Citizen warns Metro Vancouver of possible B.C. Supreme Court challenge to METRO 2050, citing failure to consult key stakeholders and publicize Public Hearing (April 20)

Above: Metro 2050 banner. Credit Metro Vancouver website

Livestream – http://www.metrovancouver.org/boards/webcast/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.metrovancouver.org/boards/webcast/Pages/default.aspx

One of the best-kept secrets in the Metro Vancouver region today, April 20, 2022, is that an important Public Hearing will be held tonight, starting at 6 pm on METRO 2050, the Metro Vancouver Regional District Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) Bylaw No. 1339, 2022.

The Public Hearing is of major significance, as the final chance for the 2.8 million residents of 21 municipalities, one electoral district, and one First Nation, to provide input to elected officials prior to the intended adoption of METRO 2050 this July. Then, it is expected to guide and regulate many aspects of urban development for the next 28 years to 2050 (and beyond). The implications of the RGS are vast – affecting housing development (which by nature affects construction, demolition, displacement, infrastructure, taxes, livability, and the look and feel of our communities), transit and mobility (which affects billions of dollars of public money), employment (vastly important), ecological and agricultural lands (ditto), impact on climate and impacts of climate change, and much, much more. See official explanatory and promotional materials here – http://www.metrovancouver.org/metro2050.

But perhaps it’s no surprise that this Public Hearing, and probably METRO 2050 itself, is known only to a small number of people.

It appears Metro Vancouver and media have done their best to keep it under wraps. A CityHallWatch tally as of the day of the Public Hearing shows that media coverage has been ZERO to date. Civic reporters have been looking the other way. See “Full tally of media coverage on the crucial ‘Metro 2050’ Public Hearing on April 20/Wed: Implications for 2.8 million residents over the next 28 years“

We have just noticed that the sole piece of correspondence published as of today (April 20) with the agenda package, as correspondence received by Metro Vancouver for the Public Hearing, covers significant concerns deserving further scrutiny.

The civic watcher (Roderick Louis) has carefully studied the official documentation and concludes that Metro Vancouver has failed to involve the public, notify the public, notify the media, and consult with specific key stakeholders (including boards of education across the region, B.C. ministry of Education and Child Care, police departments, RCMP, B.C.’s Solicitor General and Attorney General ministries).

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Full tally of media coverage on the crucial ‘Metro 2050’ Public Hearing on April 20/Wed: Implications for 2.8 million residents over the next 28 years

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Guess what! Metro Vancouver regional body (formerly Greater Vancouver Regional District, or GVRD) is holding a Public Hearing on the evening of Wednesday, April 20, 2022. It is of high significance. The one and only public hearing to provide the Metro Vancouver region’s 2.8 million residents a chance to speak to elected officials at the regional level about a bylaw that is intended to guide urban development for the next 28 years to 2050 in the region’s 21 municipalities, UBC Endowment Lands, and Tsawwassen First Nation. Implications are huge. Planners say another million people will be living here by then.

Just for the record, here is a full tally of all the media coverage we could find in a search of Google News with the search terms “Metro 2050” and “Public Hearing,” to capture any coverage on this important meeting.

These outlets and reporters are the ones the public…

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Heads Up: Metro Vancouver’s METRO 2050 ‘Regional Growth Strategy’ public hearing April 20/Wed (6 pm): Vancouver, this affects YOU too.

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ABOVE: Cover of the draft Metro 2050

Mark your calendars for April 20, 2022.

One single public hearing will be held for up to four hours to hear from about 2.8 million residents of Metro Vancouver (21 municipalities, one electoral area (UBC) and one treaty First Nation – Tsawwassen). This is for the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) Regional Growth Strategy Bylaw No. 1339, 2022, dubbed “Metro 2050.” It is a crucial and powerful document to determine land use, development, and transportation changes for a time period spanning the next 28 years to the year 2050. The meeting held in the boardroom of the Metro Vancouver headquarters (near Metrotown) in Burnaby.

