Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington says the provincial government is failing to adequately protect the Roberts Bank Wildlife Management Area from the risks of an oil spill.
“If last week’s spill in English Bay had happened at Roberts Bank in the fall or winter months, it would have been disastrous,” said Huntington. “It would devastate the most important migratory bird stopover on the west coast of North America.”
When asked in the legislature this week, Huntington said the minister for forest lands and natural resource operations did not answer whether the Wildlife Management Area Plan for Roberts Bank had considered the impact of a spill.
The independent MLA also asked the environment minister to make a “world class spill response” a precondition for approving the Terminal 2 project, and asked the minister to commit to vetoing the project if the government could not guarantee the protection of the Fraser estuary.
Huntington said Mary Polak would not commit to ensuring the Roberts Bank terminal would face the same conditions for spill response and avoided the question on the possibility of vetoing the proposal. She stated that she was confident that the environmental review process would address spill concerns.
“As we saw again last week, oil spills don’t just come from tankers,” said Huntington. “The T2 project will significantly increase the number of container ships coming to Deltaport, and I’m disappointed that the environment minister will not commit to ensuring the Fraser River estuary is protected. It does not give me confidence in the government’s commitment to an assessment process that truly protects our environment.”
Huntington is concerned the provincial government’s participation in the environmental assessment process will be limited, and might not adequately address issues of provincial jurisdiction such as the protection of wildlife management areas and ALR lands.
