The Environmental Protection Department today said that it is handling the illegal operation of the concrete batching plants at 20 and 22 Tung Yuen Street in Yau Tong in a serious manner and the evidence collected will be passed on to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for follow-up action.

Since the appeal lodged by the plant at 22 Tung Yuen Street was dismissed by the Air Pollution Control Appeal Board, the department has been taking stringent enforcement action against it.

An investigation confirmed the plant's total silo capacity still exceeds 50 tonnes, and the department has initiated 32 prosecution summonses against it for not complying with the air pollution abatement notice and operating without a valid licence. These cases are being handled by the court.

The department has also applied for an injunction, which is being scheduled for hearing by the court, to stop the plant’s operation from causing a public nuisance.

The department is following up with the DoJ to apply to the court to schedule the hearings of these prosecution and injunction cases as soon as possible, so as to prevent the concrete batching plant from causing air pollution.

As regards the concrete batching plant at 20 Tung Yuen Street, the plant’s Specified Process Licence has ceased to be in force since the appeal board dismissed an appeal lodged by China Concrete against the refusal of its application for the licence’s renewal.

The Environmental Protection Department then took enforcement action and conducted a joint operation with the relevant departments on November 28. The evidence collected will be passed to the DoJ for consideration of prosecutions.

The department is working on legislative amendments to the Air Pollution Control Ordinance to enhance enforcement power for closing illegal premises so that similar cases can be handled more efficiently and effectively in the future.

The amendments to the ordinance are set to be introduced into the Legislative Council in the first quarter of next year, it added.