AIM

To provide a summary of the results from the baseline environmental monitoring conducted at the Joint User Complex and Wholesale Fish Market at Area 44, Tuen Mun and to derive Action and Limit Levels for noise and air quality monitoring during the operational phase.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In accordance with Section 9.3 of the EM&A Manual of the Project and Section 5.2 of the approved Environmental Permit, baseline environmental monitoring for the Joint User Complex and Wholesale Fish Market at Area 44, Tuen Mun has been carried out from 26^th November 2010 to 9^th December at Block 15, Yuet Wu Villa . Baseline noise monitoring was conducted within the period of 0300-0630 hours. No major construction work was carried during the monitoring period.

Noise monitoring results at the monitoring location ranged from 48.3dB(A) to 66.9dB(A) with an average of 58.0dB(A).

Action and Limit levels for air quality and noise impact monitoring were derived from the baseline monitoring results.The action level for noise impact monitoring is predefined as when any documented compliant is received.

Since the prevailing night-time background noise level was higher than the ANL-5dB(A), the prevailing night-time background noise level of Leq of 58dB(A) is adopted as the noise assessment criterion for fixed noise impact assessment.

In the event of non-compliance with environmental regulations or contractual requirements, a recommended Event/Action Plan is given to be implemented.

1. INTRODUCTION

Baseline environmental monitoring was conducted for the Joint User Complex and Wholesale Fish Market at Area 44, Tuen Mun. Results serve as a basis to evaluate the environmental performance of operation at the subject site.

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND

A Joint User Complex and Wholesale Fish Market (WFM) at Area 44 in Tuen Mun is designed and built by Architectural Services Department on behalf of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Marine Department, and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of the Hong Kong SAR. The WFM is to provide a permanent site for the relocation of the existing temporary wholesale fish market at Tuen Mun Area 27 and to accommodate a community hall and dragon boat racing spectator stand for public use. The development is a 3-storey complex to accommodate the wholesale fish market at the ground floor, a community hall on the first and second floors, and an extensive landscaped deck on roof level. The Wholesale Fish Market is categorised as a designated project under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) and therefore a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA-085/2002) has been conducted in year 2002 and an Environmental Permit (EP-296/2007) was issued by Environmental Protection Department in December 2007.

The subject site is located at Castle Peak Bay of Tuen Mun given in Figure 1. The subject site is bounded to the north by a future local open space presently used as a temporary car park, to the east by Castle Peak Bay typhoon shelter, to the south by a future lorry park and to the west by Wu Shan Road. Yuet Wu Villa being the nearest residential establishment is located at around 85m from the site boundary.

3. MONITORING LOCATION

As agreed with EPD, baseline Monitoring was conducted at Block 15 of Yuet Wu Villa. Noise monitoring was conducted at 1.2m above ground level at the junction of Wu Sau Street and Wu On Street as given in Figure 2. Figure 3 shows photos taken during monitoring at the monitoring location.

4. OPERATION PROGRAMME

The operation of the WFM is anticipated to begin on 23^rd December 2010. The peak hours for fish trading purposes of the WFM are from 3:00 to 6:30 a.m., all environmental mitigation measures for operational stage stated in approved EIA Report, EM&A Manual and Environmental Permit shall be carried out throughout the operation period as shown in Appendix A.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

The principal legislation for the control of noise from the WFM is given in the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO). Technical Memorandum, which stipulate the control approaches and criteria for noise impact has been issued under the NCO. The following TM is applicable to the control of noise from activities of the WFM:

l Technical Memorandum for the Assessment of Noise from Places other than Domestic Premises, Public Places or Construction Sites (TMNP).

TMNP details the procedures that should be adopted by the Authority for the measurement and assessment of noise emanating from places other than domestic premises, public places or construction sites. The Acceptable Noise Levels (ANLs) depend on the ASR of the assessment area. Table 1 illustrates the ASRs of different types of area containing the NSR. The ANLs are shown in Table 2.

