XN000022-1983-04-27 — Page 16

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 1983

HE ALSO WELCOMED MR BROWN'S PROPOSAL FOR THE AWARD OF COSTS AND COMPENSATION IF THE PLANT OPERATOR HAD BEEN UNREASONABLY PURSUED.

REPLYING TO THE HON STEPHEN CHEONG'S COMMENTS, MR BRAY REFERRED HIM TO THE OCTOBER 13, 1982, MEMORANDUM WHICH INCLUDED GRAPHS SPECIFYING LEVELS OF SULPHUR DIOXIDE IN MILLIGRAMS PER CUBIC METRE AND SUSPENDED PARTICULATES IN THE SAME MEASURE YEAR BY YEAR FOR 10 YEARS AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS, AND A FULL ANALYSIS OF THE READINGS,

+THIS COMPARED IN THE MOST PRECISE WAY AIR POLLUTION IN THESE LOCATIONS WITH THE STANDARDS USED IN THE EEC AND FOUND THE SITUATION IN HONG KONG ACCEPTABLE, HE SAID.

MR BRAY ALSO ASSURED MR CHEONG THAT THE NETWORK OF MONITORS WAS STILL MEASURING KEY POLLUTANTS SULPHUR DIOXIDE, COEFFICIENT OF HAZE, AND TOTAL SUSPENDED PARTICULATE CONCENTRATIONS,

+THESE ARE THE KEY INDICATOR OF INDUSTRIAL AIR POLLUTION IN A CITY LIKE OURS. THE DATA PRESENTED SUPPORTS THE VIEW THAT PRESENT LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION ARE WITHIN TOLERABLE LIMITS, ALTHOUGH THE SITUATION IS MARGINAL IN SOME PLACES AND THERE ARE UNDOUBTED BLACKSPOTS,+ HE SAID,

BUT, HE ADDED, IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT DESPITE REASONABLE CONTROLS ON THE NEW CHEMICAL, POWER GENERATION AND CEMENT PRODUCTION FACILITIES ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION, THERE WOULD BE SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN EMISSIONS OF SUCH THINGS AS SULPHUR DIOXIDE, OXIDES OF NITROGEN AND PARTICULATE MATTER OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.

MR BRAY POINTED OUT THAT WITHOUT THE OVERALL, AS WELL AS DETAILED, CONTROLS ON FURTHER ADDITIONAL EMISSIONS WHICH THE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BILL WAS INTENDED TO PROVIDE, AIR QUALITY IN HONG KONG WOULD DETERIORATE TO UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS.

MR CHEONG ALSO SUGGESTED THAT MOST OF THE EXISTING AIR POLLUTION PROBLEMS COULD BE DEALT WITH WITHOUT EXTENDING THE AMBIT OF THE CLEAN AIR ORDINANCE BECAUSE AT A GIVEN TIME THERE WERE ONLY 96 PREMISES CAUSING AIR POLLUTION WHICH DID NOT COME WITHIN THE ORDINANCE.

IN REPLY, MR BRAY SAID THE EXTENSION WAS TO COVER AIR POLLUTION NOT ONLY BY SMOKE AND GRIT BUT BY NUMEROUS POISONOUS GASES THOUGH NOT ODOURS WHICH REALLY WERE UNMEASURABLL.

+THIS HAPPILY LOW FIGURE OF PLANTS NOT NOW COVERED IS NOT STATIC. WITH CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT IT MAY BE EXPECTED TO RISE AND EVEN NOW HALF THE AIR POLLUTION COMPLAINTS RECEIVED ARISE FROM PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY THE CLEAN AIR ORDINANCE HE SAID.

THE PRIME AIM, HE ADDED, WAS TO STABILISE THE PRESENT SITUATION AND GUARD AGAINST FURTHER DETERIORATION, NOT LAUNCH A MASSIVE ASSAULT ON EXISTING INDUSTRY. +FAR BETTER, BY PRUDENT PLANNING, TO PLACE OURSELVES ADVANTAGEOUSLY TO GUARD AGAINST FURTHER DETERIORATION, THAN TO FAIL TO ARM OURSELVES NOW ON THE GROUNDS THAT THERE IS NO EXISTING PROBLEM.

HE REITERATED