Coal facility
Port Metro Vancouver has approved a proposed direct coal transfer facility at the Fraser Surrey Docks, a decision with repercussions for Texada Island.
City of Powell River Mayor David Formosa recently weighed in on the coal issue. When meeting with Lisa Raitt, federal Transportation Minister, earlier this summer, he suggested that Texada might serve as a good location for coal storage.
Texada has been storing coal for 50 years, Formosa said in a Peak interview. He has visited the storage site on the island and said the site is expanding holding ponds and installing wind sensors to detect airborne particulates.
Formosa’s message to the minister was that the island could use the 15 jobs that would be created through expanded coal storage. The footprint exists and coal is already being stored at the location, he added
“All they need to do is take down some old machinery and conveyors and they can add another shift,” Formosa said. “Also, a big piece is that the barges come empty to Texada, load up with gravel and go back full. This way they’d come full with the coal and go back with the gravel.”
The coal is going to be moved anyway, Formosa said, so Texada can be the beneficiary.
The $15-million project at Fraser Surrey Docks will create 25 direct and 25 indirect jobs. It is designed to handle up to four million tonnes of coal per year, which is about 10 per cent of total coal shipments through the port.
The Lower Mainland initiative has been supported by the BC Chamber of Commerce, but has garnered opposition from groups such as the Wilderness Committee and Dogwood Initiatives’ Beyond Coal campaign.
