9              Comments, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Validity of EIA Predictions

9.1         It is predicted in the EIA Report that with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures, there would be no unacceptable or residual air quality, noise, water quality environmental impacts arising from the contract-related construction works.

 

9.2         There is no major environmental deficiency in terms of dolphin, cultural heritage  and landscape and visual was recorded during the site inspections throughout the construction period.

 

9.3         Throughout the entire construction period, no non-conformance of implementation of environmental mitigation measures was identified in weekly site inspections and no Action/Limit Level exceedances was recorded for air quality, water quality and dolphin monitoring due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract. Only one Action Level exceedance was recorded in construction noise and one successful prosecution was received by the subcontractor on 20 October 2014 in the reporting period. No case of complaint was logged since 5 May 2017. These demonstrate no significant environmental impacts arisen from the actual construction activities of the Contract with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures which are in-line with the EIA predictions.

Comments on Overall EM&A Programme

 

9.4         The EM&A programme requires construction phase monitoring for air quality monitoring, construction noise monitoring, water quality monitoring, dolphin-related monitoring, weekly environmental site inspection, bi-weekly monitoring for Landscape and Visual Impact and  periodic inspection (every three months) to the Sha Lo Wan (West) Archaeological Site. Timely implementation of mitigation measures was carried out according to the environmental monitoring data obtained during the Contract. The weekly site inspections were effective to ensure the implementation and efficiency of the mitigation measures. In addition, the recommendations made by the auditors of the ET could continuously improve the house keeping of the Contractor and maintain good site cleaning and tidiness. As a result, environmental nuisance to the public could be reduced to a minimal.

 

9.5         Therefore, the overall performance of the monitoring methodology adopted and environmental management system in this Contract was effective.

Overall EM&A Data

9.6         Impact air quality, construction noise, water quality and dolphin monitoring were conducted at the designated monitoring stations in accordance with the updated EM&A Manual.

 

1-hour TSP Monitoring

 

9.7         All 1-hour TSP monitoring was conducted as scheduled in the Contract.

 

9.8         No Action/Limit Level exceedances was recorded for 1-hour TSP monitoring due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract.

 

24-hour TSP Monitoring

 

9.9         All 24-hour TSP monitoring was conducted as scheduled in the Contract. 

 

9.10     No Action/Limit Level exceedances was recorded for 24-hour TSP monitoring due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract.

 

Construction Noise

 

9.11     All construction noise monitoring was conducted as scheduled in the Contract.

 

9.12     1 Action Level exceedance in construction noise was recorded for the complaints received throughout the construction period due to loading/unloading of metal plates and oxygen-acetylene set.  The Contractor was required to implement noise mitigation measures to rectify the problem and was recommended to strengthen their site supervision and provide training for the workers regularly to increase awareness of their environmental responsibilities to minimize the noise impact to the nearby residents.

 

9.13     No Limit Level exceedance in construction noise was recorded due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract.

 

Water Quality

 

9.14     All water quality monitoring was conducted as scheduled in the Contract.

 

9.15     No Action/Limit Level exceedance for dissolved oxygen, turbidity and suspended solid was recorded due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract.

 

Dolphin

 

9.16     All dolphin-related monitoring was conducted as scheduled in the Contract.

 

9.17     No Action/Limit Level exceedance for dolphin monitoring was recorded due to the Contract throughout the whole Contract.

Recommendations and Conclusions

 

9.18     The construction phase EM&A programme for the Contract commenced in February 2013 and was terminated since 24th October 2018 as per EPD’s letter to SOR (EPD’s ref.: “( ) in AX(2) to EP771/E1/099” dated 30 November 2018), following substantial completion of the major works.

 

9.19     The EM&A programme was found to be effective in monitoring impacts arising from the Contract. The findings of the environmental monitoring program suggest that no adverse impacts on sensitive receivers were brought about by the Contract. In conclusion the Contract was environmentally acceptable in terms of air quality, noise levels, water quality, dolphin, cultural heritage  and landscape and visual.

 

9.20     With the success of the overall EM&A programme, the deterioration of the environment caused by the Contract was cost-effectively identified and necessary prompt effective mitigation measures were implemented to avoid any unacceptable impacts.

 

9.21     Post-construction monitoring for water quality was carried out after the termination of Construction Phase EM&A Programme as per EPD’s letter to SOR (EPD’s ref.: “( ) in AX(2) to EP771/E1/099” dated 30 November 2018) according to updated EM&A Manual. Details of the Post-construction water quality monitoring is provided in the report as shown in Appendix H.

 

9.22     In addition, post-construction dolphin monitoring has also been started after completion of construction according to updated EM&A Manual, Section 10.7.1, and the corresponding reports will be submitted separately.