Public Hearing
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: Metro Vancouver Boardroom (28th Floor Boardroom, Metrotower III, 4515 Central Boulevard, Burnaby, BC)
Purpose: to hear from the public on MVRD Regional Growth Strategy Bylaw No. 1339, 2022
The…

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Proposed LNG production/storage increase and export from jetty at Tilbury Island: Building the perfect storm

Article by Peter van der Velden. See bottom for info about July 30.

Photo: Aftermath of explosion at LNG storage site in Plymouth, Washington, in 2014. Photo from “Failure Investigation Report,” PHMSA, 2016.

Building the perfect storm: Are our governments once again set to fail us?

Proposed LNG production/storage increase and export of LNG from Tilbury Island proposed jetty

1. Two separate proposals: -Expansion of the LNG operations and the construction of the jetty
2. Current Assessment Acts and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
3. Canada’s commitment to the Paris Agreement
4. Fortis plans to build a shipping terminal (jetty) directly across from the Richmond Jet Fuel terminal
5. Location and international safety standards
6. Bunkering and the viability of export
7. Costs: Government subsidies to the LNG industry
8. The environment: City of Richmond council opposes proposal
9. The application to BCUC to charge ratepayers for $780 million tank enlargement costs
10. Some conclusions
11. How do we proceed

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1. Two separate proposals: Expansion of the LNG operations and construction of the jetty

FortisBC has two separate proposals registered under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act; expansion of the LNG terminal on the Fraser River and construction of an LNG shipping terminal (called a jetty). Both proposals will put the communities of Richmond and Delta in harm’s way.

 A Fortis LNG terminal has been in existence at Tilbury Island since 1971. There has been some recent expansion and Fortis is once again applying to increase their operation.

The first proposal is to:

– Multiply storage capacity more than seven-fold

– Increase production to 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually

These increases are massive. In this location the proposals are a perfect storm waiting to happen. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBAgvXPw1aI)

Fortis wants to increase the production of LNG for the purposes of Export and Bunkering. This includes the logistics of loading fuel as well as distributing it to bunker tanks and exporting the product. Hence the need for the second proposal to:

– Build a jetty to load tankers with LNG for export

An integral part of the expansion proposal is the construction of a shipping terminal -called a jetty- for loading LNG ships for export. Though very much related, the LNG Jetty Project and the expansion of the FortisBC Tilbury LNG Plant are being reviewed as independent projects.

There are so many issues with these proposals, it is hard to know where to start. At the forefront are issues of health and safety, and environment.

(a) Health and Safety

The health and safety risks involved in the handling and storage of LNG are well documented. The Pembina institute states that as much as 30% of the production losses of LNG happen at the terminal. The damage caused to the environment by the lost gas is almost as damaging as that of burning the fuel.

The dangers in handling, storing and loading LNG onto ships are extremely high in this location. The location of the plant does not meet international safety guidelines. Worse yet, the jetty is located directly across the Fraser from the jet fuel storage facility in Richmond. The LNG freighters will have to pass close to the populated areas of Delta and Richmond as well as the Tsawwassen First Nation. Turning these giant vessels once filled will have them pass dangerously close to the jet fuel tanks located on the Richmond side of the Fraser. This channel is considered too narrow and unsafe by LNG industry group SIGTTO (The Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators). This channel will not allow these ships to stay clear of populated areas nor of other marine traffic.

International Noise Awareness Day, April 28: SILENCE! Today at 2:15 pm for one minute

CityHallWatch: Tools to engage in Vancouver city decisions

Preamble: Many Vancouverites love their right to quiet. Surprise! Today is the 26th Annual International Noise Awareness Day! See press release from the Right to Quiet Society below.

