Chapter Title Page
Appendices
Appendix 8.1 Updated Contamination Assessment Plan (CAP) submitted in July 2010
Appendix 8.2 Acceptance of CAP by EPD in October 2010
The potential environmental issues associated with land contamination have been reviewed and are presented in this section. The implications of land contamination for the proposed land uses for the proposed construction and operation of the LT/HYW BCP and the associated works areas in the study areas including Fanling, Lau Shui Heung, Loi Tung, Ta Kwu Leng and Chuk Yuen, have been assessed in accordance with the clause 3.4.8 of the EIA Study Brief (ESB-199/2008).
In
accordance with the requirement set out in clause
8.2 Environmental Legislation, Standards and Guidelines
“Guidance Note for Contaminated Land Assessment and Remediation” and “Guidance Notes for Investigation and Remediation of Contaminated Sites of: Petrol filling Stations, Boatyards, and Car Repair/Dismantling Workshops” issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) provide guidance on land contamination assessment. The Guidance Note for Contaminated Land Assessment refers the Risk-based Remediation Goals (RBRGs) as the soil and groundwater contamination criteria. Besides, under the “Guidance Manual for use of Risk-based Remediation Goals for Contaminated Land Management”, it presents instructions for comparison of soil and groundwater data to the RBRGs levels developed for relevant future land-use scenarios.
8.3 Description of the Environment/ Baseline Conditions
The
preferred layout of the proposed LT/HYW BCP and alignment of its connecting
road established at the Feasibility Study stage is presented as part of the
Project Profile (EIAO Register No. PP-372/2008). Taking into account the views
of local villagers, the alignment of the BCP connecting road has been reviewed
and refined. Figure
1.1 shows the refined
alignment of the proposed truck road that connects BCP with
8.3.1
Proposed BCP at
The
proposed LT/HYW BCP will be built in the area of
Table 8.1
presents a summary of the historical land use identified at the area of
Table 8.1 Historical
land use in the area of
Date |
Ref. no. |
Height (ft) |
Land Use |
|
Y00963 |
20,000 |
Active agricultural land, village houses |
|
Y02912 |
29,200 |
Active agricultural land, village houses |
|
7827R |
12,500 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses |
|
16345 |
12,500 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses |
|
A05594 |
4,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, woodland |
|
A30725R |
4,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, woodland |
|
CN25141R |
8,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, woodland |
|
CW68388R |
8,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, woodland |
8.3.2 Sections of BCP Connecting Road between Lin Ma Hang and Frontier Closed Area and between Ping Yeung and Wo Keng Shan
The
proposed BCP connecting road around Ta Kwu Ling partly falls within the Closed
Area Boundary, including part of the existing
Table 8.2 presents a summary of the historical land use identified in the region. Representative aerial photos reviewed are presented in Figure A1 and A2 of Appendix 8.1.
Table 8.2 Historical land use along connecting road between Lin
Ma Hang and Frontier Closed Area and between Ping Yeung and Wo
Keng Shan
Date |
Ref. no. |
Height (ft) |
Land Use |
|
Y00963 |
20,000 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland |
|
Y02912 |
23,200 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland |
|
Y15864 |
3,000 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland |
|
16345 |
12,500 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland, village houses |
|
A05560, A05562, A05594 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland, village houses |
|
CN8665 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, village houses, hillside grassland and shrubland, bareground |
|
CW61736, CW63140R |
4,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, hillside grassland and shrubland |
|
CW68388R |
8,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, village houses, hillside shrubland |
8.3.3
North Tunnel at Wo Keng Shan and
This
portion of the BCP connecting road involves a roundabout at Loi Tung and
connecting road emerges at the tunnel portals at Princess Hill and Cheung Shan.
Review of historical aerial photographs suggests that the land use in the area
has generally changed very little.
Table 8.3 presents a summary of aerial photographs reviewed and the historical land use identified in the region. Representative aerial photos reviewed are presented in Figure A3 of Appendix 8.1.
