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Following is a question by the Hon Miriam Lau Kin Yee and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 23):
Question:
Quite a number of Tseung Kwan O residents have indicated to me that the environmental problems created by the South East New Territories ("SENT") Landfill since its commissioning have caused nuisances to them for a long time. Recently, the Planning Department submitted a paper to the Sai Kung District Council proposing to further extend the SENT Landfill area, including designating about five hectares of land in Clear Water Bay Country Park and about 15.6 hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 for landfill extension purpose. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council :
(a) of the number of complaints received about the SENT Landfill since its commissioning, together with a breakdown of the complaints by category; how the authorities follow up such complaints;
(b) given that it has been recently reported that it is expected that the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill will aggravate the adverse impact on residents in the district, including the environment (in terms of odour and visual impact), traffic and the health of the residents nearby, and will also affect Chai Wan district, which is situated on the other side of the bank opposite to Tseung Kwan O, and the authorities had indicated in its paper to the Panel on Environmental Affairs of this Council in October 2008 that they would adopt a number of mitigation measures for the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill in accordance with the principle of avoidance, minimisation and compensation as set out in the Technical Memorandum of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499), whether they have assessed if such mitigation measures can resolve the aforesaid adverse impact on residents in the district; whether the authorities have other mitigation measures; if they have, of the details;
(c) of the daily average numbers of trips run by refuse collection vehicles and vehicles carrying construction waste which travel to and from the SENT Landfill through Tseung Kwan O at present, and the expected changes in the respective vehicular flows of the aforesaid two types of vehicles after the extension of the landfill; what measures the authorities have to mitigate the traffic impact and odour nuisance caused by such vehicles in the Tseung Kwan O district;
(d) whether the authorities will plan to require the use of compressed and enclosed type of refuse collection vehicles to travel to and from the SENT Landfill, so as to prevent wastes from spattering and emitting odour during transportation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(e) given that the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill will cover 15.6 hectares of industrial land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137, of the original planned use for the site; whether the proposed extension of the landfill will affect the development potential of other industrial land lots in Area 137, and as a result, reduce the employment opportunities within the area for residents in the district;
(f) given that it has been reported that the authorities plan to supply the methane generated by the wastes in the SENT Landfill after its extension to the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited ("Towngas") for conversion into gas, whether the authorities will request Towngas to reduce the tariff for Tseung Kwan O residents, so as to compensate for their being plagued by the environmental problems caused by the landfill for a long time; and
(g) given that the life of the SENT Landfill will be extended to 2019 after the proposed extension, whether the authorities have planned to further expand the area of the landfill, with a view to extending the life of the landfill again?
Reply:
President,
(a) The development of the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill started in the 1990s and was commissioned in 1994, and its operation has been assessed as meeting international standards.
Since 2005, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has received complaints about odour problem in the Tseung Kwan O town and the related figures are as follows:
Year Figures
2005 106
2006 165
2007 459
2008 943
2009 629
Most of the complaints were received in hot and rainy months.
Apart from the SENT Landfill, there are potential sources of odour nuisance in Tseung Kwan O. In this connection, the District Officer of Sai Kung has established an inter-departmental working group comprising representatives from the Sai Kung District Office, EPD, Drainage Services Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), District Lands Office and Highways Department. It aims to investigate and follow up on potential sources of odour under the purview of various departments with a view to abating the local odour nuisance. The working group has held a number of meetings, conducted joint inspections in Tseung Kwan O, and stepped up cleaning of the sites where odour may be emitted. We will continue our work on this front.
The EPD looks into each complaint about odour nuisance independently to identify the odour source. The EPD also informs the complainant of the investigation results of each case.
The EPD understands that Tseung Kwan O residents are concerned about the odour nuisance. The Department has stepped up odour management and control measures to further abate the potential odour impact of the Landfill. Such measures implemented so far include for example covering the tipping face with a thicker layer of soil at the end of the daily waste reception process; covering the non-active tipping face with temporary impermeable liner; setting up fixed deodorisers at the Landfill boundary; providing additional mobile deodorisers at the tipping area; putting a mobile cover on the special waste trench; and installing additional landfill gas extraction pipes and mobile landfill gas flares. The EPD will continue to implement the above measures. In addition, the Department is planning to construct an 800-metre wall along the boundary of the Landfill facing the industrial estate to abate environmental and visual impacts on the surrounding area. The EPD will also upgrade the existing facility for wheel washing to full-body vehicle washing facility to ensure that the entire body of every refuse collection vehicle is washed before leaving the Landfill.
