An assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed extension to a system treating sewage from Hong Kong Island, released yesterday, says the discharge of partially treated waste into the harbour should not have an undesirable ecological impact. But a conservation group is not so sure.
Under stage 2a of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme, which is due for completion by 2014, some 450,000 cubic metres of sewage, which is currently discharged untreated every day, will be pumped to the Stonecutters Island Treatment Plant for disinfection.
The sewage will be disinfected through chlorination. A review will be conducted in 2011 to consider the need for biological treatment.
The environmental impact assessment report for stage 2a of the project was released yesterday for public consultation.
Clarus Chu Ping-shing, senior marine conservation officer of green group WWF Hong Kong, said the proposal to build a 10th container terminal in nearby Tsing Yi might affect water flow in the harbour.
'A strategic impact assessment might be required to see how the two projects might influence each other,' he said.
