Artemis Gold’s Blackwater mine at final commissioning stage
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Fraser Surrey Docks | Fraser Surrey Docks CEO Jeff Scott
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Fraser Surrey Docks’ proposed coal expansion project released November 18 has found no significant risks to human health or the environment.
The EIA was ordered by Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) September 12 and conducted by SNC-Lavalin. The full report is now available for review on PMV’s website.
“The effects of the project, as provided in this EIA, have been assessed using methods that reflect standard approaches of environmental and socio-economic practitioners,” states the report.
“After consideration of the potential residual effects, and taking into account engineering design and identified mitigation measures, the Project can be constructed and operated without significant adverse effects.
The contentious project, which involves the construction of a direct transfer coal facility on an existing terminal site at Fraser Surrey Docks, has raised the ire of many concerned parties, including Surrey City Council, anti-coal activists, medical and environmental groups and academics.
“If they [Fraser Surrey Docks] are serious, they will scrap this assessment and start over, that’s the bottom line,” Kevin Washbrook, director of Voters Taking Action on Climate Change, told Business in Vancouver.
“The port, as we’ve learned, is deeply biased in favour of industry. And they hired an industry insider to do the study. You can understand why we are not satisfied.
“But we aren’t surprised. We are disappointed, we had hoped they would rise to the challenge, but I guess not.”
Washbrook is not the only critic of the EIA.
Last week, the health officers of Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health authorities sent a letter to Port Metro Vancouver detailing their concerns with the environmental review.
Dr. Patricia Daly of Vancouver Coastal Health and Dr. Paul van Buynder wrote that Port Metro’s report does not include enough information about the health impacts to people.
“Much greater consideration is given to the potential effects of the project on plants, fish and wildlife than to people,” wrote Daly and van Buynder. “The report does not meet even the most basic requirements of a health impact assessment.”
Fraser Surrey Docks president and chief executive officer Jeff Scott told Business in Vancouver he is not surprised by the results, and that the EIA lends support to the project.
“It was a good result. The report confirms what we anticipated all along – that the project would not cause harm to the community or our stakeholder,” said Scott. “We understand the community’s concerns and we had to increase the confidence in our project.
“This independent report supports that.”
A 30-day public comment period on the EIA began November 18 and will end December 17. The EIA can be found here.
