The Quayside Community Board is holding a Say No Coal rally in an attempt to encourage the Fraser Port Authority to reject a proposed coal facility at Fraser Surrey Docks.
Port Metro Vancouver received an application to allow the Fraser Surrey Docks to accommodate a facility where coal is loaded from trains onto barges using a conveyor system.
The Quayside Community Board is inviting concerned citizens to attend a rally at River Market on Sunday, April 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Penny McIvor, president of the Quayside Community Board, will welcome participants at 11: 30 a.m. Representatives from Voters Taking Action Against Climate Change and local members of Parliament have been invited to attend and address the rally. The Quayside Community Board has also
invited local provincial candidates to attend and meet with people at the rally. Paul Thompson, who handles the board's marketing, emailed the candidates.
"On behalf of the QCB, you are invited to attend our rally in opposition to the coal component in the Fraser Surrey Dock expansion proposal to Port Metro Vancouver," he wrote. "We believe that there will be a respectable number of people and while the issue is a serious one, the event is planned as a fun gathering of like-minded individuals. It is important to make it clear that this is a rally opposed to the use of coal as part of the expansion plan at Fraser Surrey Docks terminal."
James Crosty, past president of the Quayside Community Board, has been collecting names on petitions from people opposing the proposed project at Fraser Surrey Docks, which is located across the Fraser River from Westminster Quay.
Copies of the petitions will be forwarded to Port Metro Vancouver, with the goal of convincing the port that it's in the best interest of the entire region and its citizens to deny the application.
Some environmentalists and health officials have raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of the proposed facility. These include local engine emissions from trains and tugboats, global greenhouse gas emissions from burning the shipped coal, dust from train movements and coal transfer operations, chemicals used in train cars and barges for dust suppression, soil and water contamination and risks related to explosions, fires, collision and spills.
In February, representatives from Port Metro Vancouver appeared before city council and assured officials the application is undergoing a thorough review.
Last week, directors on Metro Vancouver's environment and parks committee voted to send a public statement to Port Metro Vancouver opposing coal shipments along the Fraser River estuary, aside from an existing terminal in Delta.
