Metro Vancouver board to hear more from public, port on increasing coal shipments to Asia [China]
BY KELLY SINOSKI, VANCOUVER SUN JUNE 12, 2013
Port Metro Vancouver has already applied for and received air-quality permits for a $200-million expansion at Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver.
Photograph by: Gerry Kahrmann Gerry Kahrmann , PNG
Metro Vancouver directors will hold what is being billed as the closest thing to a public hearing Friday to hear from the ports and the public ahead of a vote on whether to oppose coal shipment expansion in the Fraser River estuary.
At least six delegations have already signed up to speak at the 9 a.m. board meeting, which will include a motion by Metro’s environment and parks committee to send a “public statement” to Port Metro Vancouver to oppose coal shipments along the Fraser River estuary, other than at the existing Robert’s Bank terminal in Delta.
The Metro board agreed to hear from the public after six delegations — including Port Metro and Fraser Surrey Docks in favour, and four others opposed to the expansion — were denied a chance to speak last month because they hadn’t signed up 48 hours in advance.
Metro board chairman Greg Moore said the delegates will get five minutes each to present their case, with more time for questions from the board. “We wanted to ensure we would hear from them,” he said. “It’s really an opportunity for people, and companies, to come.”
The motion follows applications from Port Metro for air-quality permits for a $200-million expansion at Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver, as well as a proposal for Fraser Surrey Docks to export thermal coal mined in the Western U.S. to produce electricity in Asia. Neptune Bulk Terminals already has its permit, but the move could affect what happens at Fraser Surrey.
Moore acknowledged that Metro has no power to stop the coal shipment expansion. But the regional district could wield influence on a permit for Fraser Surrey Docks, with certain conditions to ensure emission levels are met.
Moore added it’s doubtful that the board would change the current policy around air quality permits as Fraser Surrey is in the middle of its application process, but said the regional district could do so before future permits are requested. “It would be sending a strong message to them,” he said.
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