As more days go by, the more on edge residents living on the New Westminster waterfront grow, waiting to hear Port Metro Vancouver's decision on a coal transfer facility proposed for Fraser Surrey Docks.
"We're concerned that it hasn't been brought forward for public consultation and that it's going to be going ahead without that," said James Crosty, past president of the Quayside Community Board.
The board's concerns stem from the dust that could originate from the facility if it isn't managed properly. And while Fraser Surrey Docks has proposed a dust suppression system that includes covered conveyor belts, this isn't enough when it comes to the health of residents, said Crosty.
"When the wind gets a hold of it, it's terrible," he said, speaking of the current facility in Delta.
But this facility isn't the same as what Fraser docks has proposed. The proposed facility is a direct transfer station and only allows for an emergency stockpile, said Jim Crandles, director of planning and development at Port Metro Vancouver.
Stockpile or no stockpile, it's still a concern for New Westminster residents.
Fraser Surrey Docks is located directly across the river from the Quay. If the facility is approved, the community board is worried that gusts of wind would carry the harmful coal dust over the river and into the city.
"Air quality is a huge problem," Crosty said. "We're worried this is the toxic imbalance that's going to put us over the edge."
While Crosty's heart is in New Westminster, he said some residents have already moved out of the area because of the pollution around Front Street.
With the possibility of a coal facility, he doesn't see the problem going away, especially without help from local politicians.
"We just have no support here from the political wills that can actually get something done," he said. "You take a stand, you support the residents and you do whatever you can to sway powers that be, not to go forward with this."
But Crandles is adamant that nothing will be approved until Port Metro Vancouver is satisfied that Fraser Surrey Docks can handle any possible environmental issues that might occur in the transport of coal, including fugitive dust.
"We will review to what degree the proponent's mitigation is acceptable to its environmental effects," he said. "They have to identify to what degree the (coal) would move."
The proposal is still under review by Port Metro Vancouver, Crandles said, which means any issues the municipalities have, including New Westminster, will be brought to Fraser docks for further information.
It's an ongoing discussion, he said. And it comes down to whether or not Port Metro Vancouver is satisfied with the response it receives from Fraser docks.
"Can (Fraser Surrey Docks) safely, and in an environmentally sensitive way, handle this product such that we won't see its impacts?"
Dave Thompson doesn't think they can.
Thompson, who has lived in the area for eight years, said he has hard time believing the facility will be pollution free.
"If it's anything like what they're doing know, they've got open conveyors coming up and it's just spreading this dust all over the place," he said. "We're lucky we don't get a southeast wind."
Dust is a problem even without the coal, Thompson said. He worries that if the coal facility is approved, layers of the toxic dust will blow over the river into New Westminster.
And it's not only the residents of New Westminster who are worried about the effects this new facility would have on the area.
In an open letter to Port Metro Vancouver, the B.C. Lung Association asked that they include local municipalities in the decision-making process. The association wants to see more consideration given to these communities, especially when the health of residents is concerned.
"This is going to become an issue more and more," Crosty said. "We will continue to keep a very watchful eye on it as far as it effects Queensborough, the Quay and other parts of New Westminster."