Table 1 Area Sensitivity Ratings (ASRs)

Type of area containing the NSR	Not Affected ¹	Indirectly Affected ²	Directly Affected ³
(i) Rural area, including country parks or village type developments	A	B	B
(ii) Low density residential area consisting of low-rise or isolated high-rise developments	A	B	C
(iii) Urban area	B	C	C
(iv) Area other than those above	B	B	C

¹ Not Affected - NSR is located such that the noise generated by the influencing factors (IF) ⁴ is not noticeable.

² Indirectly Affected - NSR is located such that the noise generated by the influencing factors while noticeable, is not a dominant feature of the noise environment.

³ Directly Affected - NSR is located such that the noise generated by the IF is readily noticeable and is a dominant feature of the noise environment.

⁴ IFs are defined as industrial areas, major roads, or the area within the boundary of Hong Kong International Airport.

Table 2 Acceptable Noise Levels (ANLs)

	Area Sensitivity Rating
Time Period	A	B	C
Day (0700 to 1900 hours)	60	65	70
Evening (1900 to 2300 hours)	60	65	70
Night (2300 to 0700 hours)	50	55	60

ASR of “B” has been proposed for the NSRs in accordance with the TM in view of the fact that they are located in "area other than above" and being unaffected or indirectly affected by influencing factors. The ASR adopted in this EIA Report was determined based on the current situation.

6. MONITORING METHODOLOGY

6.1 Baseline Monitoring Programme

Baseline noise monitoring was conducted at Block 15, Yuet Wu Villa following completion of the construction but prior to the operation of the WFM from 26^th November to 9^th December 2010 between 0300-0630 hours.

6.2 Noise Monitoring

Baseline noise monitoring was conducted at the designated noise monitoring location between 0700-1900 hours using a sound level meter which complies with the International Electrotechnical Commission Publications 651:1979 (Type 1) and 804:1985 (Type 1). Noise instrumentation details are given in Table 3 and the Calibration Certificate for the sound level meter and calibrator is given in Appendix B.

Table 3 Noise Monitoring Equipment

Manufacturer	Type/Model No.	Equipment
Svantek	Svan 959	Precision Integrating Sound Level Meter with windshield
Svantek	SV 30A	Sound Level Calibrator

Baseline operational noise levels measurements were recorded in terms of A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level on a daily basis. Leq(5min) was used as the monitoring parameter and three consecutive Leq(5min) results were recorded daily. The sound level meter was calibrated immediately prior to and following each noise measurement. The meter was mounted on a tripod at a height of 1.2m and the microphone was positioned at 1m away the building façade of the noise monitoring station facing the WFM.

Noise measurements were not made in the presence of fog, rain, and wind with a steady speed exceeding 5m/s or wind with gusts exceeding 10m/s. The wind speed was checked with a portable anemometer capable of measuring the wind speed in m/s.

7. RESULTS

7.1. Noise

Noise monitoring results in terms of L_eq(₅_min), L₁₀₍₅_min) L₉₀₍₅_min) measured at the designated noise monitoring location are summarized in Table 4. L₁₀ and L₉₀ represent sound levels that are exceeded 10% and 90% of the time respectively. Normally, L₁₀ measurements can be considered as the average peak levels, whilst L₉₀ levels can be considered as the average background noise levels.

Noise monitoring results are summarized in Table 4 serve as a basis for determining the action and limit levels. Baseline noise monitoring results also represent the background noise climate of the area and may be used to carry out background noise corrections to determine the actual noise impact caused by operation of the WFM. The minimum and maximum baseline noise level measured at Yuet Wu Villa was 48.3dB(A) L_eq(₅_min) and 66.9dB(A) L_eq(₅_min)respectively with an average of 58.0dB(A) L_eq(₅_min).