(b) The Government has been working hard to promote waste reduction at source in recent years. Last year, the recovery rate of municipal solid waste has reached 49%. However, as we currently rely almost entirely on landfilling as our only means of waste disposal and the total municipal solid waste disposed of at landfill is about 9,000 tonnes per day, this has exerted pressure on our valuable landfill space. The proposed extension of the SENT Landfill (the proposed Extension) aims to continue an effective management of the municipal solid waste generated in Hong Kong every day when the existing SENT Landfill reaches its capacity. The EPD completed the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and traffic impact assessment on the proposed Extension in 2008. The EIA has studied in detail the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Extension, covering air quality (including odour), ecology, noise, waste management, water quality, landfill gas as well as landscape and visual impacts, and recommended effective mitigation measures. Apart from Tseung Kwan O, the study on air quality, noise and visual impacts also covered Siu Sai Wan area in northeast of Hong Kong Island. According to the EIA Report, with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures, the anticipated environmental impacts are acceptable and will meet the relevant requirements under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) and its Technical Memorandum. The EIA was approved by the Authority in May 2008. The traffic impact assessment points out that the Landfill Extension will not have any adverse impact on the traffic. The EPD will ensure that the recommended mitigation measures will be strictly implemented, the works under the proposed Extension will comply with the conditions set out in the environmental permit issued under the EIAO, and the operation of the Landfill will not create any adverse impact on the residents nearby.
(c)According to the statistics for 2009, on average the SENT Landfill received about 1,050 vehicle loads daily, including about 510 vehicle loads of municipal solid waste.
According to the traffic impact assessment on the proposed Extension, the number of vehicles travelling to and from the Landfill Extension will be similar to that of vehicles travelling to and from the SENT Landfill at present. Therefore, the vehicular flow will be approximately the same upon the exhaustion of the SENT Landfill and the commissioning of the Landfill Extension. As such, the Landfill Extension will not create any adverse impact on the traffic. However, to abate effectively the odour from refuse collection vehicles, the EPD will implement a number of odour mitigation measures under the proposed Extension. They include enclosing entirely the weighbridge area, providing a vehicle washing facility at the exit from the Landfill Extension, and reminding drivers of refuse collection vehicles to take heed of hygiene and keep their vehicles clean.
(d) Currently there are three strategically located landfills in the territory. Coupled with seven refuse transfer stations, they form a solid waste disposal network which handles the waste generated daily by the community. Bulk waste transfer is adopted to avoid large number of small refuse collection vehicles travelling in the urban areas. The SENT Landfill mainly receives commercial, industrial as well as construction wastes from Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Sai Kung District and domestic waste from Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung collected by private waste collectors. It is the private waste collectors' own commercial decisions to choose the types of their refuse collection vehicles. To reduce the environmental impacts of refuse collection vehicles, the EPD regularly draws the attention of the trade to road safety as well as the cleanliness and hygiene of their refuse collection vehicles at landfill liaison meetings. At the meetings of the inter-departmental working group, the EPD also refers the complaints about refuse collection vehicles received to the relevant departments for follow-up. Moreover, the EPD distributes leaflets to drivers of refuse collection vehicles on a monthly basis through the landfill contractors to remind the drivers of the operation practice of refuse collection vehicles, so that they can keep their vehicles clean and tidy. Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, the FEHD may, with sufficient evidence, institute prosecutions against people concerned in case of refuse collection vehicles dirtying public roads.
(e) The 15.6 hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 rezoned for the extension of the SENT Landfill as shown on the draft Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TKO/18 was previously zoned "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Deep Waterfront Industry" ("OU(DWI)") on the earlier version of the Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TKO/17. According to the Notes of the Outline Zoning Plan, the "OU(DWI)" zone is intended primarily for special industries which require marine access, access to deep water berths or water frontage. The subject area for the extension of the SENT Landfill is located inland which does not have access to the sea. Although part of the area in Area 137 is proposed for the extension of the SENT Landfill, the remaining area is still zoned as "OU(DWI)", which has an area of about 86.9 hectares of land with marine frontage unaffected to meet the long term need of deep waterfront industries.
(f) To utilise the landfill gas generated from the SENT Landfill more effectively, the EPD has been exploring a large-scale landfill gas recovery and utilisation project with the contractor of the SENT Landfill and the town gas producer. The EPD is studying its feasibility and contractual arrangements.
(g) We estimate that the SENT Landfill will reach its capacity in mid-2010s. We hope to complete the planning in time so that the SENT Landfill Extension can be commissioned immediately after the exhaustion of the SENT Landfill. Our current projection is that the Landfill Extension will reach its capacity in about six years, and then we can proceed with restoration and aftercare of the Landfill Extension. Apart from the proposed Extension, the Government has no plan to further expand the area of the SENT Landfill.
Ends/Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:03
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