1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
11.1.1
1-hour
TSP impact monitoring were carried out in the reporting month. No Action /
Limit Level exceedance at AM1 and AM2 was recorded during the period.
11.1.2
Construction
noise monitoring were carried out in the reporting month. No Action / Limit
Level exceedance at CM1, CM2 and CM3 was recorded during the period.
11.1.3
Water
quality monitoring at M1, M2 and M3 were carried out in the reporting month. No
Action / Limit Level exceedance at M2 was recorded during the period. Three
Action Level exceedance were recorded for water quality in the reporting month.
The exceedance were recorded at M1 on 22 May 2021 and recorded at M3 on 27 and
29 May 2021. Six Limit Level exceedance were recorded for water quality in the
reporting month. The exceedance were recorded at M1 and M3 on 25 and 27May
2021. It was found that these exceedances were not project-related.
11.1.4
For
the active ardeid night roost monitoring, one active night roost site (ANR1)
was observed within the Survey Area, 100 m from the Project boundary. This was
located in the mangrove strip east of the Project boundary. This was used by
the different ardeid species such as the Eastern Cattle Egret, Little Egret,
Chinese Pond Heron and Great Egret. PRA of Great Egret individuals was noted on
the exposed mudflat northeast of the Project boundary while no PRA was noted at
the east portion of the Project boundary. For the final night roost, different
times were observed for the different species such that it started around as
early as 18:10 for both Eastern Cattle Egret and Little Egret; 18:15 for
Chinese Pond Heron; and around 18:30 for the Great Egret. The other night roost
(ANR2) located at the northeast of the Project boundary, as noted to be active
last April 2021, was not used by the ardeids during the current monitoring
period. This change was, however, not caused by the Project’s construction
activities as the recorded noise level ((53.0 dB(A)) (Table 5.3) near ANR2 was
lower with respect to the action limit level of 65.5 dB(A) which more likely to
cause behavioural responses of some kind by the ardeids (Wright et al. 2010).
Furthermore, ardeid night roosts are known for their highly changeable
locations and roosting population. Fluctuation of roosting population,
abandonment or change in locations of roosting site without major nearby
environmental change has been observed in several roosts and locations in Hong
Kong (HKJC, 2005; Lee et al., 2004; MTRC, 2010).
11.1.5
For
the ecological bird monitoring, a decrease in abundance was noted in this period
relative to the baseline May 2017 results of the point count method, however,
the decrease was not statistically significant. In terms of Shannon diversity
index, significant increase in values were noted for the transect walk method
while significant decrease of values were observed in point count method with
reference to baseline values. The significant decrease in species diversity in
point count method was however, not project-related. The significant decrease
could be due to a wide range of environmental and anthropogenic factors in the
breeding grounds, stopover sites, and wintering grounds along the migratory
pathway of the majority of these waterbird species (Catry et al., 2013; Howard
et al., 2020; Sung Y-H et. al., 2021). For the habitat utilization of species
with conservation importance, all of the wetland habitats were noted with very
low abundances which then indicated subsequent very low utilization of these
areas. With respect to the habitat utilization of overwintering avifauna
species, the wetland habitats were also noted with very low abundances of these
species which implied very low utilization of these areas. In terms of species
richness (total number of species), majority of the wetland habitats were also
utilized by very low number of species with conservation importance and
overwintering species.
11.1.6
Four
environmental site inspections were carried out in the reporting month.
Recommendations on mitigation measures for Permit/ Licenses were
given to the
Contractor for remediating the deficiencies identified during the site
inspections.
11.1.7
Four
landscape and visual site audits were carried out in the reporting month.
11.1.8
Referring
to the Contractor’s information, no environmental complaint, notification of
summons and successful prosecution was received in the reporting month.
11.2.1
The
recommended environmental mitigation measures, as proposed in the EIA reports
and EM&A Manuals shall be effectively implemented to minimize the potential
environmental impacts from the Project. The EM&A programme would
effectively monitor the environmental impacts generated from the construction
activities and ensure the proper implementation of mitigation measures.
11.2.2
According
to the environmental site inspections performed in the reporting month, the
following recommendations were provided:
Air
Quality Impact
·
The
contractor was reminded to properly cover the excavated material and trial
trench.
Construction
Noise Impact
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Water Quality Impact
·
Mitigation
measures should be provided to intercept silty runoff from the piling area.
·
Enhance
mitigation by providing sandbags along inner edge of U channel to prevent
inflow of silty runoff.
·
Silty
deposit on road and in gullies should be cleaned.
·
Mitigation
measures should be provided to prevent runoff from the MIC/ temporary
administration building area flowing to the open channel outside.
Chemical
and Waste Management
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Active
Ardeid Night Roost Impact
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Ecology
of Birds Impact
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Land
Contamination
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Landscape
and Visual Impact
·
The
contractor was reminded to provide protection zones for trees near the new
workshop/ storage areas.
Hazard
to Life
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.
Permit/
Licenses
·
No
specific observation was identified in the reporting month.