Expansion of Hong Kong International Airport into a Three-Runway System

Construction Phase Quarterly EM&A Report No. 1

(For 28 December 2015 to 31 March 2016)

April 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

Chapter    Title                                                                                                                                   

1.1______ Background

1.2______ Scope of this Report

1.3______ Project Organisation

1.4______ Contact information for the Project

1.5______ Summary of Construction Works

1.6______ Summary of EM&A Programme Requirements

2.1______ Air Quality Monitoring

2.2______ Noise Monitoring

2.3______ Waste Monitoring

2.4______ Ecological Monitoring

2.5______ Weekly Environmental Site Inspection

2.6______ Audit of the SkyPier Plan

2.7______ Review of the Key Assumptions Adopted in the EIA Report

3.1______ Cumulative Statistics

 

Tables

Table 1.1:__ Contact Information of Key Personnel

Table 1.2:__ Contact Information of the Project

Table 1.3:__ Summary of Status for All Environmental Aspects under the Updated EM&A Manual

Table 2.1: _ Impact Air Quality Monitoring Stations

Table 2.2: _ Impact Noise Quality Monitoring Stations

Table 3.1: _ Statistics for Exceedances for the Environmental Monitoring

Table 3.2:      Statistics for Non-compliance, Complaints, Notifications of Summons and Prosecution

 

 

Figures

Figure 1

Locations of Key Construction Activities in this reporting period

Figure 2

Locations of Air and Noise Monitoring Stations and Chek Lap Kok Wind Station

 

 

 

 

Appendices

  Appendix A             Construction Programme and Contract Description

  Appendix B             Project Organization Chart

  Appendix C             Environmental Mitigation Implementation Schedule (EMIS) for Construction Phase

 

Graph

 

Graph 1

Graphical Plot of 1-hour TSP concentration at AR1A and AR2 during the reporting period

Graph 2

Graphical Plot of Leq (30 min) at NM1A, NM3A, NM4, NM5 and NM6 during the reporting period

 

 

 

Executive Summary

 

 

 

The “Expansion of Hong Kong International Airport into a Three-Runway System” (the Project) serves to meet the future air traffic demands at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).  On 7 November 2014, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report (Register No.: AEIAR-185/2014) for the Project was approved and an Environmental Permit (EP) (Permit No.: EP-489/2014) was issued for the construction and operation of the Project.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) commissioned Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited (MMHK) to undertake the role of Environmental Team (ET) for carrying out the Environmental Monitoring & Audit (EM&A) works during the construction phase of the Project in accordance with the Updated EM&A Manual.

This is the 1st Construction Phase Quarterly EM&A Report for the Project which summarizes the monitoring results and audit findings of the EM&A programme during the reporting period from 28 December 2015 to 31 March 2016.

Key Construction Activities in the Reporting Period

The key construction activities in the reporting period were under the Contract P560(R) Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion Works (Contract P560(R)) which involved:

·         Site preparation and establishment works;

·         Construction of temporary concrete footing;

·         Mobilisation and installation of construction plants;

·         Installation of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) casing pipe;

·         Setup of site office; and

·         Conducting surveys and installation of safe access facilities on Sheung Sha Chau Island

 

 

Site 1_20160406_DSC_1032

Site 4_20160330_IMG_3131

Installation of HDD casing pipe at HDD launching site

Stockpiling of excavated material at stockpiling area

 

 

 

EM&A Activities Conducted in the Reporting Period

The EM&A programme was undertaken in accordance with the Updated EM&A Manual of the Project. A summary of the monitoring and audit activities during this reporting period is presented as below:

Monitoring/ Audit  Activities

Number of Sessions

1-hour Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) Air Quality Monitoring

108

Noise Monitoring

70

Waste Monitoring

16

Environmental Site Inspection (including landscape & visual monitoring)

16

Ecological Monitoring

1

 

 

AR1A

NM5

Air Quality Monitoring at AR1A - Man Tung Road Park

 

Noise Monitoring at NM5 – Village House at Tin Sum 

 

 

Monitoring of AIS

Waste Monitoring and Audit

Monitoring of HSFs through automatic identification system (AIS) for the SkyPier Plan

