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13/06/2014
Government Turns a Blind Eye to Ozone Pollution in Tung Chung
Tung Chung, which backs onto North Lantau Country Park and faces Tung Chung Bay, is a new town
surrounded by nature, which may make one think of a healthy lifestyle filled with fresh air. Some
property developments also advertised using “a breath of fresh air” during their sales periods. However,
if we carefully study the Air Pollution Index over the last decade or so, results reveal that Tung Chung is
the most polluting compared with other areas of Hong Kong, in terms of both number of days and hours
when the Air Pollution Index exceeds official standards. Even more shocking is that the air quality of
Tung Chung is even worse than Kwai Chung and Kwun Tung, which are chock-full of industrial
buildings. The government is determined to develop Tung Chung into a large new town, with a
population of 220,000 people. The first two stages of the consultation have already ended. Throughout the
process, the authorities never explained the air quality of Tung Chung to the public. Yet they have
planned for reclamation in Tung Chung Bay and massive construction projects in Tung Chung Valley,
which will greatly reduce the existing area of natural environment and its air purifying function. The
expanded population of Tung Chung will be living in even more polluted air.
From 2000, when the Environmental Protection Department has been releasing the Air Pollution Index (API)
for all 11 general air quality monitoring stations (Central and Western District, Eastern District, Kwai Chung,
Kwun Tong, Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Tai Po, Tap Mun, Tsuen Wan, Tung Chung, Yuen Long), till the adoption
of the new “Air Quality Health Index” in late 2013, the figures of days and hours with API reaching 101 or
above throughout these 14 years are used as a benchmark for analysis to gain an understanding and comparison
of the air pollution in Tung Chung and other areas. A reading of 101 or above indicates air pollution at a “Very
High” level (VHAPL), with the pollutants posing even short term health threats to human.
From the number of hours of VHAPL readings obtained from individual monitoring stations (Table 1), the
highest readings are found in Tung Chung of Lantau Island, which has 724 hours of VHAPL readings, which is
followed by Kwun Tong and Kwai Chung in the urban area, which have 702 and 664 hours respectively. Yuen
Long is in fourth place with 545 hours. If viewed in terms of year, the total of VHAPL hours for Tung Chung
has been ranked among the top 3 for 12 years in the last 14 years, while Yuen Long and Kwai Chung has only
been on the top 3 list for 8 and 7 years respectively.
When analyzing the VHAPL readings based on the number of days (Table 2), Tung Chung has the most, with
213 days. This is followed by Yuen Long with 103 days, Kwai Chung with 82 days and Kwun Tong with 70
days. These results show that the number of days in Tung Chung with VHAPL readings far exceeds the
readings of other monitoring stations. From individual monitoring station readings for the number of days per
year, there are 13 years in which the number of readings for Tung Chung was the most numerous out of 14
years’ worth of readings. Following closely are Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan, which only have 1 year when the
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number VHAPL readings were the most numerous. This comes to show that Tung Chung has remained the
monitoring station with the most days for recordings of 101 and over on the API.
Even more shocking is the fact that Tung Chung is the solitary monitoring station to frequently have
VHAPL readings. If viewed in terms of month in 14 years (Table 3), Tung Chung was the solitary station to
have the VHAPL readings in 27 months. This is followed by Yuen Long and Tap Mun, which only have a mere
3 months and 2 months. If based according to the number of days with VHAPL readings, out of 213 days, Tung
Chung had 99 days being the only station to have readings of 101 or over when other monitoring stations did
not reach 101. The station in second place with such records is Yuen Long, which only has 20 days.
According to the past Air Quality Objectives on which the former API was based on, when the index reaches
levels of 101 or above, the objectives of air pollutants have already exceeded short term air quality objectives.
These situations should never exceed 3 days a year, which translates to an average of no more than 3 days of
VHAPL a year. However within the period of 14 years, Tung Chung had 213 days, an average of 15 days per
year, which was 5 times of the Air Quality objectives, while Yuen Long, Kwai Chung and Kwun Tong had an
average of 7, 6 and 5 days with air pollution reaching 101 or above on the API.
