Skip to content

APE event Monday to highlight port’s impact on sandpipers

Against Port Expansion (APE) is holding an event at Brunswick Point in Ladner on Easter Monday.

Against Port Expansion (APE) is holding an event at Brunswick Point in Ladner on Easter Monday.

Media, naturalists and concerned citizens have been invited by the group to see first-hand the large population of Western sandpipers on their annual migration, feeding on the mudflats at Roberts Bank.

APE’s Roger Emsley said the public gathering is a chance to see the critical habitat that is at risk due to port expansion plans.

“At its peak there are tens of thousands of birds in huge flocks in the air, swooping in to feed and slurping on the biofilm as they build up their strength before continuing on their journey. This has to be witnessed to understand its importance,” according to Emsley.

“This area has to be saved from any further industrial or port development — the entire species of Western sandpipers depends on it.”

Port Metro Vancouver is proposing to build Terminal 2 (T2), a three-berth container terminal at Roberts Bank. It would be constructed on a new man-made island adjacent to the existing Deltaport container terminal.

The proposed facility would provide additional container capacity to meet forecasted demand until 2030.

The port filed a project description last year with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office.

Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq earlier this year announced the project would be referred to an independent review panel, a more stringent and time-consuming environmental review.

The port is expected to submit an environmental impact statement by the end of this year, which would trigger that review process.

Earlier this year, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May tabled a petition in the House of Commons calling on Parliament to stop further port expansion in the Fraser River estuary.

She said the petition is signed by B.C. residents who say it’s unacceptable to construct a massive second container terminal at the mouth of the Fraser. She also cited APE’s concern Terminal 2 will destroy key habitats and migration corridors.

Next Monday’s event at Brunswick Point organized by APE starts at 10:30 a.m.