Over the years, CityHallWatch has covered the issues of noise vs quiet a number of times. From the media you can clearly see that residents do love their quiet and have various concerns about various noise sources (traffic, parties, boats on the water, amplifiers and buskers, loud cars/trucks/motorcycles, leaf blowers, and more). We know that people do pay attention to the sound environment. Just yesterday, social media were ablaze within seconds after they heard two CF-18 fighter jets fly over Vancouver (see CBC article). More and more scientific research is coming out about the human health benefits of quiet and the ability to have access to natural sounds. And about the need for quiet for all forms of wildlife, even insects…

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Petition: Say “No” To Roberts Bank Container Terminal Two (RBT2) in Delta (by Dec 2)

We are sharing this poster from Against Port Expansion with our readers. If you care, take action to oppose Terminal 2 by signing the petition to the House of Commons:
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-2828

Say “No” To Roberts Bank Container Terminal Two (RBT2) in Delta

Will the estuary remain a home to birds, salmon whales and wildlife? Not if Terminal 2 is built:

• Endangered Orca Whales further threatened, perhaps driving them to extinction.
• Already declining Fraser River salmon stocks further depleted
• Destruction of critical feeding grounds for millions of migratory shorebirds of the Pacific Flyway, Canada’s Most Important Bird Area.

Wildlife Habitat will be destroyed – caused by a Not Needed Man-Made Island for Terminal 2

The Lower Fraser River and Estuary has already lost over 80% of its natural habitat. RBT2 is the tipping point.

Tell the Trudeau Government and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson to reject the second Container Terminal on Roberts Bank that:

• Requires dredging and filling the estuary for a new man-made island – the size of 250 football fields – 9 times the size of Granville Island.
• Doubles port truck traffic on highways and through the Massey tunnel.
• Increases air, noise and light pollution in Ladner and Tsawwassen.
• Industrializes our communities and puts scarce farmland at greater risk.
• Will cost $3.5 to $4.0 billion of taxpayer funds
• Lacks economic justification (West Coast Canada already has sufficient terminal expansions elsewhere to satisfy container trading needs for years to come).

If you care, take action to oppose Terminal 2 Sign the petition to the House of Commons:
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-2828

And Support the Cities of Delta and Richmond who have already voted to oppose Terminal 2.

For more information visit www.againstportexpansion.org

The link to the petition is on the home page – Online Petition

URGENT: Deadline for input into Tilbury Phase 2 LNG is July 16, 2020 (Thurs)

URGENT: Deadline is Thurs. July 16, 2020, for input into Tilbury Phase 2 LNG

Lack of transparency in plans for massive LNG production and export in the Fraser River Estuary

The Governments of Canada and B.C. have facilitated incremental LNG developments over the past 7 years without public input and without disclosing and assessing the impacts of the full-scale plan. 

ACT NOW to tell the Governments that it is unacceptable for FortisBC to further expand LNG production by a factor of 15 and more than triple LNG storage on Tilbury Island in Delta, B.C.   This is part of the plan to permit LNG tankers on the lower Fraser River to export up to 3 million tonnes of LNG per year.  This is in contravention of international safety standards which have not been adopted by Canada.

If built, the $3 billion Phase 2 expansion would mean the Tilbury Island LNG plant would produce 1.4 times more LNG than the Woodfibre LNG plant in Squamish.

FortisBC claims the plans on the adjacent property for a LNG export marine terminal are “separate and distinct” from the Tilbury LNG expansions.  This is ludicrous as the documents for the Marine Terminal state they plan to export the Tilbury LNG.  Just this June, it was announced that FortisBC and Seaspan have become owners of the LNG export terminal project.

The full-scale plan for production, storage and export should have been disclosed and assessed under one cumulative environmental effects assessment 7 years ago.

Help orcas and wild Pacific salmon: Deadline TODAY for public input on upgrade to Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (Metro Vancouver)

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Photo by Andre Estevez on Pexels.com

Photo by Andre Estevez on Pexels.com

Here is a topic on which more public support could make a big difference for many decades to come. A crucial deadline for public input is today, June 8, 2020. Below we share an e-mail from Celia Brauer, staff member and co-founder of the False Creek Watershed Society. See our previous post on this topic here.