Regarding “Pollutants contributing to the highest API of the day” (Table 4), among the 213 days with VHAPL,
Tung Chung had 174 days with ozone (82%), Yuen Long had 64 days out of 103 days that was ozone (62%). In
addition, within 82 days Kwai Chung had 67 days with nitrogen dioxide (82%), while ozone had 6 days (7%);
Kwun Tong had 61 days out of 70 that was nitrogen dioxide, ozone had only 2 days (3%). This shows that
ozone is the main air pollutant in Tung Chung.
14 years of API statistics shows that regardless the number of hours or days, Tung Chung’s poor air quality is
always on top of the list. To make matters worse, Tung Chung is frequently the only monitoring station to have
readings of 101 or over. The ozone pollution problem is particularly serious, as it is a powerful oxidant that can
cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat even in low concentrations. In high concentration levels, it can
increase the chances of human infections and intensify existing respiratory symptoms (such as asthma). The air
pollution of Tung Chung is a serious and distinctive case.
Although the air quality of Tung Chung has been highly unsatisfactory for many years, and the Environmental
Protection Department has mentioned the non-compliance of ozone in Tung Chung in the annual “Air quality in
Hong Kong” report, the government has never been serious in informing the public about the situation or
investigating the underlying causes. On the contrary, the government stated the planning principle plans expand
Tung Chung New Town to increase land supply and increase its population to 220,000. Ironically in 2013, under
the “Tung Chung New Town Extension Study Stage 2 Public Engagement Digest”, it stated the planning
principle plans to expand on “the encouragement of a green and sustainable living environment”. How can one
lead a green and sustainable lifestyle without good air quality?
In 2012, in the “Tung Chung New Town Extension Study Stage 1 Public Engagement Digest”, the part
pertaining to the air quality of Tung Chung only points out that “…various transport infrastructures in the
vicinity of Tung Chung, including the HKZMB (Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge), the Airport and North
Lantau Highway, may affect air quality and hinder the development of residential sites”. Interestingly, the
environmental impact assessment report for these infrastructure projects, which included the HKZMB - Hong
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Kong section and HKZMB - Hong Kong passage to Chek Lap Kok road link, did not assess the effects of the
construction projects on ozone levels in Tung Chung. The environmental impact assessment explained the
reason is because the construction would not directly emit ozone. This explanation is unfounded even if the
construction would not emit ozone directly, because other pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) would still be emitted. Under suitable conditions (high temperatures and strong
sunlight), ozone would be produced from these pollutants. Past data reflects that ozone has a profound impact
on the air pollution of Tung Chung and the administration have kept ignoring the impact of ozone on Tung
Chung, which is obviously a negligence of Tung Chung residents’ health.
Unfortunately, the administration has planned for large scale development of the Tung Chung Valley and
reclamation of the Tung Chung Bay, as mentioned in the “Tung Chung New Town Extension Study Stage 2
Public Engagement Digest”. With the reduction of vegetation cover and water body area, the heat island effect
would be exacerbated, increasing the chance of ozone formation in the area, which would be difficult to
disperse with the high density of high-rise buildings in the Tung Chung Valley. This would only cause the air
quality of Tung Chung to become worse in the future. It would appear that the 220,000 residents of Tung Chung
in the future would have to live alongside ozone pollution.
Focusing on the problem of ozone pollution in Tung Chung, the administration should consider carrying out the
following measures to safeguard the health of residents:
1) Assess the effects of related construction work on the level of ozone in Tung Chung
2) Preserve the natural vegetation cover and water bodies (rivers and sea) and increase the area of greening
which would provide cooling and reduce the chance of ozone formation in the area
3) Maintain the circulation of air in Tung Chung and not destroy breeze corridors such as natural rivers
4) Reduce nitrogen oxide emissions Tung Chung and nearby areas, and from the sea, land and air.
5) Reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds in Tung Chung and nearby areas.
