Contractor due in court on landfill leak charge
Report of pollution at Ta Kwu Ling dump was initially withheld by government
A landfill contractor is being taken to court, accused of allowing pollution to leak into the city's waterways.
The leak at the Ta Kwu Ling landfill in the northeast New Territories was first reported by the contractor - Far East Landfill Technologies - last July. Controversy was sparked after the government withheld the information from the public for more than a month.
The wastewater eventually found its way into the Kong Yiu Channel, which flows downstream into the Shenzhen River, and then to Deep Bay, where the Mai Po nature reserve is located.
The first hearing is set for February 18 at Fanling Court, the Environmental Protection Department confirmed yesterday.
In a report to the Legislative Council environmental affairs panel, the department said: "We are pursuing the liability of the contractor … and enforcement action under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance."
Back in October, a report submitted to the department by the contractor said the leak was caused when a supposedly impermeable liner developed a hole.