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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Han-pan and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (June 17):
Question:
One of the major sources of air pollutants in Hong Kong is emissions from vessels. Recently, it has been reported that the air pollution problem in the area of Kwai Tsing District is serious (e.g. the ambient concentration of sulphur dioxide has exceeded the standard in Hong Kong's Air Quality Objectives), with air pollutants coming mainly from container vessels berthing at the Kwai Chung Container Terminals (KCCT). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the air pollution level in the area of KCCT in the past three years compared to those in other districts;
(2) whether it has recorded each month the number of container vessel calls at KCCT; whether it has currently installed air quality monitoring equipment in the area of KCCT; if it has, of the air quality in the area and the relevant data in the past six months; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) as I have learnt that quite a number of container terminals around the world have installed onshore power supply facilities, so that container vessels may switch to use electricity while berthing, whether the authorities have plans to require operators of container terminals to install such facilities at their terminals; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the Government's initiatives to alleviate the air pollution problem in Kwai Tsing District?
Reply:
President:
My response to the three questions raised by Hon Chan Han-pan is as follows:
(1) and (2) The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) now operates six general air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) on both sides of the Victoria Harbour. They are located in the Central and Western District, the Eastern District, Kwai Chung, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan. Among these AQMSs, the one in Kwai Chung is the nearest to the Kwai Chung Container Terminals (KCCTs) and the densely populated area of the district. The station can thus provide representative air quality information of the Kwai Chung District.
In the past three years, the overall air quality in the Kwai Chung District was broadly comparable to that in other areas on both sides of the Victoria Harbour, such as Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan (details at Annex I). As the Kwai Chung District was affected by emissions from the vessels berthing at the KCCTs, the concentration levels of sulphur dioxide recorded at the Kwai Chung AQMS were higher than those at other districts. That said, the sulphur dioxide concentrations recorded at that AQMS were still below the concentration limits of the prevailing air quality objectives. Taking the situation in 2014 as an example, the maximum 10-minute and 24-hour average sulphur dioxide concentration levels recorded at the Kwai Chung AQMS were 334 μg/m3 and 104 μg/m3 respectively, which were below the concentration limits of their corresponding air quality objectives of 500 μg/m3 and 125 μg/m3 respectively.
The EPD conducted several short term (15 days) samplings at the KCCTs between February 2014 and March 2015 for the purpose of collecting data to assess the levels of air pollutants emitted from different types of vessels. As the sampling instruments were installed close to the berthing locations of cargo vessels, the data therefore indicated relatively higher sulphur dioxide concentrations at the ambient level, ranging from 45 μg/m3 to 110 μg/m3. Apart from being affected by the number and size of cargo vessels, the level of sulphur dioxide concentration is also subject to the influence of the fuel quality used by the vessels and meteorological factors.
Based on the declaration forms submitted by vessels arriving at or leaving our port, the Marine Department compiles statistics on vessel arrivals and departures. The quarterly arrival statistics of ocean going cargo vessels at the KCCTs in the past three years are at Annex II.
(3) To reduce the emissions from ocean going vessels, the Government will implement a new regulation with effect from July 1 this year, under which ocean going vessels are required to switch to low sulphur marine fuel (with sulphur content not exceeding 0.5 per cent) while at berth in Hong Kong waters. This initiative can reduce the levels of sulphur dioxide and respirable suspended particulates emitted by ocean going vessels more than 60 per cent while they are at berth. Therefore, this will help to reduce the air pollution caused by container vessels to the surrounding areas, especially in the vicinity of the KCCTs.
Moreover, the operators of the KCCTs have been progressively replacing their diesel-driven gantry cranes with the hybrid or electric ones in recent years so as to reduce the air pollutants emitted by these machines while they are in operation. At present, 90 per cent of the gantry cranes at the KCCTs are driven by hybrid system or electricity. The EPD also implemented a regulation with effect from June 1 this year to regulate emissions from non-road mobile machinery, including those being used in the KCCTs. These initiatives will help improve the air quality in the vicinity of the KCCTs.
According the information provided by terminal operators of the KCCTs, they currently have no plan to install the onshore power supply (OPS) facilities as the space is limited at the KCCTs and few container vessels in the world are equipped with OPS connection facilities.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:38
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