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Hypocritical talk from a port poised to permanently damage Fraser River estuary

Editor: Re: T2 environmental assessment has been hopelessly compromised, letter to the editor, Nov.

Editor:

Re: T2 environmental assessment has been hopelessly compromised, letter to the editor, Nov. 25

I totally agree with Roger Emsley’s letter that the Terminal 2 environmental assessment has been compromised by rampant interference at the federal level.

His comments are consistent with what I stated to the review panel during my submission at the public hearings in June. I stated to the review panel “that the environmental review and public hearings were totally biased in favour of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and that the fix was in.”

It was interesting the panel did not make a comment or even disagree with my statement. Obviously, we now expect to see a rubber stamp of approval for the environmental review in favour of the port authority.

Now we have the continuation of a big public relations campaign financed with taxpayer money by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. The current advertisements talk about their concern and cooperative action to protect endangered species like bats, owls, other wildlife and aquatic species. What a bunch of horse manure.

The hypocrisy is that everyone knows the creation of Terminal 2 will cause major negative impact to wildlife, bird populations and aquatic species. This new man-made island, located in the middle of the Fraser River estuary, is over one-third the size of Stanley Park. It will require several years of dredging and filling with rock, gravel, sand, concrete and blacktop.

We all know this will only cause eternal damage to the estuary’s ecosystem. Negative impact to resident killer whales, salmon, shell fish, migratory shorebirds and other wildlife species will become a permanent reality.

All of this destruction and we have to listen to their ridiculous radio and TV ads that are financed by the taxpayer. All of this destruction in spite of the fact the port has no business case to justify this white elephant project.

Don’t forget to write or contact your member of Parliament if you care about preserving the Fraser River estuary for your grandkids and future generations.

Don Paulsen