The diversion and speed control of high speed ferries (HSF) of SkyPier has been implemented since 28 December 2015. Training workshops and reviews were undertaken by the ET with the ferry operators to ensure safe implementation of the route diversion and speed control in accordance with the Marine Travel Routes and Management Plan for High Speed Ferries of SkyPier (the SkyPier Plan). Potential deviations from SkyPier Plan were first identified by the automatic identification system (AIS) monitoring system and notices were issued to concerned ferry operators. Ferry operators had to provide further information and valid reasons for the deviations. The deviation cases were reviewed by ET and checked by IEC against the SkyPier Plan.  The daily movements of all SkyPier HSFs in the reporting period ranged between 49 and 97, which falls within the maximum daily cap number of 125. In total, 2,583 ferry movements between HKIA SkyPier and Zhuhai / Macau were recorded in the reporting period. Deviation cases were lowered down to 38 in March 2016 through the monitoring and audit mechanism as well as the training workshops.  Causes of deviation were mainly due to local strong water current, early acceleration before leaving the SCZ, late deceleration before entering the SCZ and giving way to other vessels, etc. Further trainings will be arranged for the concerned captains for continuous improvement.  Status of compliance with annual daily average of 99 movements will be further reviewed in the annual EM&A Report. 

 

Breaches of Action and Limit Levels in the Reporting Period

Two Action Level exceedances of 1-hour TSP monitoring started at 10:00 am and 11:00 am were recorded at AR1A on 21 January 2016. Actions were taken accordingly based on the established Event and Action Plan as presented in the Updated EM&A Manual. The field investigation confirmed that only some minor site preparation works including hoarding erection were undertaken, and there were no major dusty construction activities that were conducted by the P560(R) Contractor when the exceedances were measured. It is thus considered that the exceedances were not related to the Project.

No exceedance of the Action and Limit Levels of noise and waste monitoring was recorded.

Implementation Status and Review of Environmental Mitigation Measures

Weekly site audits were carried out during the reporting period to confirm the implementation measures undertaken by the Contractor. Potential environmental impacts due to the construction activities, including air quality, noise, waste, landscape & visual and ecology were monitored and/or reviewed. The key issues addressed were related to dust suppression measures (e.g. watering, wheel washing and stockpile covering), wastewater treatment (e.g. treatment facilities and licensing) and site runoff management (e.g. installation of site drainage).

The recommended environmental mitigation measures, as included in the EM&A programme, were implemented properly in the reporting period. Also, the EM&A programme effectively monitored the environmental impacts from the construction activities and ensure the proper implementation of mitigation measures.

 

Summary findings of the EM&A programme

 

The following table summarizes the key findings of the EM&A programme during the reporting period:

 

 

Yes

No

Details

Analysis / Recommendation / Remedial Actions

Breaches of Limit Level^

 

ü

No exceedance of project-related limit level was recorded.

Nil

Breaches of Action Level^

 

 

 

ü

No exceedance of project-related action level was recorded.

Nil

Complaints Received

 

ü

No construction activities related complaints were received.

Nil

Notification of any summons and status of prosecutions

 

ü

Neither notifications of summons nor prosecution were received.

Nil

Changes that affect the EM&A

 

ü

There were no changes to the construction works that may affect the EM&A

Nil

Remarks:                ^ only exceedance of action/ limit level related to Project works will be highlighted. 

 

 

 

1             Introduction

 

 

 

 

1.1            Background

On 7 November 2014, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report (Register No.: AEIAR-185/2014) for the “Expansion of Hong Kong International Airport into a Three-Runway System” (the Project) was approved and an Environmental Permit (EP) (Permit No.: EP-489/2014) was issued for the construction and operation of the Project.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) commissioned Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited (MMHK) to undertake the role of Environmental Team (ET) for carrying out the Environmental Monitoring & Audit (EM&A) works during the construction phase of the Project in accordance with the Updated EM&A Manual (the Manual) submitted under EP Condition 3.1. The Manual is available on the Project’s dedicated website (accessible at: http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/index.html). AECOM Asia Company Limited (AECOM) was employed by AAHK as the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) for the Project.

The Project covers the expansion of the existing airport into a three-runway system (3RS) with key project components comprising land formation of about 650 ha and all associated facilities and infrastructure including taxiways, aprons, aircraft stands, a passenger concourse, an expanded Terminal 2, all related airside and landside works and associated ancillary and supporting facilities.  The existing submarine aviation fuel pipelines and submarine power cables also require diversion as part of the works. 

Construction of the Project is to proceed in the general order of diversion of the submarine aviation fuel pipelines, diversion of the submarine power cables, land formation, and construction of infrastructure, followed by construction of superstructures. The land-based construction works of Contract P560(R) Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion Works (Contract P560(R)) commenced on 28 December 2015 on the airport island. The overall phasing programme of all construction works and the construction programme of the Contract P560(R) are provided in Appendix A. All marine works, including the submarine power cable diversion and land formation, will only commence after completion of the gazettal process required under the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) Ordinance (FSRO).

1.2            Scope of this Report

This is the 1st Construction Phase Quarterly EM&A Report for the Project which summarizes the key findings of the EM&A programme during the reporting period from 28 December 2015 to 31 March 2016.

1.3            Project Organisation

The Project’s organisation structure and the contact details of the key personnel are provided in Appendix B and Table 1.1 respectively.

Table 1.1:      Contact Information of Key Personnel

Party

Position

Name

Telephone

Project Manager’s Representative

(Airport Authority Hong Kong)

Senior Manager, Environment

Lawrence Tsui

2183 2734

Environmental Team (ET)

(Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited)

Environmental Team Leader

Terence Kong

2828 5919

 

Deputy Environmental Team Leader

Heidi Yu

2828 5704

 

Deputy Environmental Team Leader

Keith Chau

2972 1721

Independent Environmental Checker (IEC)

(AECOM Asia Company Limited)

Independent Environmental Checker

Jackel Law

3922 9376

 

 

Deputy Independent Environmental Checker

Joanne Tsoi

3922 9423

Contractor

 

 

 

Contract P560(R) Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion Works

(Langfang Huayuan Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd.)

Project Manager

 

Shih Wei

 

2117 0566

 

 

Environmental Coordinator

Ivy Tam

 

2151 2090

 

1.4            Contact information for the Project

The contact information for the Project is provided in Table 1.2. The public can contact us through the following channels if they have any queries and comments on the environmental monitoring data and project related information.

Table 1.2:      Contact Information of the Project

Channels

Contact Information

Hotline

3908 0354

Email

env@3rsproject.com

Fax

3747 6050

Postal Address

Airport Authority
Room 403, 4/F, Airport World Trade Centre,
1 Sky Plaza Road, Terminal 2,
Hong Kong International Airport
(Attn: Environmental Team Leader Mr. Terence Kong)

1.5            Summary of Construction Works

During the reporting period, key construction activities were under the Contract P560(R) Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion Works (Contract P560(R)) which involved site preparation and establishment works, construction of temporary concrete footing, mobilisation and installation of construction plant and installation of HDD casing pipe at the HDD launching site located at the western side of the airport.

The erection of site hoarding and installation of site drainage system were completed by the P560(R) Contractor at the stockpile area located near Chun Ming Road adjacent to Tradeport Logistic Centre on the airport island. Site office setup was undertaken at a site near the Chek Lap Kok Fire Station at Catering Road East. Topographic survey (including also tree and boulder surveys) and installation of safe access facilities (e.g. safety ropes) were undertaken on Sheung Sha Chau Island.

The locations of the P560(R) works areas and site office are presented in Figure 1.

1.6            Summary of EM&A Programme Requirements

As presented in the Updated EM&A Manual, the environmental aspects of interest for the Project include air quality, noise, water quality, waste management, land contamination, terrestrial ecology, marine ecology, fisheries, landscape and visual, sewage and sewerage, and hazard to human life.  

 

The status for all environmental aspects is presented in Table 1.3.

Table 1.3:      Summary of Status for All Environmental Aspects under the Updated EM&A Manual

Parameters

EM&A Manual Requirement

Status

Air Quality

 

 

Baseline Monitoring

At least 14 consecutive days before commencement of construction work

The baseline air quality monitoring result has been reported in Baseline Monitoring Report (Version 1) and submitted to EPD on 14 December 2015 under EP Condition 3.4.

Impact Monitoring

At least 3 times every 6 days

On-going

Noise

 

 

Baseline Monitoring

Daily for a period of at least two weeks prior to the commencement of construction works

The baseline noise monitoring result has been reported in Baseline Monitoring Report (Version 1) and submitted to EPD on 14 December 2015 under EP Condition 3.4.

