LCQ4 : Government committed to protecting the environment of streams and rivers

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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (January 26) :

Question

Under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance and the Waste Disposal Ordinance, a person commits an offence if he discharges sewage or disposes of waste into streams without prior approval. However, I have learnt that in a number of places in the New Territories, such as Pat Heung, Ping Shan and Tin Shui Wai, the streams are heavily polluted as a result of illegal discharges, which not only constitutes a visual blight, but also causes foul smell and mosquito breeding, posing health hazards to the local residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a) it has looked into the reasons for the authorities' failure to curb those activities which have caused pollution in streams, and whether such reasons include loopholes in the relevant legislation, inadequate enforcement efforts, etc.;

(b) it has assessed the effectiveness of night-time raids on illegal discharge of sewage from pig farms and soya product factories late at night; and

Madam President,

(a) The Government attaches great importance to protecting the environment of streams and rivers. Apart from controlling pollution sources and mitigating pollution loads through legislation and law enforcement, we also take steps to improve the sewerage infrastructure to remove pollutants. However, as sewage is produced by every household and all commercial and industrial establishments, it is the common responsibility of all parties to make an effort to protect the environment. Since the enactment of the Water Pollution Control Ordinance and the Waste Disposal Ordinance, the pollution loads arising from livestock rearing in the Northwest New Territories, including Tin Shui Wai, Kam Tin, Ping Shan and Pat Heung in Yuen Long, has reduced by over 90%, which is equivalent to the pollution loads generated by over one million people. The pollution problems of the rivers and streams in that region have accordingly improved considerably in the past decade. However, as the base flow of local rivers and streams is generally small, their assimilative capacity is therefore low. This, coupled with the continued development and hence population growth in the river catchments, as well as the lack of maintenance of many private septic tank systems, has caused the water quality of some rivers and streams in the Northwest New Territories to remain unsatisfactory.

As regards law enforcement, the frontline staff of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) have indeed encountered considerable difficulties. A major reason is that according to the prevailing legal principles and law requirements, our enforcement staff have to collect valid effluent samples as evidence for prosecution. However, as illegal discharges can often been completed in a few minutes, it is very difficult to catch the culprits red-handed and collect evidence on the spot, which results in prosecution difficulties.

(b) Our information shows that most pig farms and soya product factories do comply with the legal requirements for treating sewage properly before discharging while few farms or factories commit illegal sewage discharges at night. In order to combat such illegal activities, the EPD has stepped up surveillance and inspection against livestock farms suspected of breaching the law. In 2004, over 2 000 routine inspections were conducted on livestock farms in the vicinity of Yuen Long to ensure statutory environmental requirements are fulfilled. The EPD also carried out 40 prolonged night-time ambushes on farms suspected of illegal discharges, resulting in 25 successful convictions.

During the same period, the EPD also conducted 75 routine inspections on soya product factories in the New Territories. The department also carried out five prolonged night-time ambushes on factories suspected of illegal discharges at night, resulting in two successful convictions.

(c) To deal with livestock farms suspected of illegal discharges more effectively, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) is devising a demerit point system. Under the proposed system, if a livestock farm is convicted of an offence under relevant ordinances, points will be deducted. When the total points deducted in a specific period exceed the specified ceiling, the livestock keeping licence of the farm will be revoked. In addition, the authority is also exploring whether more stringent environmental requirements can be included as licensing conditions. Any livestock farm failing to comply with such licensing conditions can then be liable to revocation of its licence. If the proposed demerit point system can be duly implemented, it will be a very effective means to address the environmental and hygienic problems caused by livestock farms.

Apart from enforcement action, the Government has also been providing a door-to-door livestock waste free collection service since July 1996 with a view to reducing the pollution caused by livestock waste. The annual recurrent cost for providing the service is roughly $12 million. It serves about 400 farms at present and 170 tonnes of livestock waste is collected daily. Moreover, the Drainage Services Department has also been conducting ad hoc maintenance dredging in some rivers or nullahs to address the odour problem. Taking the Tin Shui Wai Nullah as an example, the cost for a recent maintenance dredging project has amounted to $3.3 million.

Finally, the EPD also takes the initiative to enhance its co-operation with the trade through a partnership programme to help the farmers to improve the efficiency of their waste treatment process. The EPD is also planning to make use of a web-based platform to provide information on livestock farms so that the Government and members of the public and Legislative Council can jointly monitor the environmental impacts caused by these farms, which in turn will help strengthen the self-discipline of local farmers to meet the legal requirements.

End/Wednesday, January 26, 2005

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