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Following is a question by the Hon James Tien and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (October 23):
Question :
At the special meeting of the Panel on Environmental Affairs of this Council held on September 17 this year, in respect of the leakage problem of the leachate storage lagoon (the lagoon) at the North East New Territories (NENT) Landfill in Ta Kwu Ling, the authorities reported that since September 2, there had been no recurrence of the pollutant levels in the water of the Kong Yiu Channel (the Channel) in the vicinity of the Landfill exceeding the prescribed threshold. It has been reported that the media collected water samples from the Channel at four locations on the following day for laboratory tests, and results of such tests revealed that the level of ammonia nitrogen, a parameter for measuring the level of pollution, in the samples had seriously exceeded the prescribed threshold, with the sample collected from the location closest to the Landfill exceeding the prescribed threshold by as much as 61 times. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) why the authorities have all along failed to give a clear account of the pollution situation in the Channel and in the nearby rivers and groundwater;
(b) as the Deputy Director of Environmental Protection had told the media after the aforesaid meeting that on the basis of visual inspections, the authorities judged that there was no further discharge of leachate from the lagoon, whether the authorities have assessed if visual inspections could be used in place of taking samples for laboratory tests as the basis for judging if there is any leachate discharge; and whether they have assessed if the adoption of visual inspections is casual and unprofessional; if they have, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) of the respective data or methods that the authorities have employed in judging that the leakage problem of the lagoon at the NENT Landfill has already been solved, and in judging if there is leakage of leachate from the other two landfills in Hong Kong;
(d) given that the Secretary for the Environment had said that a more stringent water quality objective in the contracts of the landfill contractors, which was 10 times more stringent than legal requirements, had been adopted in testing the water samples collected by the media and the water pollution level as shown in the samples had therefore exceeded the prescribed threshold, why the authorities have adopted a less stringent water quality objective in assessing the pollution level in the Channel, and whether that objective is different from those adopted by other advanced cities; if there is a difference, of the details; and
(e) whether the authorities will conduct further studies to more effectively monitor and prevent leakage of leachate from the three landfills?
Reply:
President,
Our reply to the question raised by the Hon James Tien is as follows:
(a) Regarding the incident of leakage from one of the leachate storage lagoons (the lagoon) at the North East New Territories (NENT) Landfill in late July 2013, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has, as explained at the meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Environmental Affairs (the Panel) on September 17, closely monitored the situation subsequently. It has also informed the Panel that the samples of effluent discharge taken on August 7, August 23, August 30 and September 2 have exceeded the statutory limits. As such, the EPD is considering taking legal action under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance.
The Kong Yiu Channel (the Channel) affected in the incident is a man-made open channel draining into the Shenzhen River. We understand that no villagers in the vicinity extract water from the Channel for potable use. And there is no ecological sensitive site in the channel. As the affected water has not overflown onto the banks of the man-made channel, the EPD believes that the incident has no ecological impact to the surroundings of the Channel. The EPD has already collected water samples from the downstream of the Shenzhen River and the Deep Bay for laboratory tests. The data show that the incident has no significant impact on the downstream water environment.
(b) and (c) Since the incident in late July 2013, the EPD has stepped up its monitoring of the discharge in the NENT Landfill, including inspection of the landfill and its vicinity at different times to check any anomalies. When discharge of polluting matter or substandard discharge was suspected from the NENT Landfill, the EPD enforcement staff collected samples of effluent and obtained further evidence on the site right away. In response to Members' views raised at the LegCo Panel meeting on September 17, the EPD has continued to collect samples of any discharge and monitor the situation closely. The EPD has also stepped up the inspection and monitoring of the other two landfills (i.e. the West New Territories (WENT) Landfill and the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill), and found no leakage of leachate from these sites.
(d) The Technical Memorandum drawn up under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance has clearly and systematically prescribed applicable effluent discharge standards for local inland and coastal waters. For the assessment of pollution level of the Channel, the discharge standards of "Group B Inland Waters" under the Technical Memorandum are applicable to the Channel since the Channel is a man-made, concrete lined open channel instead of a natural stream and there are only a few farms located along the watercourse; and there are no fish ponds nor extraction for potable use. The relevant statutory discharge standards are similar to those of other advanced countries, so the allegation that the authorities have adopted lower standards to assess the effluent discharge is not true.
(e) After this incident of leakage of leachate at a landfill, the first of its kind, the EPD has, in conjunction with the landfill contractor and the independent consultants, conducted a thorough inspection of other lagoons in the NENT Landfill as well as the relevant facilities of the remaining two landfills (i.e. WENT and SENT Landfills) to confirm their operation in normal conditions.
At the EPD's request, the landfill contractor has submitted a report on the incident. The report touches on the causes of the incident, measures taken during the incident, medium and long-term measures to improve the management of leachate on site and to prevent recurrence of similar incidents. The EPD and the independent consultants will study the report thoroughly and discuss with the landfill contractor enhancement measures with a view to effectively monitoring the normal operation of the landfill and the relevant facilities (such as lagoons).
Ends/Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:11
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