This topic is relevant to everyone in Vancouver and Metro Vancouver, as much of our sewage flows to this treatment plant. Links to extensive reference material are provided further below.

To provide your input into the consultation, please click this link or write a direct e-mail.

• Provide input via the Georgia Straight Alliance: https://georgiastrait.org/a-rare-chance-for-a-healthier-salish-sea/
• Direct e-mail to to Metro Vancouver: ionawwtp@metrovancouver.org.

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E-mail from Celia Brauer, False Creek Watershed Society (www.falsecreekwatershed.org)

June 3, 2020

Hello Water…

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Important Metro Vancouver online meetings on upgrades to Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (19+21 May, 2020). You can help orcas and wild Pacific salmon!

Metro Vancouver’ is holding two online community meetings (same content, one in afternoon, one in evening) on the upgrade to the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 12:00 to 2:00 pm
Thursday, May 21, 2020, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

See the agendas and register online here on Metro Vancouver website.

Why is this important? Much of the sewage and wastewater from Vancouver ends up being treated here before being discharged into the Salish Sea. Your voice can help make it better. Read on!

The meetings are for the Project Definition Phase of the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.

Learn about the design concepts for the new plant and give feedback on community and park integration, and habitat enhancement and resource recovery opportunities. Each meeting will have the same presentations, with time for questions and discussion.

Here is an excerpt from a notice by the Georgia Straight Alliance.

Share how better wastewater treatment can protect the Salish Sea

An upcoming upgrade to Metro Vancouver’s largest wastewater treatment facility, the Iona Island Plant, is presenting an exceptionally rare opportunity to tackle a significant source of pollution to the Salish Sea. The Iona Plant’s outflow is discharged directly into the Salish Sea at the mouth of the Fraser River. Without advanced tertiary treatment, this effluent carries toxic contaminants and microplastics directly into habitat critical for endangered Southern Resident orcas and wild Pacific salmon. These contaminants are known to disrupt the reproductive and developmental health of these iconic species, and it’s vital that we take quick action to reduce the Iona Plant’s impact on the Salish Sea and its inhabitants.

DP World acquires Fraser Surrey Docks

Dubai-based DP World (www.dpworld.com) issued a press release on 24-Feb-2020, of interest to the Metro Vancouver region. In British Columbia, DP World also owns port facilities in downtown Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Below are a few excerpts of the press release. Please visit the link for full quotes and text.

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Fraser Surrey Docks, photo credit DP World

DP World Acquires Fraser Surrey Docks

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 24-Feb-2020
– DP World adds largest multi-purpose deep-sea marine terminal on the West Coast of North America to its portfolio
– DP World and CDPQ’s global investment platform continues its strategic growth.

https://www.dpworld.com/news/dp-world-acquires-fraser-surrey-docks/

Vancouver, British Columbia, February 24, 2020 – DP World, the leading enabler of global trade, and one of the world’s largest port operators, announced today it has completed the acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (MIP) alongside its partner Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).

This acquisition complements DP World’s footprint in Canada, which also includes terminal operations in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert and Saint John. The integrated coast-to-coast platform provides customers with bulk, breakbulk and general cargo services.

DP World’s global strategy is to become a trade enabler and solutions provider as the company looks to participate across a wider part of the supply chain. DP World has invested significantly across its Ports, Logistics & Maritime Services businesses. The aim is to connect directly with customers to offer logistics solutions and remove inefficiencies in the supply chain to accelerate trade.

…  Fraser Surrey Docks was founded in the early 1960s and has become the largest modern and multi-purpose terminal on the West Coast of North America. It operates more than 1,200 metres of berth, 189 acres of yard and is one of the region’s major steel import terminals. It moves approximately one million tons of agriproducts annually and serves several container lines, handling over 350,000 TEU in 2019.