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DR. DENNY H. M. HUANG (in Cantonese):-On the first point, the answer is that we have received the report, the Department of Medical and Health Services has commented on it, and their comments were sent back to the specialist, and we are waiting for the final report, and then we hope the report could be publicized.
As to the second point of the question, the suggestions made by the specialists, we can say that we have accepted in full.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Before I ask Mr. MACKENZIE to put the next question to you, I would like to inform the Council that I have allowed this question, exercising my discretion under Standing Order 12, Section 4.
(4) MR. JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question (in English):-
What action has been taken by the Urban Services Department to protect our beaches from pollution arising from the large scale spillage of oil from the Shell storage depot at Ap Lei Chau?
Is the Department satisfied that sufficient resources exist to meet the current situation? Does the present experience suggest that an increased build-up of protective measures may be necessary to meet any similar crisis in future?
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):
Mr. Chairman, this question is concerned with the protection of beaches from oil pollution, particularly arising from the recent incident at Ap Lei Chau.
The answer to the first part of this question is that the beach staff at four urban beaches, namely Repulse Bay, Deep Water Bay, Middle Bay and South Bay, were placed on the alert immediately after the oil spillage was reported last Friday morning. This instruction came from the Urban Services Officer (Western) during a personal visit made following a visit to the Shell storage depot at Ap Lei Chau to meet officials of the company. The staff at a fifth beach, Chung Hom Wan, were subsequently placed on the alert when it appeared that there was some danger that it too would be affected. The beach staff
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continued on stand-by duty over the weekend, together with the senior officers of the newly constituted Western District, U.S.D. In addition, the Department at the request of the Shell Co. deployed a team of sprayers and Foremen from the Malaria Bureau to assist in dispersal work before the oil could reach the beaches. These men are continuing to assist the Company and the other Government staff deployed to meet the emergency. A careful record is being made of the numbers of staff and transport employed, the amount of emulsifier used, and the time spent on this exercise, and the cost will be passed to the appropriate quarter in due course.
Turning to the second part of the question, sufficient resources exist at the gazetted beaches to meet the current situation as far as can be foreseen at the present time, and allowing for the vagaries of the elements. However, it cannot be said that the Department has available at its gazetted beaches the resources appropriate to deal with thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil should this be deposited upon them. The Department's own resources for dealing with oil pollution were always considered to be of minimal "first-aid" value where the threat was likely to be greater than merely simple discharge of any form of oil into the sea, e.g. where a ship flushed its fuel tanks close to our shores. It was with this knowledge that the Department subscribed wholeheartedly to comprehensive and detailed recommendations to attack any form of oil pollution at sea, using all available Government and commercial agencies, under the direction of the Director of Marine. Any major threat to land, would come under the Director of Public Works, utilising the same agencies. For Members' information, the oil pollution currently under review has come at a time when the measures recommended by the Director of Marine and his Special Committee to combat Oil Pollution (SCOOP for short) have not yet been fully elaborated or processed. It is likely, therefore, that there will be an increased build-up of protective measures to guard against any future similar incident, and the Department will review its own position in the light of the experience recently gained.
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG (in Cantonese): -Mr. Chairman, Hong Kong is a very small place. Anything that happens in the
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