitoring and Audit Manual. Monitoring of water quality parameters including Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Dissolved Oxygen Saturation (DO%), temperature, turbidity, salinity, suspended solids (SS), will be conducted at the four fish culture zones (Ma Wan, Lo Tik Wan, Sok Kwu Wan and Cheung Sha Wan FCZs) during the course of the marine construction works as part of the routine impact monitoring. 24-hour monitoring is also suggested at the monitoring stations of the four FCZs to undertake continuous measurements of DO, temperature and turbidity to supplement the routine monitoring activities in case where an action/limit exceedance is evident. Details of the monitoring requirement, locations and frequency are presented in the stand-alone Environmental Monitoring and Audit Manual for Water Quality Section.
In spite of the negligible additional risk, mitigation measures are recommended to further reduce the risks as low as reasonably practicable. No monitoring and audit is therefore recommended.
Sound communication channel will be established with the oil companies, Marine Department, and Fire Services Department for effective notification and emergency evacuation in case of accidents.
Proper safety and emergency training will be given to the relevant operation staff at the dredging site. Emergency plans and procedures will be prepared and drills will be performed periodically.
12.4.2 Landscape, Visual and Glare
The proposed Project activities are not expected to cause any adverse landscape, visual and glare effects. However, the routine auditing of the site to ensure the proper implementation of mitigation measures will be undertaken.
As
the 20 sonar contacts in the
No monitoring is proposed in the Western Fairway as per the marine archaeological findings.
Based on the Project arrangement and assessment findings, noise nuisance is not significant and therefore noise monitoring is not considered to be necessary. However, if any planned NSRs within 300 m from the works area are occupied during the dredging period, a noise monitoring programme will be implemented during the period(s) with predicted occurrence of noisy activities.
12.4.5 Construction Air Quality
As the predicted air quality nuisance associated with the Project is not significant, air quality monitoring during construction phase is not recommended. Regular site audits will be conducted instead to ensure compliance of the relevant requirements of the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation.
12.5
Environmental Management Plan
The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) shall be prepared by the Contractor according to the requirements as stipulated in ETWB TCW No. 19/2005 to ensure that the environmental requirements for the Project are fulfilled. The EMP serves as a guideline for the Contractor to implement the recommended mitigation measures.
12.6
Method
Statements
Checking
of the Contractor’s method
statements will be required to ensure environmental protection and pollution
control measures are implemented with
reference to the EMIS.
12.7 Complaint Procedure
All environmental complaints shall be
referred to the ET Leader to facilitate investigation of the complaints in
accordance with the established procedures. The Contractor shall cooperate with the ET
Leader during such investigations to assess the actual the source of the issues relating to the
complaints.