Table 4 Noise Monitoring Results

Day	Time Period (5-min)	Measured Noise Level, dB(A)			Wind Speed (m/s)
Day	Time Period (5-min)	L_eq	L₁₀	L₉₀	Wind Speed (m/s)
1 (26-11-2010) Friday	05:20 - 05:25	54.4	57.3	46.7	< 5 m/s
	05:25 - 05:30	53.2	56.4	46.1
	05:30 - 05:35	55.4	59.4	47.1
2 (27-11-2010) Saturday	05:40 - 05:45	53.8	56.2	46.3	< 5 m/s
	05:45 - 05:50	54.7	58.2	45.4
	05:50 - 05:55	53.2	56.6	46.3
3 (28-11-2010) Sunday	05:40 - 05:45	52.2	55.1	44.3	< 5 m/s
	05:45 - 05:50	55.7	60.0	45.2
	05:50 - 05:55	53.2	56.4	46.0
4 (29-11-2010) Monday	04:45 - 04:50	53.8	55.7	44.7	< 5 m/s
	04:50 - 04:55	53.0	56.9	46.6
	04:55 - 05:00	50.8	54.2	44.5
5 (30-11-2010) Tuesday	05:05 - 05:10	51.0	53.9	44.4	< 5 m/s
	05:10 - 05:15	53.0	56.7	44.2
	05:15 - 05:20	57.7	59.5	44.5

Day	Time Period (5-min)	Measured Noise Level, dB(A)			Wind Speed (m/s)
Day	Time Period (5-min)	L_eq	L₁₀	L₉₀	Wind Speed (m/s)
6 (01-12-2010) Wednesday	04:45 - 04:50	52.5	55.6	44.8	< 5 m/s
	04:50 - 04:55	52.7	56.6	45.1
	04:55 - 05:00	49.6	52.8	45.3
7 (02-12-2010) Thursday	04:20 - 04:25	50.5	53.5	44.3	< 5 m/s
	04:25 - 04:30	48.4	49.9	44.2
	04:30 - 04:35	50.3	53.9	44.3
8 (03-12-2010) Friday	05:10 - 05:15	52.8	56.2	46.0	< 5 m/s
	05:15 - 05:20	58.6	61.5	46.9
	05:20 - 05:25	53.8	56.2	47.3
9 (04-12-2010) Saturday	06:10 - 06:15	64.0	63.0	51.4	< 5 m/s
	06:15 - 06:20	55.4	59.0	48.4
	06:20 - 06:25	62.7	63.7	48.4
10 (05-12-2010) Sunday	05:45 - 05:50	51.6	55.4	46.6	< 5 m/s
	05:50 - 05:55	53.0	56.5	46.0
	05:55 - 06:00	52.6	55.4	45.1
11 (06-12-2010) Monday	06:15 - 06:20	63.3	60.5	49.2	< 5 m/s
	06:20 - 06:25	62.4	64.1	49.3
	06:25 - 06:30	65.2	64.2	49.6
12 (07-12-2010) Tuesday	06:15 - 06:20	58.1	61.0	50.8	< 5 m/s
	06:20 - 06:25	63.8	65.0	51.3
	06:25 - 06:30	66.9	64.8	53.2
13 (08-12-2010) Wednesday	04:05 - 04:10	50.9	54.4	45.5	< 5 m/s
	04:10 - 04:15	50.1	53.2	44.4
	04:15 - 04:20	53.5	56.4	44.6
14 (09-12-2010) Thursday	03:45 - 03:50	48.6	50.6	45.9	< 5 m/s
	03:50 - 03:55	48.3	51.1	44.8
	03:55 - 04:00	49.3	52.6	44.4

7.2. Wind data

Wind data of the monitoring station were obtained from the nearest Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) Tuen Mun automatic weather station located at Tuen Mun Town Park (63 mPD), which shall satisfy the above requirements. Table 5 summarises the wind data during the baseline monitoring period. Wind record from HKO will be shown in Appendix C.

