THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1982
HE DETECTED A HIGH LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS OF SUCH POLLUTION AND OF THE ASSOCIATED HIGH RUNNING COSTS OF BADLY TUNED ENGINES.
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+THERE SEEMED TO ME TO BE A GENUINE WILLINGNESS TO CO-OPERATE
· TO REDUCE VEHICLE EMISSIONS, HE SAID.
THE COMMITTEE WILL BE MEETING AGAIN WITH THESE REPRESENTATIVES IN ABOUT SIX MONTHS' TIME, TO SEE WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE.
ON A RELATED TOPIC, MR SULKE NOTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE QUESTION OF LEAD IN PETROL.
+THIS IS A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE ON WHICH THE EVIDENCE IS NOT CLEAR. MY COMMITTEE VERY RECENTLY HAD THE BENEFIT OF A DETAILED DISCUSSION WITH TWO ACKNOWLEDGED EXPERTS IN THE FIELD FROM U.K.
*THE IR VIEW IS THAT LEAD EMISSIONS FROM PETROL ARE BY NO MEANS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF THIS POISON. OTHER SOURCES, SUCH AS LEAD FROM OLD PAINT, PIPING, CERTAIN COSMETICS, TOYS AND SO ON, HAVE A FAR MORE DIRECT IMPACT UPON PEOPLE, HE SAID.
THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE HOWEVER HAS PRESSED THE OIL COMPANIES IN HONG KONG TO REDUCE THE LEVELS IN PETROL SOLD HERE, RESULTING IN A STAGED PROGRAMME OF REDUCTIONS, FROM 0.84 GM/1 IN 1980 TO 0.6 GM/1 AT PRESENT AND FURTHER TO 0.4 GM/1 NEXT JANUARY, WHICH WILL BRING US INTO LINE WITH THE LEVELS OBSERVED IN THE U.K. AND WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO PREVAIL THERE UNTIL 1985.
MR SULKE SAID THE COMMITTEE WOULD CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR FURTHER REDUCTIONS, BEARING IN MIND THE ECONOMIC IMPACT AND THE NEED TO SAFEGUARD SUPPLIES. HE WOULD ALSO CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR A RAP ID EXTENSION OF THE MONITORING AND MEASUREMENTS FACILITIES TO BUILD UP A DATA BASE TO ACHIEVE A PROPERLY INFORMED LEVEL OF DISCUSSION ON POLLUTION MATTERS.
FOR THE COMING YEAR, HE SUGGESTED THAT THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE PURSUE TWO PRIORITIES. ONE IS THE CONTROL OF PARTICULATE EMISSIONS AND ESPECIALLY DUST FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES, PFA (PULVERISED FUEL ASH) FROM THE COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS, AND DIESEL VEHICLE EMISSIONS, AND THE OTHER IS A REVISION OF EMISSION REGULATIONS FOR ALL MOTOR VEHICLES.
IN HIS SPEECH, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NO ISE, MR HENRY LITTON SAID THE COMMITTEE HAS HAD A CLOSE LOOK AT TWO PROJECTS, THE NOISE IMPLICATIONS OF THE ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAMME OF THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY AND THE NOISE PROBLEMS LIKELY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MTR ISLAND LINE.
ON THE KCR PROJECT, MR LITTON SAID THE COMMITTEE CONCLUDED THAT THERE WAS GOOD REASON TO HOPE THAT THE PROGRAMME WOULD NOT LEAD TO ANY INCREASED NOISE LEVELS AND THAT POSSIBLY ADJACENT SETTLEMENTS MIGHT ENJOY A BETTER NOISE ENVIRONMENT, PARTICULARLY IF SOME OF THE PLANNING RECOMMENDATIONS WERE IMPLEMENTED.
AS TO THE MTR WORKS, HE SAID THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT THE TUNNELLING METHOD WOULD SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE CREATION OF NOISE, COMPARED WITH THE +CUT AND COVER+ METHOD USED FOR THE INITIAL SYSTEM.
THE SPECIAL