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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Che-cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 14):
Question:
Villagers from the Tai Kong Po Tsuen in Yuen Long have told me that the Tai Kong Po section of Kam Tin River (Tai Kong Po section) has been polluted and emitting stenches since 2004, which is caused by frequent illegal discharge of sewage and livestock waste into the stream at nighttime, seriously affecting the environmental hygiene of the area. Although villagers have been relaying the situation to and lodging complaints with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), Drainage Services Department (DSD) and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department over the past eight years, the situation has not improved so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received about illegal discharge in the Tai Kong Po section, the number of nighttime inspections conducted, as well as the number and details of prosecutions instituted by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), in the past five years; whether EPD will step up its prosecution efforts;
(b) of the number of times and the dates on which DSD carried out stream cleaning work at the Tai Kong Po section in the past five years; whether DSD will clean the stream more frequently;
(c) as some villagers have pointed out that DSD has wrongly paved the river bed of the Tai Kong Po section with marbles, which makes pollutants easily accumulate, whether a similar pollution problem has been found in streams with the same design; whether DSD will consider carrying out improvement works for the Tai Kong Po section;
(d) whether the government departments concerned have set any standard on the water quality of the Tai Kong Po section; if they have, of the measures to be taken to achieve such standard, and whether a timetable for achieving such standard has been drawn up; if such standard and timetable have not been set, of the reasons for that; and
(e) as FEHD has stated in its written reply to the villagers of Tai Kong Po Tsuen that FEHD officers inspected the stream facing 361 Tai Kong Po Tsuen on March 21, 2011 "without finding any hygiene nuisance or mosquitoes breeding problem there", while DSD has stated in its written reply that DSD officers inspected the same location on the 23rd of the same month and "found that the stream concerned was polluted by livestock waste", whether it has examined why there is such a discrepancy in the outcome of the inspections conducted by officers of these two government departments on the same location within two days, and whether there was dereliction of duty on the part of any officers of the government departments concerned?
Reply:
President,
I acknowledge that the problem which the Hon Leung Che-cheung raises is a longstanding one. I reply to this five-part question as follows -
(a) There are six chicken farms and four pig farms in the Tai Kong Po area of Yuen Long. Regarding the problem of illegal discharge from livestock farms into a nearby channel at Tai Kong Po Village, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), apart from conducting regular inspections of the farms, has followed up with investigation upon receipt of each pollution complaint.
From 2007 until now, the EPD has received 118 complaints relating to livestock farms at the Tai Kong Po area and conducted 164 inspections (see table attached for details). There were two successful convictions against illegal livestock waste dischargers, in 2010 and 2012, and the fines were $10,000 and $3,000 respectively. The EPD will continue to take strict enforcement action against illegal discharge from livestock farms.
(b) Before August 2010, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) inspected and cleaned the channel at Tai Kong Po Village once every six months. However, in response to the request of concerned residents, the DSD increased the inspection and cleansing operations to once a month starting from August 2010. After further communication with the residents concerned in early December 2010, the DSD has further increased the cleansing operations at the downstream section of the channel to once every two working days. According to the DSD's records from mid-December 2010 until October 31, 2012, a total of 283 cleansing operations were carried out at the channel.
(c) Construction of the Tai Kong Po Village channel commenced in August 2004 and was completed in April 2007. The channel is to channel rain water to alleviate flooding risk and is designed mainly to address the flooding problem in Tai Kong Po Village and its vicinity rather than for collecting sewage. In the upstream section of the channel, an environmentally friendly design has been adopted by deploying gabions filled with rocks. The design is to maintain a close-to-natural habitat as far as possible and to promote growth of vegetation along the banks. It should be noted that many channels in the New Territories have adopted the same design and have not encountered similar pollution problem. There is thus no problem with the design of the channel.
To ease the malodour impact of livestock waste upon nearby residents, after consulting the representatives from Pat Heung Rural Committee, local District Councillors, nearby residents and relevant government departments in May 2011, the DSD laid a section of drainage pipe in mid-October 2011 at the upstream section of the channel to collect a large portion of the polluted flow from that section for discharge at the downstream section of the channel, thus reducing the pollution of the surrounding gabions among the rocks and facilitating the cleansing operations. Site inspections show that the temporary drainage pipe could effectively alleviate the odour problem generated by the pollutants. The DSD will maintain close liaison with stakeholders to ensure that the measure remain effective.
(d) Under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the Government has established Water Quality Objectives for the inland water courses of the Deep Bay Water Control Zone including Kam Tin River and its tributaries such as the Tai Kong Po channel.
As a result of concerted efforts by government departments, the water quality data of the monitoring station downstream of Tai Kong Po have improved when compared with the past. The 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and suspended solids (SS) levels recorded in 2011 have reduced by 75% and 61% respectively compared with 2002. Nevertheless, their 2011 annual median level of 32 mg/L and 57 mg/L have yet to meet the relevant Water Quality Objectives of 3 mg/L and 20 mg/L.
In order to comply with the relevant water quality objectives, in addition to the actions taken as mentioned above, the EPD is planning to construct trunk sewers and associated collection network downstream of Tai Kong Po to facilitate the collection of sewage from the surrounding villages. Pending an agreement with the Pat Heung Rural Committee and local parties on the details of the plan, the Government will in accordance with the public works programme determine the time schedule and implement the relevant works to comprehensively improve the water quality of the channel.
At the same time, since the main pollution source of the Tai Kong Po Village channel is untreated wastewater illegally discharged into the channel by some livestock farms in the neighbourhood, the Government has taken a multi-pronged approach by dealing with the pollution at source in order to improve the environment in the area. Apart from the temporary drainage pipe installed by the DSD, the EPD will continue to take strict enforcement action against illegal discharge from livestock farms. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also intensified inspection of livestock farms in the area and spot-check of effluent quality of the wastewater treatment systems. The AFCD and EPD had in the past year inspected and assessed the waste treatment facilities of all livestock farms in Tai Kong Po to ensure strict adherence to the operational requirements stipulated in the licences, as well as organised joint enforcement actions. The AFCD has issued letters to three farms requiring the farm owners to improve their waste treatment facilities as a result of the above actions.
In terms of education and promotion, the AFCD and EPD had jointly hosted a seminar entitled "Treatment of Livestock Wastes" on December 14, 2011 to remind responsible persons of livestock farms the requirements of Livestock Keeping Licence and livestock waste treatment regulations, with experts to introduce the techniques and operation of livestock waste treatment facilities. On February 17, 2012, the EPD also arranged another meeting with all livestock farm operators in Tai Kong Po through the Hong Kong Livestock Industry Association, for an in-depth exchange on the relevant legal requirements and waste treatment techniques, to facilitate the trade to meet the requirements for the proper treatment of farm waste.
(e) According to file records, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) received a complaint from the public concerning malodour emitted from the Tai Kong Po channel on March 11, 2011. The staff of the department found during inspection on March 21, 2011 that though livestock waste was deposited at a section of the water course, there was no environmental hygiene or mosquito breeding problem at the side of the channel. The FEHD therefore referred the case to relevant departments and reported the results of the investigation to the complainants on March 29, 2011. The DSD staff also observed livestock waste at the water course during their inspection on March 23, 2011 and replied to the complainants accordingly.
The relevant government departments will continue to closely monitor the situation of the Tai Kong Po Village channel and take further actions as necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:22
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