Stanley Ho Wai-Hong, Sai Kung District Councillor for Pak Sha Wan, has highlighted the ecological damage caused by an oil spill at a refuse collection point in Tai Chung Hau. The paint had spilled into the local river which feeds in to Pak Sha Wan.
According to reports on Stanley Ho’s Facebook page, on the morning of 21 August large amount of blue oil was found in the river in Tai Chung Hau Village, Sai Kung. Many villagers were worried that the oil would have a serious impact on the environment and ecology. Some people also found a large area of oil stains left by the refuse point in the village. Stanley Ho said that after receiving a report from villagers he immediately went to the Tai Chung Hau River to observe and found that a large amount of blue oil was flowing into it.
According to the photos provided by the villagers, the bright blue oil spilled into the river from the drain, and the small river was instantly dyed blue, the original clear river becoming very dirty. Ho pointed out that he immediately went to the scene to check on the same day and found that the oil stains had not yet dried up. Therefore, he estimated that the time for the dumping of the oil was early morning that day. He then notified the Environmental Protection Department to investigate and asked the department to conduct laboratory tests on the oil pollution samples.
The Environmental Protection Department stated that after receiving the complaint close to noon on 21 August, it immediately notified the FEHD to follow up and sent personnel to the site for investigation the same day. The river channel has generally returned to normal. There are traces of spilled oil on the ground of the adjacent refuse collection point. The oil has been roughly cleaned and dried up, and none flows into the rain drain. The Department has notified the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to properly clean up the oil stains on the floor of the refuse station to prevent the oil from being washed into the channels by any rain. The Department will follow up with the FEHD to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
When the FEHD responded to the initial enquiry, it pointed out that the incident was suspected to be caused by the container containing the oil being badly disposed of in the refuse area and it had flowed through the drain hole to the nearby ground and drainage channels. The staff of the Department have since covered the affected road and the surrounding drains with sand, and the road has been cleaned by the relevant departments. The department also stated that since network cameras have been installed near the above site, it will provide video clips to relevant departments to assist in the investigation as necessary.
Ho said that it is currently unknown whether any workers accidentally tipped the oil drums when dumping garbage, causing the oil to flow into the river after it entered the drain. He also inquired about the incident with the cleaners, and they all said that they had never seen an oil drum. Therefore, he believes that no matter how the oil is poured into the stream, the FEHD should also issue guidelines to cleaners on how to clean up the oil and try to avoid similar incidents.
Villager Ms. Chou said that no one had ever dumped paint in the past, but before the CCTV was installed at the garbage station, there had been people dumping garbage indiscriminately, which affected the sanitation situation. After the CCTV was installed there, the situation improved.
Be the first to comment