Editor:
Re: MLA seeks assessment for railway expansion, June 13
I understand MLA Vicki Huntington's concerns around the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway expansion in Delta, but the federal government has complete jurisdiction over this proposed project and has decided a federal environmental assessment will not be conducted.
While the province can sometimes have a role in the environmental assessment process for railway expansion, this is not one of those times. This particular project does not meet the threshold for a provincial environmental assessment and there is no mechanism in place for the province to request the federal government undertake an environmental assessment for a proposed project under federal jurisdiction.
Your readers should be assured our government is a part of an interagency review committee to ensure environmental concerns related to the entire Fraser Surrey Docks project are raised with Ottawa.
Mary Polak
Minister of Environment
