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The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (September 25) issued the First Stage Public Engagement Document for the Review and Development of Marine Water Quality Objectives (WQOs). The engagement exercise will last for around three months until December 31.
"The marine environment is an integral part of our ecological system. It also supports recreational and other beneficial uses. Reviewing the WQOs is part of our endeavour to enhance protection of our valuable marine environment and to promote its best use," a Government spokesman said.
"The current set of marine WQOs was established according to the water conditions and scientific knowledge of the 1980s. A guiding principle of the review is therefore to keep our WQOs in pace with advancement in marine science and technologies, and to take into account any changes in the local marine environment. Reference will also be drawn to overseas best practices. The aim is to develop revised sets of WQOs that will serve as the objective and scientific basis for planning our environmental protection programmes and initiatives".
The EPD commissioned a consultancy study in October 2008 to review the marine WQOs, in which three major areas have been examined so far. These include ¡V
(i) characteristics and quality of our marine waters;
(ii) observations on the existing WQOs; and
(iii) overseas approaches for water quality management.
The study has also identified a list of nutrient-related, physical, chemical and microbiological WQO parameters and proposed the corresponding review approaches.
"Apart from scientific considerations, we also fully appreciate that the general public will find a number of beneficial uses, such as recreation and marine conservation, relevant to them. We hope to listen to public voices and consider them in devising our way forward. The community is encouraged to respond to the Public Engagement Document," the spokesman said.
The First Stage Public Engagement Document and the accompanying technical note are available from the EPD¡¦s website: www.epd.gov.hk/epd/wqo_review . Members of the public may forward their views and comments to the EPD by December 31 by post (address : 33/F Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong), by fax (2838 2155) or via email (wqo_review@epd.gov.hk).
A public seminar will be held at the Leighton Hill Community Hall (address : 133 Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong) on October 31 at 10am. To attend the seminar, members of the public may fill out a registration form (available from the EPD¡¦s website) and return it to the EPD by October 28.
Ends/Friday, September 25, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:00
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