Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has cancelled a permit for the Fraser Surrey Docks coal project, a proposed facility across the Fraser River from New Westminster that many residents feared would pollute their community.
“This is a positive outcome for the region, and for the planet,” New West city Councillor Patrick Johnstone told the Record on Friday. “There was a lot of concern in New West and South of the Fraser about this project, and groups from the New West Environmental Partners to the Dogwood Initiative did a great job opposing the project during the various Port reviews. The city was bold in supporting those efforts. In the last couple of years, opponents have known the economics for thermal coal are getting worse, but the fate of this project has been uncertain. Hopefully this marks a shift of the tide where we stop staking our economic future on projects that are so damaging to the climate.”The proposed facility would have seen millions of tonnes of American coal transferred by rail through British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
A permit was previously issued to Fraser Surrey Docks, but on Wednesday it was cancelled, according to a posting on the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority website.
Ecojustice lawyer Fraser Thomson said cancelling the permit was the right thing to do.
“This is a win for the climate and a testament to what can be achieved when community members stand up and say no to dirty U.S. coal,” Thomson said. “With the permit cancelled, it is hard to see how the Fraser Surrey Docks coal project could ever end up being built. This is the latest blow to a controversial project that has faced opposition every step of the way. The sustained and courageous opposition from local community members and groups — including the two local residents and Communities and Coal, which Ecojustice represented in their legal challenge to the project — played a critical role in forcing the Port to axe the permit for this project. Coal has been linked to serious health effects and is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet. Burning coal for electricity has no place is a world serious about fighting climate change and leaving a livable planet for our children.”
See the notice here and click on "project permit amendment."
Instead of coal, Fraser Surrey Docks is getting something much different - grain.
Fraser Grain Terminal has received a project permit from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to construct a four-million tonne per year grain terminal where an existing 500,000 tonne per year grain terminal is located. Grain is to be delivered by rail with approximately 309 trains per year using the CN main line. The majority of grain would be loaded onto ocean-going bulk carrier vessels, while approximately 600,000 tonnes would be loaded into containers and placed onto container ships or trucked to other container terminals such as Deltaport in South Delta. The largest ships will be Panamax-sized carriers which are already accommodated at Fraser Surrey Docks. It’s estimated there will be 62 ships per year.
An application by BHP Billiton, meanwhile, for an eight million tonne per year potash terminal has been accepted by the port authority and that project is now under review. The facility would use an existing berth and a portion of the existing container yard.
- With files from Sandor Gyarmati, Delta Optimist
