1. Introduction

1.1. Background

1.1.1. This Project is to construct and operate a vehicle depot-cum-office building (hereinafter referred to as the “proposed Project”) in Chai Wan at the junction of Sheung Tat Street, Sheung On Street and Sheung Mau Street (hereinafter referred to as the “Project site” and is shown in Figure 1.1) for the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) and the Government Laboratory (GL), who are also responsible for the operation of the proposed Project upon completion of construction works. The Project Proponent for the proposed Project is the HKPF. Allied Environmental Consultants Limited (AEC) was appointed as the environmental consultant to undertake the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the proposed Project.

1.1.2. In accordance with Item A.6, Part I, Schedule 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO), the proposed Project is a designated project under a category of “A transport depot located less than 200 m from the nearest boundary of an existing or planned (a) residential area and (b) educational institution”. An EIA is required and an Environmental Permit (EP) is to be obtained prior to construction commencement. An application for the EIA Study Brief under Section 5(1) of the EIAO was submitted by AEC on 23 January 2014 with a Project Profile (No. PP-499/2014). An EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-267/2014) was issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on 5 March 2014 to proceed with an EIA study for the proposed Project.

1.1.3. The potential environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the proposed Project have been assessed in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM).

2. Project Description

2.1. Need of the Project

2.1.1. Currently, the facilities of the proposed Project, namely the HKPF Hong Kong Island Police Vehicle Pound and Examination Centre (PVP & EC), the HKPF Centralised Case Property Store, the FEHD Depot, the EMSD Depot and the GL Specialist Laboratory, are occupying temporary sites that require periodic extensions of their tenancy duration. These temporary sites are sited at different locations, resulting in the need of additional resources, such as increased travelling time and distance, for the operations of the abovementioned facilities. The current arrangement is viewed as environmentally and economically inefficient. There is a long-term need for permanent government vehicle depot and offices.

2.1.2. Moreover, the existing HKPF PVP & EC and FEHD Depot are currently occupying temporary sites at Quarry Bay, both of which have been earmarked for the development of the extension of Quarry Bay Park Phase II by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). The relocation of the facilities would pave the way for future development of the Quarry Bay Park Phase II. Thus, there is an urgent need for available spaces to accommodate the aforementioned facilities.

2.1.3. The proposed Project will also resolve the shortage of laboratory accommodation faced by the GL and long-term need for permanent depot facility of the EMSD and centralised store for the HKPF’s case property.

2.2. “Without Project” Alternative

2.2.1. A fundamental alternative of the proposed Project is the option not to construct the new vehicle depot-cum-office building in Chai Wan, which is referred to as the “do-nothing” option in environmental terms.

2.2.2. In the absence of the proposed Project, the services for the said region would have to depend upon other depot(s) in the other regions, which in turn demands longer travelling distance and time. It would lead to other environmental impacts including increase in traffic volume, and hence noise and vehicular emissions.

2.2.3. The absence of the proposed Project will also affect the future extension of Quarry Bay Park Phase II, as mentioned in Section 2.1.2 and sustain the shortage problem of GL laboratory, EMSD permanent depot facility and HKPF’s case property centralised store.

2.2.4. Taking the above reasons into account, the “do-nothing” option is not preferred and not considered to be an environmentally-preferred solution to cope with the current demand for vehicle repair / testing and operational services of the HKPF, FEHD, EMSD and GL in the region.

2.3. Site Location Alternative

2.3.1. As discussed above, there is an urgent need for a vehicle depot-cum-office building on the Hong Kong Island, especially in the Eastern District. In the early planning stage of the proposed Project, two potential sites in the Chai Wan area were identified and shortlisted for evaluation. The locations of the two sites are indicated in Figure 2.1, which include:

· Site A: the Project site, which is a land piece located at the junction of Sheung Tat Street, Sheung On Street and Sheung Mau Street

· Site B: a nearby land piece which is located at the junction of Sheung Tat Street and Chong Fu Road

2.3.2. Site A was eventually selected. The selected site is located further away from nearby residential developments and shortens the travelling distance and time to access the major carriageway, Island Eastern Corridor (IEC). Such arrangement is anticipated to introduce less vehicular emission and noise nuisance to nearby sensitive receivers.

2.4. Design Alternatives

2.4.1. The design options, including form, building design, facilities layout, ventilation and local exhaust design, were considered and reviewed in order to optimise the operational and environmental benefits of the facilities.

Form

2.4.2. The Project aims to re-provide the existing government facilities, including offices, stores, workshop etc. as mentioned in Section 2.1.1. The vehicle depot-cum-office building option enables various Government departments in one single building relieving the pressure on land resources, reducing the quantity of building construction materials, giving rise to a more efficient transport planning and minimising the overall impacts on landscape resources and visual amenity by the avoidance of establishing multiple buildings or at multiple locations, etc.

Building Design

2.4.3. Floor-to-floor heights, and consequently the overall building height, of the building are minimised to reduce potential visual impact and at the same time provide sufficient space for vehicle maintenance work and parking of various types of vehicles in the building.

2.4.4. The use of underground basement floor was not considered due to its longer construction period and the extensive amount of excavated materials and potential marine sediment generated.

Facilities Layout

2.4.5. Vehicle repair / testing activities are proposed to be covered and surrounded by spaces with uses that are relatively non-sensitive to noise impact, e.g. storerooms and staircases, which could serve as noise screening/ buffering purpose as far as possible. Moreover, substantial greenery features were considered, including soft landscaping areas on Level 1 and roof, together with the use of non-reflective materials for building envelope.

