Dear Editor:
Re: G3 Terminal at Lynnterm gets Port Approval, June 5.
So, North Vancouver is once again a sacrifice zone for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. After rail and silo expansions at Richardson, Cargill and Neptune, we are now faced with 48 more grain silos and more than likely, 28 more silos in the future.
Regardless of how much the port authority believes they have a track record of being successful when it comes to achieving balance between industry and community, and how many times they tell us they will do all they can to mitigate noise, particulate matter and air contaminants, we do not have confidence or trust there won’t be a lot of noise, more particulate matter and contamination of our air.
The port authority reviews each project application as a sole endeavour and does not investigate or report the cumulative effects on our communities. These mammoth terminals belong on industrial lands, away from residents, such as there are in other communities. Building a 65-plus acre terminal with 24/7 trains adjacent to thousands of residents challenges their health and safety and the environment in which they live.
In a highly circumspect proposal process, G3 heard from less than 70 people in their so-called consultation phases – we had more than 720 sign the petition opposing the G3 terminal. And the ultimate secret was neither G3 nor the VFPA alerted the public to the provision for 28 additional silos. Our local government was pretty much powerless to G3’s decision to construct a grain terminal in the harbour. Our provincial government was absent and our federal government allowed the port authority to conduct business with little intervention. The chair of the project review committee stated in a meeting that not one project had ever been denied approval once the permit application process had been initiated.
We question then, the port authority’s ability to carry out an unbiased analysis and assessment of projects. At least half of the 74 conditions that G3 must follow from the port approval are housekeeping items like licences, notifications, contacts and permits. It’s time for major port reform where the port is accountable to the many and not just the one.
We can only hope it gets better. Following the port authority’s recent AGM, one day before G3 Vancouver was approved, several staff members of the VFPA committed themselves to working with us on noise and air quality issues. It is our hope the port authority will seriously and consistently commit to protecting the health, safety and the quality of life of communities adjacent to the North Shore port and will make doing so a part of their everyday business operations and mandate.
Holly Cole, Sharie Loychuk, Jami Nystrom and the volunteers of Stop G3 in North Vancouver
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