Editor:
Re: T2 is an environmental disaster that’s flying under the radar, letter to the editor, Feb. 19
I have read and support Roger Emsley's letter and I have a few comments that I wish to add.
T2 would be built on an artificial island and widened causeway which would be almost half the size of Stanley Park. That island and its ancillary components will impact the mudflats which produce the nourishment that the western sandpiper depends upon for survival. In case you are wondering, there are a few hundred thousand sandpipers which stop here on their migrations.
T2 would also force juvenile salmon from their shoreline habitat, impacting salmon populations, including decline of a major food source for the endangered southern resident killer whales.
Environment Canada last year categorically stated that T2 will result in the loss of migratory shorebirds and cause the likely demise of the western sandpiper. The Fraser River estuary is a mecca for shorebirds during their semi-annual migrations.
However, populations of these and other shorebirds have declined by a staggering 40 per cent since 1970. Do you condone further losses which this port will cause? Or will you just shrug your shoulders and concede that economics dictates the outcome?
And, you might recall the United Nations Intergovernmental Committee on Biodiversity warned us in late 2019 that one million plant and animal species will become extinct unless we become better stewards of the environment. Is the proposed T2 a measure which will assist in the survival of our locally endangered species?
A local newspaper columnist used to say "follow the money." But wait, haven't statistics already shown the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has inflated its volume forecasts? And that over the past 11 years, the compound annual growth in volumes is a mediocre 2.6 per cent?
Be aware that these statistics include shipping in Vancouver itself as well as at Deltaport. And don't statistics for the Port of Prince Rupert (a completely separate port authority) indicate a growth of 17 per cent from 2018 to 2019? And isn't the Port of Prince Rupert already committed to further expansion with funding of $153.75 million allotted in September of 2019?
And aren't both the port and CN Railway (the railway in Prince Rupert) planning on an increase in rail capacity to further the efficiency of transport of goods to and from the port?
What is going on here? And what is happening behind the scenes which we, the taxpayers, do not know about?
One possible scenario is that there may be a long-range plan to shift some of the port capacity from the south side of Burrard Inlet to T2. And if that happens, wouldn't the newly freed-up land in the heart of Vancouver be prime property for multi-million dollar housing development?
I pose this scenario as a possible explanation for what appears to be an economically unviable plan.
Regardless, there is much that we don't know about this proposed project.
Anita den Dikken
