|
Ahead of a Legislative Council (Legco) motion debate on sustainable fisheries and on protection of marine habitats at Sokos Islands on June 13th, WWF again states its opposition to CLP's plans for an LNG terminal there. New information has come to light of three LNG terminals in the US using similar technology that have been blocked by government officials there in 2006 and 2007 based at least in part, on similar concerns expressed by WWF Hong Kong.
| |
© WWF Hong Kong |
|
"The proposal by CLP to build an LNG terminal at Sokos in September last year sparked a public outcry as this ecologically important marine sanctuary had been endorsed by the Hong Kong Government as a marine park to protect the habitats of threatened Chinese white dolphins and spawning grounds for the area's rich marine resources" said Dr Alan Leung, Senior Conservation Officer. While the CLP's environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was approved in early April by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), the damage to the marine environment that it will cause flies in the face of the rationale and principles set in the papers for endorsement of the Sokos marine park.
"This government is not applying equal environmental standards to different projects" stated Dr Andy Cornish, Director of Conservation, adding "this killing machine would never be accepted in an existing marine park, and will degrade the concept of a marine park as a sanctuary should it be allowed in a future one. Common sense tells us that an industrial facility with continued dredging, huge vessels, the ongoing destruction of hundreds of millions of fish larvae and eggs annually, and release of chlorine into the sea cannot be compatible with a sensitive marine area." As such, WWF cannot accept EPD's decision to endorse the EIA. Recent events in the US support WWF's position.
On May 18th 2007, the California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had vetoed a proposed LNG terminal at Cabrillo Port along the west coast of United States because the proposed terminal is in proximity to a National Marine Sanctuary (12.5 miles away) and the state believes that "a seawater gasification system, as originally proposed by BHP, would impact significant volumes of fish eggs, larvae, and other planktonic lifeˇK" In 2006 the state governments in Alabama and Louisiana also rejected two applications from power companies attempting to build LNG terminal employing the same technology called "open rack vaporization" or "open loop" system, and another applicant changed to a different system.
The issue is even more critical in Hong Kong stated Dr Cornish. "Healthy marine ecosystems are more likely to be able to withstand disturbance such as the mortality of such high numbers of fish eggs and larvae. Here in Hong Kong our fisheries are close to collapse, and the EIA doesn't come close to adequately addressing what the impacts of the open loop system are really likely to be."
As no other examples are known worldwide of LNG terminals being built in marine parks, the precedent is prone to making Hong Kong a laughing stock, especially as the park is supposed to provide protection for Chinese white dolphins, mascot of the 1997 handover and ahead of the city's 10th anniversary celebrations. Cumulative impacts on the dolphins are a serious threat to their survival. Just last week media reports noted another threat to the dolphins from a doubling in vessel traffic through their territory.
With the threat of global warming, WWF believes cleaner fuel should be used to lower carbon emission levels and we support the use of natural gas as a way forward. The fact remains that CLP has been one of the largest air polluters in Hong Kong for decades. CLP has been effectively pressurising the government to allow it to destroy another environment in order to solve problems of its own creation. A constructive solution for the society as a whole should be designed to achieve our clean air objectives without sacrificing Hong Kong's enviable marine life biodiversity.
Ahead of Legco's upcoming motion debate, we call on legislators and members of public in Hong Kong to think twice before giving our tacit approval to a proposal which may leave serious damages for our future generations to bear.
|