Table 5 Summary of Weather Conditions during the Baseline Monitoring Period

Date	Weather	Prevailing Wind direction	Daily Average Wind speed (m/s)
26^th November 2010	Sunny	N	2.0
27^th November 2010	Sunny	SSE	1.8
28^th November 2010	Sunny	S	2.0
29^th November 2010	Sunny	SSE	1.5
30^th November 2010	Sunny	N	1.7
1^st December 2010	Sunny	NNE	1.9
2^nd December 2010	Sunny	N	1.6
3^rd December 2010	Sunny	NNE	2.9
4^th December 2010	Sunny	S	1.9
5^th December 2010	Sunny	N	1.0
6^th December 2010	Sunny	NNE	1.8
7^th December 2010	Sunny	NNE	4.1
8^th December 2010	Sunny	NNE	2.3
9^th December 2010	Sunny	N	2.2

8. MAJOR INFLUENCING FACTORS

Since no site activities were undertaken on-site, the weather condition and the noise from the road traffic are the major influencing factors affecting the monitoring results.

9. ACTION AND LIMIT LEVELS

Baseline monitoring results form the basis for determining the noise and air quality criteria for impact monitoring assessment during the operational phase of the project. The criteria shall be referred to as the Action and Limit Levels.

The ANL during the hours between 23:00 and 07:00 of the next day for ASR "B" is 55dB(A). According to Section 7, the prevailing background noise level was recorded as Leq of 58.0dB(A) near Yuet Wu Villa. Since the prevailing night-time background noise level was higher than the ANL-5dB(A), which accords to guidelines from Section 4.2.13 of Chapter 9 of Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, the latter is adopted as the noise assessment criterion for fixed noise impact assessment.

Should non-compliance of the above Action and Limit levels occurs, the contractor shall undertake corresponding in accordance with the Event and Action Plan given in Table 6 and the Event and Action Plans given in EM&A Manual.

Table 6 Event And Action Plan

EVENT	ACTION
EVENT	WFM Management	AFCD	ASD
Action Level	1. Notify AFCD 2. Identify source 3. Discuss with AFCD and formulate remedial measures 4. Increase monitoring frequency to check mitigation effectiveness	1. Identify the source 2. Rectify any unacceptable practice 3. Amend working method if appropriate 4. Inform ASD if cause of complaint or exceedance is considered to be caused by civil or E&M design problems 5. Implement amended working methods 6. Ensure remedial measures are properly implemented	1. Assist AFCD to find the cause of the exceedance 2. Modify or improve design as appropriate
Limit Level	1. Notify AFCD 2. Identify source 3. Repeat measurement to confirm finding 4. Increase monitoring frequency 5. Discuss with AFCD and formulate remedial measures 6. Assess effectiveness of the remedial actions 7. If exceedance stops, cease additional monitoring	1. Carry out investigation to identify the source 2. Rectify any unacceptable practice 3. Amend working method if appropriate 4. Inform ASD if cause of complaint or exceedance is considered to be caused by civil or E&M design problems 5. Implement amended working methods 6. Ensure remedial measures are properly implemented 7. If exceedance continues, consider what portion of the work is responsible and stop that portion of work until the exceedance is abated	1. Assist AFCD to find the cause of the exceedance 2. Modify or improve design as appropriate 3. Assist AFCD to formulate remedial actions

10. CONCLUSIONS

Baseline environmental monitoring has been carried out for the Joint User Complex and WFM at Area 44, Tuen Mun.

Baseline noise monitoring was conducted at Block 15, Yuet Wu Villa from 26^th November 2010 to 9^th December 2010.

For impact noise monitoring, the action level is predefined as when one documented complaint is received. Since the prevailing night-time background noise level was higher than the ANL-5dB(A), the prevailing night-time background noise level of Leq of 58dB(A) is adopted as the noise assessment criterion for fixed noise impact assessment.

Baseline noise monitoring results also represent the background noise climate of the area and may be used to carry out background noise corrections to determine the actual noise impact caused by the activities of the WFM. In the event of non-compliance with environmental regulations or contractual requirements, a recommended Event and Action Plan is given to be implemented.