The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is going public with plans to dredge the floor of Burrard Inlet east of the Second Narrows. Currently, tankers loading their holds with oil and bitumen at the end of Trans Mountain pipeline can only fill to 80 per cent capacity, and with U.S. tariffs threatening Canada’s economy, the port must become more efficient, the rationale goes.
On its face, the dredging proposal presents numerous environmental worries, with a cocktail of toxins possibly at rest on the ocean floor and potential turbidity issues threatening the inlet’s food web. With efforts afoot to restore the shorelines, boost salmon stocks and save endangered whales, we expect there will be opposition.
If the proposal is, as District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little has suggested, a minor widening of a channel consisting mainly of scoured rock, it is not so troubling. It will make shipping through that channel both safer and more efficient – a win-win scenario.
But things are rarely so simple.
We have questions about the approval process, with the port being both the proponent and the regulator. As it stands, the project will not face vetting under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which would provide the most thorough accounting of the potential ecological fallout.
And it is unclear how the consultations with the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) will impact the plan. While the nations may not have an explicit veto power, the courts have shown they take Indigenous rights and title seriously.
As this process plays out in the coming months, we’ll be watching closely to see what gets dredged up.
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