Urban Planning Committee to discuss relocating fuel midway storage

Tomorrow, the Urban Planning Committee will discuss the plan to relocate the fuel midway storage to the New Urban Zone A.

The storage location has been in Ilha Verde for about 10 years.

The draft relocation plan has been published on the committee’s website, although an opinion piece has been received querying details on sewage handling and dispersal measures at the future midway storage location.

When built, the new midway storage will be located on the land which currently houses the Macau Border Building of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The new Sewage Treatment Plant will also be located nearby.

The facilities will cover a floor area of 3,299 square meters, with a proposed height clearance of 9 meters.

The draft plan also proposes that a wall of no less than 2.5 meters or other physical barriers be built on the periphery of the land plot. The surrounding grounds of the building must also be landscaped.

The discharge of pollutants must also be strictly controlled, and plans with less impact on the environment will be adopted to ensure the surrounding water bodies will not be affected.

When the draft plan was put online for public viewing, the committee received feedback on the plan. In addition to requesting that the committee or other related government bodies ensure that the future facility be equipped with sewage pipelines and explain future arrangements for sewage handling and discharge, further information on landscape handling and management at the periphery of the proposed facility was requested.

It was also suggested that the environmental impact evaluation report on the future facility be submitted to the Environmental Protection Bureau for review.

19 years ago, an unlawful fuel storage facility in Ilha Verde, which was surrounded by lawful storage facilities and residential buildings, exploded, caught fire, and forced hundreds of nearby residents to evacuate. AL