Lantau residents and conservationists seeking a judicial review of decision to approve airport project question whether these measures are legally binding
The city’s environmental authorities have outlined “enhancement” measures aimed at compensating for marine habitat destruction in assessing the impact of a proposed third runway at Hong Kong’s airport, the High Court heard on Thursday.
These measures would be a “bonus” on top of original impact mitigation plans, barrister Ben Yu SC said.
On the third day of a four-day legal battle over an environmental impact assessment for the runway project by the Environmental Protection Department, Yu, who was representing the department, said the outlined enhancement measures were required conditions for approving the controversial construction plans, which are expected to cost HK$141.5 billion.
The lawyer cited the promotion of environmental education and eco-tourism and the development of a sustainable fisheries industry as examples of marine habitat enhancements laid out in the department’s assessment report.
These would create additional benefits, given that advanced drilling and construction methods would also be used to minimise and mitigate environmental damage, Yu said.
But Lantau resident Ho Loy and conservationist Yu Hin-pik, who are seeking a judicial review of the department’s decision to approve the new runway, questioned whether the enhancement measures were legally binding.
They also queried the authorities’ willingness to try to restore the marine habitat near the building site to a state as close as possible to that present before construction.
They pointed to a lack of immediate mitigation measures to compensate for the irreversible loss of more than 650 hectares of marine habitat, mainly for the Chinese white dolphin, as the authorities are only offering an enlarged marine park when the runway project is complete in 2023.
On issues such as the assessment of noise produced by the new airstrip, Yu noted the environmental department had adopted time-proven methodologies in collecting data and projecting the possible noise footprint of aircraft.
The procedure complied with statutory requirements, the lawyer argued.
The hearing will end on Friday before High Court judge Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming.
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Source URL: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1986788/hong-kong-authorities-outlined-enhancement