Richmond council has reiterated its opposition to any proposal to ship jet fuel to Vancouver International Airport through the environmentally-sensitive Fraser River Estuary.
The Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC), an organization owned and operated by a consortium of commercial airlines, has proposed shipping jet fuel up the South Arm of the Fraser River to a new off-loading terminal to be built in southeast Richmond.
Jet fuel would then travel by a newly constructed pipeline to Vancouver International Airport. A B.C. Environmental Assessment Office review process on that proposal was launched earlier this year.
In April 2011, the consortium requested and received from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office a temporary suspension of the review process, so the consortium could consider an alternative for routing a pipeline along the Highway 99 corridor. On September 7, the consortium wrote the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office to indicate it has also engaged consultants to complete a detailed comparative analysis of other alternatives, including:
· An upgrade of the existing system from Burnaby;
· Offshore Sea Island terminal options and;
· A North Arm barge facility option.
While Richmond council has been pushing the consortium to consider alternatives to its original preferred option, it also wants to make clear that this should not be misinterpreted as support for some of those options.
"We do not want jet fuel shipped through the Fraser River Estuary. There are far too many risks to the environment and to public safety," said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "We are glad to see the proponent has finally widened its consideration of options. However, many of these options still involve shipping jet fuel upriver. That is unacceptable."
Council again passed a series of motions at its Sept. 12 meeting, outlining its concerns with the consortium's proposals. Specifically, council has opposed any option that includes an off-loading facility on the South Arm of the Fraser River; a new jet fuel line through Richmond farmland and urban areas of Richmond; or an increase of trucks carrying jet fuel on city streets.
Council remains deeply concerned about the environmental risk resulting from fuel tankers travelling through the ecologically-sensitive South Arm of the Fraser River, as well as the environmental and public safety threats and other implications posed by potential fuel spills, fires or explosions at the fuel receiving facility or along the pipeline route.
Council has pressed the consortium to provide more information on how it would respond to such risks.
In addition to making presentations to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, the city has actively lobbied provincial and other officials, including the environment minister, to express its concern with the pipeline proposal and review process.
The city has also expressed frustration with the environmental assessment review process due to limited public input and the lack of a requirement for the consortium to provide alternatives. Following Monday's meeting, council will again send a series of letters to relevant federal and provincial officials, leaders of the opposition and other impacted local governments, including Delta and Metro Vancouver.
A final decision by the provincial and federal ministers responsible is expected in early 2012.
