Coun. Chuck Puchmayr is convinced the proposed coal facility in Surrey is a “done deal” despite opposition on many fronts.
Puchmayr said he’s troubled by the process, which has seen Port Metro Vancouver recommend changes to Fraser Surrey Docks’ proposal for the coal transfer facility. Port Metro Vancouver will be in a position to approve or deny the application.
Puchmayr believes the community will have “quite a fight” ahead of it to see it denied. To date, environmentalists, Metro Vancouver’s board of directors and New Westminster city council are among the groups that have opposed the project.
On Monday, council received a letter from Port Metro Vancouver updating the city about the permitting process related to Fraser Surrey Docks proposed direct transfer coal facility, as well as a staff report outlining some of the new requirements Port Metro Vancouver is asking from Fraser Surrey Docks.
City council has directed staff to review additional information provided by Fraser Surrey Docks and to report back to council on how well this information addresses city concerns. The staff recommendation was made in response to Port Metro Vancouver’s decision to require Fraser Surrey Docks to provide additional mitigation to address health and safety requirements for the facility.
“I think as a city we need to continue to stand our ground on this,” Puchmayr said.
According to a staff report, Port Metro Vancouver has indicated it will give the city a chance to review and comment on the environmental impact assessments being done for the project. Fraser Surrey Docks recently announced it is no longer planning a coal stockpile for the facility and will apply suppression and binding agents to the coal when it’s being loaded onto barges on the Fraser River for transport to Texada Island. In addition, BNSF Railway has agreed to create a re-spray facility where a topping agent will be reapplied to coal that’s already been loaded in railcars.
“The mitigation that is being proposed here is, they are not going to stockpile the coal,” Puchmayr said Monday. “They will stockpile the train cars.”
Mayor Wayne Wright said the city isn’t changing its earlier decision, but is once again trying to get information to find out all the different aspects of the project.
“We are still not accepting that coal transfer yet. We didn’t have information and we still don’t have it,” he told The Record. “We are waiting to see what they might have.”