Table 8.3 Historical land use along connecting road in Sha
Tau Kok Road Section
Date |
Ref. no. |
Height (ft) |
Land Use |
|
Y02912 |
29,200 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland |
1963 |
Y10132 |
- |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland, village houses |
|
7838 |
12,500 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland, village houses |
|
A05508 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, hillside shrubland, village houses |
|
CN8700 |
4,000 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, hillside shrubland and woodland, village houses, open area |
|
CW30301 |
3,500 |
Active and abandoned agricultural land, horticulture, hillside shrubland and woodland, village houses, open area |
8.3.4
South Tunnel at Lau Shui Heung and Proposed
The
proposed South Tunnel at Lau Shui Heung runs through the hillside. Construction
of the tunnel mid-ventilation building is proposed at Po Kat Tsai, near Lau
Shui Heung, where the South Tunnel locates. The area was used as agricultural
land in
The historical land use identified from a review of relevant aerial photos are summarised in Table 8.4. Representative aerial photos at Lau Shui Heung and Po Kat Tsai reviewed are presented in Figure A4 and A5 of Appendix 8.1.
Table 8.4 Historical land use of the location of proposed
ventilation building at Po Kat Tsai
Date |
Ref no. |
Height (ft) |
Land Use |
22/2/1963 |
Y09973 |
3,900 |
Agricultural land, access road |
23/11/1978 |
23416 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, access road |
13/1/1981 |
35589 |
10,000 |
Abandoned agricultural land, access road |
|
A04656 |
4,000 |
Bare ground, access road |
18/10/1990 |
A23492 |
4,000 |
Open storage, access road |
|
CN10584 |
3,000 |
Open storage and warehouse, access road |
|
CW33835, CW33898 |
4,000 |
Open storage and warehouse, access road, agricultural land, hillside shrubland |
8.3.5 Fanling Section of BCP Connecting Road
The
proposed BCP connecting road will be constructed as a viaduct structure
spanning over a new drainage channel at the
Aerial
photo taken in 1924 revealed that the railway already existed and the
surrounding area was used as agricultural land. In the early
Table 8.5 presents a summary of relevant aerial photographs reviewed and the historical land use identified within or in the proximity of the Project alignment in Fanling. Representative aerial photos reviewed are presented in Figure A6 of Appendix 8.1.
Table 8.5 Historical land
use along the proposed
BCP connecting road in Fanling
Date |
Ref. No. |
Height (ft) |
Land Use |
1924 |
Y00190 |
12,500 |
Agricultural land, railway |
|
Y09766 |
3,900 |
Agricultural land, village, low rise buildings |
|
A04594 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, bare ground, village, low rise buildings |
|
CN9781 |
3,000 |
Agricultural land, plantation, bare ground, village, construction sites, low rise buildings |
|
CW33687 |
4,000 |
Agricultural land, plantation, village, construction sites, low rise buildings |
In order to identify and evaluate the potential contamination impacts associated with the Study Area, the following tasks have been undertaken:
¡ Desktop study to review the current and historical land uses;
¡ Acquisition of information related to potential land contamination from Environmental Compliance Division of Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and Fire Services Department (FSD); and
¡ Site reconnaissance to identify the existing land uses.
In addition, the following sources of information have been collated and reviewed:
¡ Aerial photos from Lands Department and Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO);
¡ Previous approved CAP of the Regulation of Shenzhen River Stage (IV) EIA Study;
¡ Ground Investigation (GI) reports from Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) Geotechnical Information library; and
¡ Records and photographs from site visits.
8.5 Identification of Environmental Impact
8.5.1
Proposed BCP at
Based on the desktop review and site inspection, it is unlikely that land contamination is an issue at this section since the region was used as agricultural land and village in the past without any indication of industrial activities. The reconnaissance site surveys revealed that the area is occupied by village houses and agricultural fields. No potentially contaminating facilities such as car repairing workshops or scrap yards have been observed on site.
8.5.2 Sections of BCP Connecting Road between Lin Ma Hang and Frontier Closed Area and between Ping Yeung and Wo Keng Shan
The works area of this section partly falls within the Closed Area Boundary and desktop review showed that the land use has not been changed significantly in the past decades. The area was used as agricultural land with village houses without any signs of industrial activities or operation that could possibly causing land contamination.
