Authorities are looking into applying for a court injunction to stop illegal operations at a concrete plant that lost another attempt to appeal against a licence refusal last week. It comes almost two years after the plant was first ordered to shut down over air pollution.
The plant was still in operation on Monday, with concrete mixer trucks driving in and out of the 20 Tung Yuen Street plant every five minutes, local media reported, after the Environmental Protection Department confirmed that the plant had resumed operations despite last week’s failed appeal bid.
The plant, located at a harbourfront site in Yau Tong slated for comprehensive and residential development, is operated by the China Concrete Company, which had earlier lodged an appeal against the EPD’s refusal of its application for a renewed Special Process License.
The government-appointed Air Pollution Control Appeal Board dismissed the appeal last Wednesday, with the EPD ordering China Concrete to shut down the plant and saying that it would “initiate prosecution actions if evidence is collected.”
“The department’s officers entered the plant for inspection and examined surveillance footage on November 23. They did not find the plant’s work to be in operation. However, concrete mixers were seen being taken in and out of the plant at 22 Tung Yuen Street,” the department said in a statement last Friday.
“During a follow-up inspection on November 24, the plant at 20 Tung Yuen Street was found to have resumed operations.”
The department told HKFP on Monday that it will provide evidence to the Department of Justice, which will consider initiating a prosecution and applying for a court injunction to shut down the plant’s illegal operations.
“In parallel, the EPD will also conduct joint enforcement operation[s] with other concerned departments,” the department’s spokesperson said.
Second plant
China Concrete also runs a second plant at 22 Tung Yuen Street. The department has initiated a total of 32 prosecutions against it for failing to comply with air pollution notices and operating without a valid licence.
The Development Bureau has been looking into relocating the two plants to Area 137 of Tseung Kwan O since 2021, according to a government statement.
“These cases are currently being handled by the court,” according to the EPD statement. “Meanwhile, the department has applied for a court injunction for the plant to cease operations. The injunction is being scheduled for hearing.”
The EPD is also making amendments to the Air Pollution Control Ordinance to enhance its powers for shutting down illegal premises, the statement read.
The company was refused a licence renewal in January 2022 due to its failure to curb air pollution, according to the EPD. The High Court in January this year upheld the decision.
Despite the licence renewal refusal and the failed legal bid, the two plants continue to operate. In May the city’s Ombudsman found that the EPD had properly fulfilled its duties “from an administrative perspective.”
In February, a small group of protesters, including rally organiser James Ockenden and Patrick Fung, CEO of Clean Air Network, marched from Yau Tong Fire Station to the concrete plant to protest at its illegal operation. Last week, Ockenden said he doubted that there would be any “significant action” against the plant.
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