ENG-1979 — Page 273

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THE ENVIRONMENT

treated to an appropriate standard to protect public health: at Repulse Bay, for example, the final effluent from the sewage treatment works is treated with chlorine to kill bacteria and other organisms.

For the main centres of population and industry flanking Victoria Harbour, plans have been drawn up for a new treatment works to serve north-west Kowloon, Measures are in hand to extend existing short outfalls to deeper water for better dispersion and dilution.

With the implementation of new legislation, the waters of Hong Kong will be sub-divided into areas appropriate for certain activities such as fishing, marine fish culture and bathing, and industrial activities such as dockyards, shipbuilding and cargo-loading. For each of these activities a set of water quality criteria will be prescribed, and the pollution control authority within the Public Works Department will implement controls over individual discharges.

The problems of oil pollution and marine litter are dealt with by the Pollution Control Unit of the Marine Department. Regular inspections are made of vessels, bunkering faci- lities and oil-storage installations. Oil pollution control legislation is kept under review and strengthened, when necessary, to meet new contingencies. If an incident does occur, the unit well-equipped to deal with oil-spills using a purpose-built launch, stocks of low toxicity chemical dispersant, oil containment booms and an oil skimmer device.

The water-borne litter in Victoria Harbour, typhoon shelters and off bathing beaches is probably the ugliest form of environmental pollution in Hong Kong. A fleet of sampans

is maintained to clear the rubbish near the points of suspected origin. However, the removal of an average of 15 tonnes of refuse a day from the water has proved inadequate and new mechanised techniques are now in operation. New legislation should do much to discourage the dumping of rubbish in the water, but final success will depend on a change in the attitudes and habits of residents.

The effects of water pollution on the stocks and quality of fish and shellfish around Hong Kong are investigated by the Marine Pollution Research Unit of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. The work of the section has included the investigation of toxic metal levels in shellfish, basic surveys of sea bottom life, and the possibility of discharged nutrients producing unpleasant algal blooms and consequently killing fish. Although very large catches of commercial fish are not taken from adjacent waters, Hong Kong does have an important fish rearing industry based on floating cages. Marine fish culture is considered capable of expansion if water quality can be maintained.

There is considerable water pollution in some of Hong Kong's low-lying areas where streams and rivers cross agricultural land, often through nullahs in villages and towns, to enter the sea. In addition to large quantities of domestic waste, the streams receive agricul- tural waste emanating from the half-a-million pigs and six million chickens in the New Territories. Pilot schemes to collect or divert these wastes are in operation. However, the scale and complexity of the problem is such that it may prove economically feasible to deal only with selected areas in the near future.

Waste Disposal

The year saw the government working towards the enactment of the Waste Disposal Ordinance which, apart from providing the Director of Public Works with statutory powers over waste disposal, will also make special provision for the safe disposal of toxic and dangerous wastes.

The amount of waste generated continued to rise during the year. A total of 1,136,000 tonnes of solid waste was disposed of at controlled tips, and a further 697,000 tonnes