Ventilation and Local Exhaust Design

2.4.6. The proposed Project will be covered with a vast amount of openings at the building façades to optimise the use of natural ventilation, supplemented with the mechanical ventilation system at the car parking areas. Due to the reduced number of mechanical ventilation system required, potential noise nuisance from the fixed plant systems could be minimised.

2.4.7. Ventilation exhaust at laboratories of GL is to be treated prior to discharge to the atmosphere. Location and orientation of the local exhaust were carefully examined to ensure sufficient dispersion and to avoid direct impact to the nearby sensitive receivers. Various gas treatments were evaluated and the most appropriate technologies with proven removal efficiency (e.g. activated carbon filter, chemical scrubber, etc.) will be applied when considered necessary, and subject to detailed design development.

Construction Alternatives

2.4.8. For the construction of the proposed Project, the major construction activities comprise the following:

· Site formation, excavation and filling;

· Foundation; and

· Main building construction.

Foundation works

2.4.9. Although less noise and vibration would be generated from bored piling during construction, it usually requires longer construction period and more extensive excavation. In view of the above, conventional steel H-piling is considered to be more suitable for the proposed Project.

Site formation, excavation and filling

2.4.10. The construction methods to be adopted for site formation are all conventional methods which include site clearance, excavation and backfilling, construction of haul road and utilities laying, and finally the landscape works. For these works, the methods are well established and there are limited alternatives.

Main building construction

2.4.11. In general, the suitable main building construction options will not present significant differences in terms of the environmental impacts to the nearby sensitive receivers. Specific construction method will be determined upon the development of the structural form of the buildings during later design phase.

2.5. Description of the Site Area

2.5.1. The Project site is currently allocated as a works and staging area by the Drainage Services Department (DSD). As shown in Figure 1.1, the Project site is located on a reclaimed land near the promenade of Chai Wan Public Cargo Working Area, which previously was a reclaimed land. It is surrounded by Sheung Tat Street to the northwest, Sheung Mau Street to the southwest and Sheung On Street to the southeast. According to the approved Chai Wan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/H20/21, the Project site is zoned “Government, Institution or Community (2)” (“GIC(2)”). The proposed Project is subject to a building height restriction of 70mPD (including roof-top structures).

2.6. Design of the Proposed Project

Fig 3.1 Prelim Floor Plans (ramp covered)_Page_3

2.6.1. The proposed vehicle depot-cum-office building will be constructed in the form of a six-storey building (with a mezzanine floor above Level 3), with a proposed height of +49.8 mPD. The area of the Project site is approximately 7,000 m². The proposed Project involves the following facilities:

(a) Construction of the HKPF PVP&EC of 5,200 m² on Level 1 and 2;

(b) Construction of a vehicle depot under the FEHD of 4,600 m² or as appropriate on Level 3 and 4;

(c) Construction of the HKPF Centralised Case Property Store of about 1,942 m²for the storage of case property for Crime Formations on Level 3 and 3M;

(d) Construction of a permanent depot under the EMSD of 2,200 m² on Level 5; and

(e) Construction of a specialist laboratory under the GL of about 2,160 m² on Level 6.

2.7. Operation of the Proposed Project

Operation Hours in Proposed Project

2.7.1. Major vehicle repair / testing activities at the EMSD depot will be taken from 0800 to 1800 hours on weekdays, whilst the HKPF examination works will be taken on irregular basis due to operation needs. The PVP & EC will be in operation 24 hours on 7-day per week basis. FEHD depot will operate daily from 0600 to 2330 hours. General offices of EMSD, GL, etc. will operate mainly during normal office hours (0800 to 1800 hours).

Estimated Population in Proposed Project

2.7.2. The number of staff working in the proposed Project is estimated to be about 180 and 55 during daytime (0800 to 1800 hours) and evening time (1800 to 2330 hours) respectively.

Proposed Activities in Proposed Project

2.7.3. The major activities to be carried out in the proposed Project include vehicle repair / testing activities, vehicle parking, vehicle washing, chemical testing, etc.

2.8. Project Implementation Programme

2.8.1. The construction of the proposed Project is tentatively to commence in period from Mid 2016 to Mid 2017 depending on the design process and will last for about 29 months.

2.9. Identification of Key Environmental Issues

2.9.1. The identified key environmental issues during the construction and operation phases include the following:

During Construction Phase

· Potential dust impacts arising from the construction works activities of the proposed Project;

· Potential noise impacts arising from the construction works activities of the proposed Project;

· Potential water quality and sewerage impacts arising from the construction works activities and workforce;

· Potential waste management implication and land contamination issues arising from the construction works activities;

· Potential landscape and visual impacts arising from the construction works activities;

· Potential hazard to life arising from the neighbouring dangerous goods (DGs) processing and storage facilities; and

· Potential cumulative environmental impacts through interaction or in combination with other existing, committed and planned concurrent projects.

During Operation Phase

· Potential vehicular emission and pollutant emission impacts arising from the vehicle repair / testing activities in the proposed Project and road carriageways in the vicinity of the proposed Project;

· Potential fixed noise impacts arising from operation plant and vehicle repair / testing activities in the proposed Project and road carriageways in the vicinity of the proposed Project;

· Potential sewerage impacts arising from the workforce in the proposed Project;

· Potential landscape and visual impacts arising from the operation of the proposed Project;

· Potential waste management implications arising from the vehicle repair / testing activities of the proposed Project;

· Potential hazard to life arising from the neighbouring dangerous goods (DGs) processing and storage facilities as well as the proposed Project; and

· Potential cumulative environmental impacts of the proposed Project, through interaction or in combination with other existing, committed and planned projects in the vicinity of the proposed Project, and that those impacts may have a bearing on the environmental acceptability of the proposed Project.

2.9.2. The associated environmental nuisances have been adequately assessed in the following sections.