It's going to be 49 years since Delta's landscape was altered by a port, and now even bigger changes could be on the horizon.
A much-talked about coal port celebrated its grand opening at Roberts Bank on June 15, 1970. It was an exciting time as thousands attended the opening ceremony, including Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Premier W.A.C Bennett.
The 55-acre bulk loading facility, referred to as the Roberts Bank superport, had an estimated cost of $9 million. Operated by Westshore Terminals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kaiser Resources, the port was one of the largest deep-sea facilities in the world.
Mayor Dugald Morrison at the timed called it a great day for Deltans.
"The additional industries and employment resulting could change the whole face of Delta. We have a very bright future," he said.
Almost 50 years later, Westshore Terminals, now controlled by the Jim Pattison Group, continues to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and remains the largest dry bulk terminal on the west coast of the Americas. The facility ships steelmaking (metallurgical) and energy (thermal) coal to 20 countries worldwide.
Fast forward to 1992, and the Vancouver Port Corporation released PORT 2010, a comprehensive long-term plan for port-owned land.
A new container terminal at Roberts Bank was a key element in that strategy. That year, the port corporation unveiled plans to build a $206 million container terminal, a project that would dramatically alter the municipality as well.
"If Canada wants to remain competitive with the United States in terms of transportation, it has to do something very dramatic and soon in terms of container transportation," Patrick Reid, port manager and CEO of the port corporation, told Delta council in April of 1992.
He said Roberts Bank was the ideal location because it would be in an existing vacant site already equipped with rail entry. He also said community and environmental impacts would be minimal, and that the area was surrounded by good truck and highway infrastructure.
The facility would be constructed on 87.5 acres adjacent to the coal port. The majority of the containers would be shipped by train with the balance distributed by truck to regional destinations.
Opened in 1997, Deltaport is now the largest container terminal in Canada.
The port authority opened a third berth at the Deltaport almost 10 years ago.
An entirely new three-berth facility, Terminal 2, currently proposed, a project to be built on a new man-made island next to the existing container facility. The application has been in the works for several years.
A federal review panel’s public hearing is finally scheduled to begin in Delta on Tuesday, May 14 at Tsawwassen Springs, starting at 9 a.m. The hearing will take place over several weeks and the first 14 sessions will be held at various venues in Delta.
Here's the schedule which the review panel notes could change during the course of the hearing:
