TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1986
TWO AIR CONTROL ZONES APPROVED
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THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL HAS APPROVED THE DECLARATION OF TWO AIR CONTROL ZONES UNDER THE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL ORDINANCE.
THEY ARE THE HARBOUR AIR CONTROL ZONE AND THE TSUEN WAN-KWAL CHUNG AIR CONTROL ZONE WHICH WILL BE FORMALLY DECLARED IN THE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL (AIR CONTROL ZONE) (DECLARATION) ORDER 1986 TO BE GAZETTED TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY).
THESE TWO ARE THE FIRST OF 10 AIR CONTROL ZONES WHICH HAVE DEEN DRAWN UP AND WILL BE DECLARED IN PHASES TO ALLOW LIMITED RESOURCES TO BE FOCUSED ON THOSE AREAS WHICH REQUIRE URGENT ACTION AND TO ALLOW TIME FOR ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE NETWORK OF AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS.
THE OTHER ZONES ARE SOUTH HONG KONG ISLAND-LAMMA, JUNK BAY, TUEN MUN, YUEN LONG, FANLING-SHA TAU KOK, TOLO, PORT SHELTER AND LANTAU.
THE HARBOUR AND TSUEN WAN-KWAI CHUNG AIR CONTROL ZONES COVER 11 DISTRICTS, SOME OF WHICH ARE KNOWN TO HAVE SERIOUS AIR POLLUTION PROBLEMS, SUCH AS KWUN TONG AND KWAI CHUNG-TSING YI.
OTHER DISTRICTS COVERED BY THESE TWO ZONES INCLUDE KOWLOON CITY, MONO KOK, SHAN SHUI PO, WONG TAI SIN, YAU MA TEI, CENTRAL AND WESTERN, WAN CHAI, EASTERN DISTRICT AND TSUEN WAN.
THESE 11 DISTRICTS CONTAIN SOME FOUR MILLION PEOPLE AND INCLUDE THE MOST INDUSTRIALISED AREAS IN HONG KONG,
AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES FOR THE HARBOUR AND TSUEN WAN-KWAI CHUNG AIR CONTROL ZONES WILL BE GAZETTED EARLY NEXT YEAR AND WILL FACILITATE THE FORMULATION OF AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANS IN THE TWO ZONES.
AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES ARE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THAT CONCENTRATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS WHICH SHOULD NOT BE EXCEEDED
IN THE INTERESTS OF PUBLIC HEALTH. THESE POLLUTANTS INCLUDE SULPHUR DIOXIDE SUSPENDED PARTICULATES (1.E. DUST), NITROGEN DIOXIDE, CARBON MONOXIDE, LEAD AND PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS (DETERMINED BY THE MEASUREMENT OF OZONE).
THE AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES THAT WILL BE ESTABLISHED ARE COMPARABLE TO STANDARDS EMPLOYED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION AND THE U.3. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT (EPD) HAS SET UP FIVE AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS IN THE HARBOUR AIR CONTROL ZONE AND WILL BE SETTING UP TWO MORE AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS IN THE TSUEN MAN-KWAI CHUNG AIR CONTROL ZONE NEXT YEAR.