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Table 1：From 2000 to 2013, VAHL readings recorded per hour at regular monitoring station
(Coloured box represents that the recordings for the monitoring station is among the top 3 for that year)
Central
and
Western Eastern
Year District District
55
22
2000
10
0
2001
1
0
2002
49
22
2003
69
19
2004
30
0
2005
38
0
2006
15
0
2007
22
0
2008
8
8
2009
17
17
2010
5
1
2011
18
15
2012
55
25
2013
Total
hours
by
station
392
129
Total
hours
Sham
for
Shui
Tap Tsuen Tung Yuen each
Po Tai Po Mun Wan Chung Long year
36
18
1
24
8
40
309
21
2
8
1
21
0
140
45
1
3
13
54
0
252
34
27
8
65
99
38
602
24
0
6
88
151
74
682
15
0
24
1
69
72
233
53
17
21
23
44
65
312
32
5
14
0
62
69
252
33
0
13
7
36
8
168
13
7
11
7
19
23
114
45
12
17
22
59
64
321
Kwai
Chung
54
57
71
117
136
11
13
15
40
10
44
Kwun
Tong
35
18
64
136
84
1
33
31
0
1
12
Sha
Tin
16
2
0
7
31
10
5
9
9
7
12
22
16
58
36
149
102
1
18
7
30
26
56
1
10
0
13
25
22
13
7
1
38
47
17
24
34
34
184
365
377
664
702
134
463
100
186
272
724
545
4311
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Table 2：From 2000 to 2013, number of days with VAHL readings at regular monitoring station
(Coloured box represents that the recordings for the monitoring station is the most for that year)
Year
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Total
days
by
station
Central
and
Western
District
4
2
1
5
12
6
6
4
6
3
6
4
6
4
69
Eastern
District
2
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
3
5
1
4
2
20
Kwai
Chung
6
7
10
10
13
1
2
4
5
3
7
3
6
5
82
Kwun
Tong
4
2
6
13
9
1
4
5
0
1
3
3
12
7
70
Sha
Tin
2
1
0
3
8
5
2
4
3
4
3
1
7
2
45
Sham
Shui
Po
3
2
7
4
3
3
9
4
4
2
6
3
4
7
61
Tai
Po
2
2
1
3
0
0
5
2
0
3
3
1
3
0
25
Tap
Mun
1
3
2
4
4
7
3
5
4
3
6
5
8
3
58
Tsuen
Wan
3
1
3
5
10
1
5
1
3
2
3
4
4
1
46
Tung
Chung
5
11
15
22
40
14
10
13
15
11
13
16
20
8
213
Yuen
Long
3
0
0
4
11
11
10
12
6
10
8
11
12
5
103
Total
days
for
each
year
35
31
45
74
112
49
56
54
46
45
63
52
86
44
792
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Table 3：From 2000 to 2013, the number of months and days with VAHL readings for each monitoring
station
Monitoring
Station
Number of
months
Number of
days
Central
and
Western
District
0
Eastern
District
1
Kwai
Chung
0
Kwun
Tong
0
Sha
Tin
1
1
3
7
5
3
Sham
Shui Tai
Po
Po
1
0
3
1
Tap
Mun
2
Tsuen
Wan
0
Tung
Chung
27
Yuen
Long
3
13
1
99
20
Table 4： From 2000 to 2013, VAHL days and days with highest measure of pollutants
Highest
polluting
pollutant
Central
and
Western
District
East
ern Kwai
Dist Chu Kwun
rict
Tong
ng
Sha
Tin
Sham
Shui
Po
Tai
Po
Tap
Mun
Tsuen
Wan
Tung
Chung
Yuen
Long
Carbon
Total
number
of days by
pollutants
1
Dioxide
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ozone
37
6
6
2
37
10
14
54
17
174
64
421
Respirable
119
suspended
particulate
Carbon
Monoxide
Total
number
of days by
station
12
7
9
7
5
9
6
4
12
22
26
251
19
69
7
20
67
82
61
70
3
45
42
61
-End-
5
25
0
58
17
46
17
213
13
103
792