Site
observations confirmed that an existing recycling compound in Ping Che is
situated on the opposite side of
8.5.3
North Tunnel at Wo Keng Shan and
According
to the finding from desktop review, the works area was hillside area with
agricultural land and village houses. Site reconnaissance survey recorded
horticultural land and natural hillside near Loi Tung. Construction site office at the
8.5.4
South Tunnel at Lau Shui Heung and Proposed
As the proposed South Tunnel runs through the hillside, clearly there is no issue for the tunnel section in terms of land contamination.
The
works area for the proposed ventilation building at Po Kat Tsai is used as open
storage since
It was observed during the site visit that the area is currently used as storage of construction materials, with the land surface concrete-paved. Provided with no records of possible land contamination due to chemical spillage in the area, it is considered that the possible land contamination within the area is low. Due to the inaccessibility of the area during the course of this assignment, it is considered further site visits are to be arranged after land acquisition to assess the land contamination potential.
8.5.5 Fanling Section of BCP Connecting Road
The area of the Fanling section of the proposed BCP connecting road was used as agricultural land with low rise building which later turned into roads, plantation and construction sites for drainage improvement. The works area of the portal at Lung Shan was used as agricultural land and later developed into village. During site visit, it was observed that the areas involved in the construction of the proposed BCP connecting road at the east and southwest sides Fanling Highway are currently occupied by construction sites, drainage channel and village houses. No sign of contamination was identified at these existing land uses.
While there are a number of
registered chemical waste producers in the area according to EPD’s records, the
Project alignment will not encroach into these existing facilities. There was also no record of any
accident that involved spillage/leakage of chemical waste within or in the
proximity of the areas of interest. There were neither records of dangerous
goods store nor incidents of spillage/leakage of chemicals in the areas of
interest according to the FSD’s records. It has been confirmed that there was
no activity or industry identified as per the Guidance Manual and Guidance
Notes (section
A
car workshop and a furniture workshop were identified near the
8.6 Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impact
8.6.1 Construction Phase
Based on the findings from the desktop study and the site reconnaissance survey, the current land uses, including potentially contaminative uses, within or in the vicinity of the Project area have been identified and these are summarised in Table 8.6.
Table 8.6 Potential Contamination for each section of Study Area
Site |
Desktop Studies |
Potential for Land Contamination |
Need for Further Site Investigation |
Corresponding |
Site for BCP at |
No industries identified in accordance with the GM* and GN* |
Unlikely |
NO – No SI was proposed. |
N/A |
Sections of BCP Connecting Road between Lin Ma Hang and Frontier Closed Area and between Ping Yeung and Wo Keng Shan |
No industries identified in accordance with the GM* and GN* |
Unlikely |
NO – No SI was proposed. |
N/A |
|
No indication of contaminating industries/activities except for the existence of construction materials storage and tyre fixing and replacement facility in the open area near Loi Tung |
Anticipated potential is low |
YES – Further SI and laboratory chemical analysis after land acquisition was proposed. Assessments of potential contamination should be presented in a Contamination Assessment Report (CAR) and, if necessary, a Remediation Action Plan (RAP) and Remediation Report (RR), for approval by EPD. |
Industrial |
Site at |
No indication of contaminating industries/activities except for the existence of construction materials storage facility |
Anticipated potential is low |
YES – Further SI and laboratory chemical analysis after land acquisition was proposed. Assessments of potential contamination should be presented in a Contamination Assessment Report (CAR) and, if necessary, a Remediation Action Plan (RAP) and Remediation Report (RR), for approval by EPD. |
Industrial |
Fanling section of BCP connecting road |
No indication of contaminating industries/activities except for the existence of car and furniture workshops |
Anticipated potential is low |
YES – Further SI and laboratory chemical analysis after land acquisition was proposed. Assessments of potential contamination should be presented in a Contamination Assessment Report (CAR) and, if necessary, a Remediation Action Plan (RAP) and Remediation Report (RR), for approval by EPD. |
Industrial |
*GM
refers to “Guidance Manual for use of Risk-based Remediation Goals for
Contaminated Land Management” and GN refers to “Guidance Note for Contaminated
Land Assessment refers the Risk-based Remediation Goals”.
