Environmental Monitoring Objectives & Criteria
The objectives of carrying out the EM&A include the following:
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To provide a database against which short or long term environmental impacts of the project can be determined;
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To provide an early indication should any of the environmental control measures or practices fail to achieve the acceptable standards;
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To monitor the performance of the project and the effectiveness of mitigation measures;
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To verify the environmental impact predicted in the EIA studies;
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To determine compliance with regulatory requirements, standards and government policies;
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To take remedial action if unexpected problems or unacceptable impacts arise; and
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To provide data to enable an environmental audit
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ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING CRITERIA
Assessment have been conducted and indicated that the Wan Chai Development Phase II and Central – Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link would generate various adverse impact on air quality, noise and water quality during their construction. In order to ensure that the impacts are reduced to acceptable levels a number of mitigation measures will be recommended to be implemented during the works. Reports would be available once construction works start.
Water Quality
Baseline monitoring for water quality is required to establish ambient conditions prior to the commencement of the dredging works and to demonstrate the suitability of the proposed monitoring stations. The measurements should be taken at all designated monitoring stations, 3 days per week, at mid-flood and mid-ebb tides, for at least 4 weeks prior to the commencement of dredging works. Any marine construction works should be avoided in the vicinity of the stations during the baseline monitoring. The interval between 2 sets of monitoring should not be less than 36 hours. Duplicate in-situ measurements and water sampling should be carried out in each sampling event. For selection of tides of in-situ measurement and water sampling, tidal range of individual flood and ebb tides should be not less than 0.5m.
During the course of marine constructions works, monitoring shall be undertaken 3 days per week, at both mid-ebb and mid-flood tides, with sampling/measurement at the designated monitoring stations.
Report would be available once construction works start. Noise
Baseline monitoring for noise shall be carried out at designated monitoring stations over a continuous period of at least two weeks in order to establish ambient conditions prior to the commencement of any construction works. Leq (30 minutes) shall be used as the monitoring parameter for the time period between 0700 and 1900 hours on normal weekdays. For all other time periods, Leq (5 minutes) shall be employed for comparison with the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO) criteria.
Impact monitoring shall be carried out at all the designated monitoring stations. The monitoring frequency shall depend on the scale of the construction activities. The following is an initial guide on the regular monitoring frequency for each station on a weekly basis when noise generating activities are underway:
- one set of measurements between 0700 and 1900 hours on normal weekdays.
Report would be available once construction works start.
Air Quality
Baseline monitoring shall be carried out at all of the designated monitoring locations for at least 14 consecutive days prior to the commissioning of the construction works to obtain daily 24-hour TSP samples. The selected baseline monitoring stations should reflect baseline conditions at the impact stations. One-hour sampling should also be done at least 3 times per day while the highest dust impact is expected.
Impact monitoring shall be carried out during the course of the Works. For regular impact monitoring, the sampling frequency of at least once in every six-days, shall be strictly observed at all the monitoring stations for 24-hour TSP monitoring. For 1-hour TSP monitoring, the sampling frequency of at least three times in every six-days should be undertaken when the highest dust impact occurs.
Report would be available once construction works start.
Monitoring and audit work will be undertaken by designated environmental team and independent checker.