The proposed Terminal 2 expansion at Roberts Bank should either be denied or postponed.
That’s part of the recommendations approved by Delta council on what should be the city’s next submission to the federal review panel looking at the container terminal project.
The staff report notes that with the continuing decline of the southern resident killer whale population and ongoing uncertainty regarding what could happen to the area’s biofilm, which is a critical food source for migratory birds, the review panel is urged to err on the side of caution.
Council agreed the review panel’s report to the minister of environment and climate change should recommend that approval for the project be denied, or at least postponed, until there is a greater consensus between scientific, regulatory and environmental agencies regarding the impacts of the project and the ability to effectively mitigate those impacts.
While council has not outright opposed T2, this is the strongest statement the city has issued on project.
The city also listed a number of other issues and concerns, including a request for the review panel to ensure Delta, as host city, has an opportunity to address the panel, similar to community public hearing sessions for indigenous peoples to ensure the concerns of Delta are heard and mitigation options considered.
Some of the other issues include noise impacts and spill response.
The Port of Vancouver says its proposed T2 project, a three-berth container terminal, is needed to meet forecasted demand for trade of goods in containers. It would be on a made-made island built adjacent to the Deltaport container terminal.
The panel is now considering comments received to determine whether it has sufficient information to proceed to a public hearing.