Impact Monitoring

Weekly

On-going

Water Quality

 

 

General Baseline Water Quality Monitoring for reclamation, water jetting and field joint works

Three days per week, at mid-flood and mid-ebb tides, for at least four weeks prior to the commencement of marine works.

Baseline water quality monitoring programme is scheduled to be commenced in April 2016.

General Impact Water Quality Monitoring for reclamation, water jetting and field joint works

Three days per week, at mid-flood and mid-ebb tides.

To be commenced with the relevant construction works

Initial Intensive Deep Cement Mixing (DCM) Water Quality Monitoring

At least four weeks

To be commenced with the relevant construction works

Regular DCM Water Quality Monitoring

Three times per week until completion of DCM works.

To be commenced with the relevant construction works

Waste Management

 

 

Waste Monitoring

At least weekly

On-going

Land Contamination

 

 

Supplementary Contamination Assessment Plan (CAP)

At least 3 months before commencement of any soil remediation works.

To be submitted with the relevant construction works

Contamination Assessment Report (CAR)

CAR to be submitted for golf course first; programme for submission of supplementary CAR at the other areas to be agreed.

To be submitted with the relevant construction works

Terrestrial Ecology

 

 

Pre-construction Egretry Survey Egretry Survey Plan

Once per month in the breeding season between April and July, prior to the commencement of HDD drilling works.

A pre-construction egretry survey on Sheung Sha Chau island was conducted between April and July 2015. The Egretry Survey Plan was submitted to EPD on 19 February 2016 under EP Condition 2.14. Subsequent comments on the Egretry Survey Plan were provided by EPD on 3 March 2016. The revised Egretry Survey Plan was submitted to EPD on 18 March 2016.

Ecological Monitoring

Monthly monitoring during the HDD construction works period from August to March.

The first ecological monitoring was conducted in March 2016.

Marine Ecology

 

 

Pre-Construction Phase Coral Dive Survey

Prior to marine construction works

A pre-construction phase dive survey for corals along the northern and northeastern seawall of the airport island and in the vicinity of the daylighting location on Sheung Sha Chau Island was undertaken and completed on 29 January 2016.

Chinese White Dolphins (CWD)

Vessel survey, land-based theodolite track and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM)

Baseline Monitoring

6 months of baseline surveys before the commencement of land formation related construction works at a frequency of two full surveys per month.

Commenced in Dec 2015 and on-going

Impact Monitoring

Vessel surveys: Two full surveys per month;

Land-based theodolite tracking: One day per month at the Sha Chau station and one day per month at the Lung Kwu Chau Station; and

PAM: For the whole duration for land formation related construction works.

To be commenced with the relevant construction works

Landscape and Visual

 

 

Baseline Monitoring

One-off survey within the Project site boundary prior to commencement of any construction works

The baseline landscape and visual monitoring result has been reported in Baseline Monitoring Report (Version 1) and submitted to EPD on 14 December 2015 under EP Condition 3.4.

Impact Monitoring

Weekly

On-going

Environmental Auditing

 

 

Regular site inspection

Weekly

On-going

Skypier High Speed Ferries (HSF) implementation measures

Monitor and check

On-going

Construction and Associated Vessels Implementation measures

Monitor and check

To be commenced with the relevant construction works

Complaint Hotline and Email channel

Construction phase

On-going

Environmental Log Book

Construction phase

On-going

Taking into account the nature of the land-based construction works involved in the Contract P560(R), the required impact monitoring focused on those relevant land-based environmental aspects including air quality, noise, waste management, landscape & visual and ecology as recommended in the Updated EM&A Manual.  

In addition, the EM&A programme also involved weekly site inspections and related auditing conducted by the ET for checking the implementation of the required environmental mitigation measures recommended in the approved EIA Report. 

The EM&A programme followed the recommendations presented in the approved EIA Report and the Updated EM&A Manual. A summary of implementation status of the environmental mitigation measures for the construction phase of the Project during the reporting period is provided in Appendix C.


 

2             Environmental Monitoring and Auditing

 

 

 

 

2.1            Air Quality Monitoring

Impact 1-hour Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) monitoring was conducted three times every 6 days at two representative monitoring stations during the reporting period. The locations of monitoring stations are described in Table 2.1 and presented in Figure 2. The Action and Limit Levels of the air quality monitoring are also provided in Table 2.1 for reference.

Table 2.1:      Impact Air Quality Monitoring Stations

Monitoring Station

Location

Action Level (mg/m3)

Limit Level (mg/m3)

AR1A

Man Tung Road Park

306

500

AR2

Village House at Tin Sum

298

The graphical plots of impact air quality monitoring results during the reporting period are presented in Graph 1.

Graph 1:        Graphical Plot of 1-hour TSP concentration at AR1A and AR2 during the reporting period

Two Action Level exceedances of 1-hour TSP monitoring started at 10:00 am and 11:00 am were recorded at AR1A on 21 January 2016. The measured 1-hour TSP concentrations were 319 mg/m3and 320mg/m3 at 10:00 am and 11:00 am respectively. Actions were taken accordingly based on the established Event and Action Plan as presented in the Updated EM&A Manual. IEC and AAHK were informed of the exceedances. It was confirmed from the field investigation that only some minor site preparation works including hoarding erection were undertaken, and there were no major dusty construction activities that were conducted by the P560(R) Contractor when the exceedances were measured. It is thus considered that the exceedances were not related to the Project.

No exceedance of the Action and Limit Level was recorded at AR2 in the reporting period.

The weather was varied from fine to cloudy, with occasional foggy and rainy in the reporting quarter.  Wind direction was mainly northeast or northwest in the reporting quarter.  The foggy weather would cause little effect on the 1-hour TSP monitoring results.

During the reporting period, the construction activities of Contract P560(R) mainly involved site preparation and plant installation and were not likely to cause adverse dust pollution. The HDD launching site and stockpile area are around 3 km and 900 m away respectively from the nearest monitoring stations in Tung Chung and the villages in North Lantau. The major dust sources during the reporting period observed to be local air pollution and nearby traffic emissions. The graphical plot of the impact air quality monitoring results showed no specific trend and variations likely related to background and weather conditions. It is considered that the monitoring work in the reporting period is effective and there is no adverse impact attributable to the works of the Project.

2.2            Noise Monitoring

Impact noise monitoring was conducted at five representative monitoring stations once per week during 0700 and 1900 during the reporting period. The locations of monitoring stations are described in Table 2.2 and presented in Figure 2. The Action and Limit Levels of the noise monitoring are provided in Table 2.2 for reference.

The graphical plots of impact noise quality monitoring results during the reporting period are presented in Graph 2.

Table 2.2:      Impact Noise Quality Monitoring Stations

Monitoring Station

Location

Action Level

Limit Level

NM1A

Man Tung Road Park

When one documented complaint is received from any one of the sensitive receivers

75 dB(A)

NM3A

Site Office

75 dB(A)

NM4(i)

Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Primary School

65dB(A) / 70 dB(A)

NM5

Village House in Tin Sum

75 dB(A)

NM6

House No. 1, Sha Lo Wan

75 dB(A)

Note: (i) reduce to 70dB(A) for school and 65dB(A) during school examination periods.

Graph 2         Graphical Plot of Leq (30min) at NM1A, NM3A, NM4, NM5 and NM6 during the reporting period

 

 

No exceedance of the Action and Limit Level was recorded at all monitoring stations in the reporting period.

During the reporting period, the construction activities of Contract P560(R) mainly involved site preparation and plant installation and were not likely to cause adverse noise impact. The HDD launching site and stockpile area are around 3 km and 900 m away respectively from the nearest monitoring stations in Tung Chung and the villages in North Lantau. The monitoring stations were observed during the construction noise impact monitoring dominated by aircraft noise at NM3A and NM5, aircraft noise and helicopter noise at NM6, road traffic noise at NM1A and school activities at NM4 in the background. It is considered that the monitoring work in the reporting period is effective and there is no adverse impact attributable to the works of the Project.

2.3            Waste Monitoring

Weekly waste monitoring of the Project construction works to check and monitor the implementation of proper waste management practices during the construction phase were completed through 16 site inspections in the reporting period.

No exceedances of the Action and Limit Levels of waste monitoring were recorded in the reporting period.