As
seen from the above table, the anticipated significance in terms of land
contamination along the whole BCP connecting road alignment as well as the BCP
site is minimal. Only the
open area near Loi Tung, sites at Po Kat Tsai and workshops at Fanling were
considered with low potential of land contamination, while all others were
identified with no industrial activities in accordance with the principles of
the EPD
Guidance Manual and Guidance Notes. The open area at
According to the site appraisal based on the record of existing and historical land uses in the Study Area, adverse land contamination impacts due to the construction and operation of the Project are expected as insignificant. Further site investigations and laboratory chemical analysis after land acquisition are proposed. The assessments of potential contamination will be presented in a Contamination Assessment Report (CAR) and, if necessary, a Remediation Action Plan (RAP), for approval by EPD.
8.6.2 Operation Phase
There will be no industrial activities taking place at the connecting road during operation phase. A sewage treatment plant, which could be a potential contaminative land use, is recommended for the proposed BCP during the design stage. However, provided with the implementation of good practices of works and concrete-paved land surface, no contaminated land issue is anticipated.
8.7 Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impact
While the potential of land contamination is either unlikely or low as reviewed above, mitigation measures are virtually not necessary. In any case if contaminated land is identified after the commencement of works, mitigation measures are proposed in order to minimize the potentially adverse effects on the health and safety of construction workers and impacts arising from the disposal of potentially contaminated materials.
The following measures are for contaminated material excavation and transportation:
¡ To minimize the chance for construction workers to come into contact with any contaminated materials, bulk earth-moving excavation equipment should be employed;
¡ Contact with contaminated materials can be minimised by wearing appropriate clothing and personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks (especially when interacting directly with contaminated material), provision of washing facilities and prohibition of smoking and eating on site;
¡ Stockpiling of contaminated excavated materials on site should be avoided as far as possible;
¡ The use of contaminated soil for landscaping purpose should be avoided unless pre-treatment was carried out;
¡ Vehicles containing any excavated materials should be suitably covered to reduce dust emissions and/or release of contaminated wastewater;
¡ Truck bodies and tailgates should be sealed to stop any discharge;
¡ Only licensed waste haulers should be used to collect and transport contaminated material to treatment/disposal site and should be equipped with tracking system to avoid fly tipping;
¡ Speed control for trucks carrying contaminated materials should be exercised;
¡ Observe all relevant regulations in relation to waste handling, such as Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354), Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation (Cap 354) and obtain all necessary permits where required; and
¡ Maintain records of waste generation and disposal quantities and disposal arrangements.
8.8 Evaluation of Residual Impact
Based on the desktop review and available site investigation results for land contamination assessment of the Project, no contaminated land issue has been revealed, although site investigation is suggested after land acquisition. Hence, no land remediation action is proposed at this stage.
As such, no residual impact in relation to land remediation is anticipated.
8.9 Environmental Monitoring and Audit
In view of the desktop review results and the site reconnaissance findings, bulk excavation of soil for land remediation is not expected at this stage. As such, any environmental monitoring in relation to land remediation is not required.
However, during construction phase, environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) is to be carried out in the form of regular site inspection. All related procedures and facilities for handling or storage of chemicals and chemical wastes will be audited regularly to make sure they are in order and intact and reported in the EM&A reports as such.
The land contamination assessment has been conducted by reviewing historical/current land uses, desktop review and site inspection. Other relevant information was also collected from the related Government Departments.
Based on the findings of the site appraisal on the existing and historical land uses in the Study Area, adverse land contamination impacts associated with the construction and operation of the proposed LT/HYW BCP, connecting roads and ventilation buildings are not expected, except the open area at Sha Tau Kok Road near Loi Tung, works sites of ventilation building in Po Kat Tsai and workshops in Fanling. The potential of land contamination is anticipated to be low at these sites, while at the remaining areas as insignificant. Site investigations and laboratory chemical analysis are therefore proposed to be conducted upon land acquisition and site access is granted. Contamination Assessment Report (CAR), Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and Remediation Report (RR) would be followed (where necessary) after subsequent site investigations.
Mitigation measures for handling of contaminated materials, in case it is discovered after the commencement of works, and regular site audits are recommended to minimize the potential adverse impacts on workers’ health and safety and disposal of potentially contaminated materials.