Introduction of Vapour Recovery legislation in 2008 made it prohibitively expensive to retain all Force fuelling stations. Therefore, whilst some were updated and retained for operational use and to cater for emergencies, the majority were mothballed in 2008. As an alternative means to maintain the effective daily operation of the Force vehicle fleet, Government fuel cards were put in place to allow Force vehicles to be fuelled at commercial filling stations.
With the use of fuel cards and the reduced number of filling stations posing no obstacle to operational efficiency, the disused fuel tanks and pumps at various police stations became redundant. In May 2011, Transport Division initiated a further Force-wide review of the situation with the ultimate intention of decommissioning all of the disused filling stations. To ensure the smooth execution of the scheme, four disused filling stations in Sha Tin District were selected for a trial clearance.
With the assistance of Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), those four stations were removed in late 2011. Based on positive feedback from user formations, a decision was taken to have the remaining 24 disused filling stations removed.
After consultations with EMSD and user formations, Transport Division formulated an action plan, which commenced in September 2012 and completed in February 2013. The scope of works included clearing up underground fuel tanks and filling up the tanks with water; dismantling fuel dispensing pumps and fuel monitoring systems with associated power/signal cables; and dismantling aboveground vent pipes of the underground tanks.
EMSD accomplished the works on schedule without untoward incident. The removal of vent pipes and dispensing pumps with associated facilities has freed up considerable additional space in the affected Police Station compounds, greatly benefiting user formations. A good example is Kwun Tong Police Station where the space freed up has been utilised for parking eight more police vehicles.