Under the P560(R) Contract, about 700 m3 excavated material from the launching site has been delivered and temporarily stored at the stockpiling area at Chun Ming Road adjacent to Tradeport Logistic Centre on the airport island. The excavated material will be reused in the Project, including as backfilling material at the launching site.  The key issues addressed in the reporting period included setup and implementation of the waste recording system, storage of stockpiled materials, waste collection point, spill control and management, and chemical wastes registry and handing on site.

2.4            Ecological Monitoring

The first monthly ecological monitoring was carried out on 19 March 2016 on Sheung Sha Chau Island during which topographic survey (including also tree and boulder surveys) and installation of safe access facilities (e.g. safety ropes) were carried out by P560(R) Contractor. The monitoring has confirmed that the works conducted on Sheung Sha Chau Island by P560(R) Contractor had not caused direct encroachment or disturbance to the identified egretry area and that the policies of prohibited dumping of waste and tree cutting had been enforced.

2.5            Weekly Environmental Site Inspection

Site inspections of the construction works were carried out on a weekly basis to monitor the implementation of proper environmental pollution control and mitigation measures for the Project. In the reporting period, 16 site inspections were carried out. Observations have been recorded in the site inspection checklist and passed to the Contractor together with the appropriate recommended mitigation measures where necessary.

The key observations from site inspection and associated recommendations were related to:

¡  requirements of displaying non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) label on an excavator used onsite,

¡  establishing tree protection zone for the existing trees to be retained at the stockpiling area;

¡  fixing a broken temporary hoarding at the HDD launching site;

¡  the requirements of installation of wheel washing facilities; and

¡  erection of full hoarding for site boundary and provision of drip tray for oil drum.

A summary of implementation status of the environmental mitigation measures for the construction phase of the Project during the reporting period is provided in Appendix C.

2.6            Audit of the SkyPier Plan

The Marine Travel Routes and Management Plan for High Speed Ferries of SkyPier (the SkyPier Plan) has been submitted to the Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) for comment and subsequently submitted to and approved by EPD in November 2015 under EP Condition 2.10. The approved SkyPier Plan is available on the dedicated website of the Project.

In the SkyPier Plan, AAHK committed to implement the mitigation measure of requiring high speed ferries (HSFs) of SkyPier travelling between HKIA and Zhuhai / Macau to start diverting the route with an associated speed control across an area (i.e. Speed Control Zone (SCZ)) with high Chinese White Dolphin (CWD) abundance by the end of 2015.  The route diversion and speed restriction at the SCZ have been implemented since 28 December 2015. On 9 December 2015, the ET held a training workshop with the SkyPier HSF operators to familiarise them with the requirements of the diverted route, SCZ and related rules as well as other operational, monitoring and control arrangements.

All SkyPier HSFs travelling between HKIA and Zhuhai / Macau had switched to the diverted route and followed the speed control requirements. The ET have conducted checking of all the relevant information, including automatic identification system (AIS) data, daily SkyPier HSF movements, record of potential deviations and the responses provided by the ferry operators, to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the SkyPier Plan. The IEC of the Project has also performed audit on the compliance of the SkyPier Plan requirements as part of the EM&A programme.

During the initial implementation period, the SkyPier HSFs encountered occasional difficulties in strictly observing the 15-knot speed limit throughout the journey. In accordance with the SkyPier Plan, further training workshops for the SkyPier operators were held in January 2016 and March 2016 to ensure their full understanding of and adherence to the routing and speed control requirements.

The situation has been considerably improved in February and March 2016 by undertaking of workshop training and ferry movement monitoring and audit. Potential deviations from SkyPier Plan were first identified by the monitoring system and notices were issued to concerned ferry operators. Ferry operators had to provide further information and valid reasons for the deviations. The deviation cases were reviewed by ET and checked by IEC against the SkyPier Plan.  Causes of deviation were mainly due to local strong water current, early acceleration before leaving the SCZ, late deceleration before entering the SCZ, and giving way to other vessels, etc.

The daily movements of all SkyPier HSFs in the reporting period ranged between 49 and 97, which falls within the maximum daily cap number of 125. In total, 2,583 ferry movements between HKIA SkyPier and Zhuhai / Macau were recorded in the reporting period. Deviation cases were lower down to 38 in March 2016 through the monitoring and audit mechanism as well as the training workshops. Status of compliance with annual daily average of 99 movements will be further reviewed in the annual EM&A Report.  The effectiveness of the SkyPier Plan will be reviewed together with the Chinese White Dolphin monitoring results in the later stage.

2.7            Review of the Key Assumptions Adopted in the EIA Report

With reference to Appendix E of the Updated EM&A Manual, it is noted that the key assumptions adopted in approved EIA report for the construction phase are still valid and no major changes are involved. The environmental mitigation measures recommended in the approved EIA Report remain applicable and shall be implemented in undertaking construction works for the Project.

 

 

3             Report on Non-compliance, Complaints, Notifications of Summons and Prosecutions

 

 

 

 

 

3.1            Cumulative Statistics

Cumulative statistics on exceedance, non-compliance, complaints, notifications of summons and status of prosecutions are summarized in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2.

Table 3.1:      Statistics for Exceedances for the Environmental Monitoring

 

 

Total no. recorded in the reporting period

Total no. recorded since the project commenced

1-hr TSP

Action

0

0

 

Limit

0

0

Noise

Action

0

0

 

Limit

0

0

Waste

Action

0

0

 

Limit

0

0

Remark: Exceedances, which are not project related, are not shown in this table.

Table 3.2:      Statistics for Non-compliance, Complaints, Notifications of Summons and Prosecution

Reporting Period

Cumulative Statistics

 

Non-compliance

Complaints

Notifications of Summons

Prosecutions

This reporting period

0

0

0

0

From 28 December 2015 to end of the reporting period

 

0

0

0

0

 

 

4             Conclusion and Recommendation

 

 

 

 

In this quarterly period from 28 December 2015 to 31 March 2016, the EM&A programme has been implemented as planned, including 108 sets of air quality measurements, 70 sets of construction noise measurements, one ecological monitoring at Sheung Sha Chau Island as well as 16 environmental site inspections, landscape & visual and waste monitoring for the Project’s construction works.

The key construction activities of the Project in the reporting period were under the Contract P560(R) Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion Works (Contract P560(R)) which involved site preparation and establishment works, construction of temporary concrete footing, mobilisation and installation of construction plant and installation of HDD casing pipe at the HDD launching site located at the western side of the airport.

Two Action Level exceedances of 1-hour TSP monitoring were recorded in January 2016. The investigation results indicated that the exceedances were not related to the Project. No breach of the Action or Limit Levels in relation to the construction noise and waste monitoring were recorded in the reporting period.  Monthly ecological monitoring and weekly site inspections were carried out during the reporting period by the ET. All site observations made by the ET were recorded in the site inspection checklists and passed to the Contractor together with the recommended follow-up actions.  

The mitigation measures recommended in the SkyPier Plan have been implemented in the reporting period. Potential deviations from SkyPier Plan were first identified by the monitoring system and notices were issued to concerned ferry operators. Ferry operators had to provide further information and valid reasons for the deviations. The deviation cases were reviewed by ET and checked by IEC against the SkyPier Plan. Training workshops for the SkyPier operators were held by ET in the reporting period to ensure their full understanding of and adherence to the routing and speed control requirements. The daily movements of all SkyPier HSFs in the reporting period ranged between 49 to 97, which falls within the maximum daily cap number of 125. In total, 2,583 ferry movements between HKIA SkyPier and Zhuhai / Macau were recorded in the reporting period. Deviation cases were lower down to 38 in March 2016 through the monitoring and audit mechanism as well as the training workshops.  Causes of deviations were mainly due to local strong water current, early acceleration before leaving the SCZ, late deceleration before entering the SCZ and giving way to other vessels, etc. Further trainings will be arranged for the concerned captains for continuous improvement.  Status of compliance with annual daily average of 99 movements will be further reviewed in the annual EM&A Report.  The monitoring requirements stipulated in the SkyPier Plan were fully complied with and effectively implemented.

The recommended environmental mitigation measures, as included in the EM&A programme, have been effectively implemented during the reporting period. The impacts for construction activities in this quarter have been found to be not significant. Also, the EM&A programme implemented by the ET has effectively monitored the environmental impacts arising from the construction activities and ensure the proper implementation of mitigation measures.