by CaroleAnn Leishman Lafarge Canada has applied for a permit to expand its coal storage and export capacity on Texada Island. Powell River Regional District board has made a motion to support the expansion at the September 26 meeting because it has added a disclaimer “subject to rigorous and ongoing environmental monitoring by the province to mitigate potential impacts of coal dust on human health and the marine environment.”
By supporting this application our regional district is supporting the supply and transport of the dirtiest thermal coal on the planet from Wyoming and Montana in the United States to China and other Asian markets. It is encouraging the continued use of dirty coal energy production and turning the catastrophic air pollution levels in China to unlivable levels with very little economic benefit to BC but with all the risks, environmental and health impacts attached to it.
This is not Canadian coal. It is not metallurgical coal that will be used to produce steel. It is US thermal coal that the US no longer wants due to new federal regulatory changes toward a more sustainable future. None of the coastal ports in the US will ship it so it has turned to BC.
By supporting this permit application the regional district will be going on record as being the first and possibly only regional district or municipality to publicly endorse the expansion of thermal coal exports through the Pacific Northwest, effectively making BC the largest exporter of coal in North America. According to a Greenpeace study, The Point of No Return, January 2013, “The US plans to export an additional 190 million tonnes of coal a year, mainly through the Pacific Northwest. This would add 420 million tonnes of CO2 a year to global emissions before 2020.”
Coal dust contaminating our pristine air and water is not only a possibility but a likelihood if this project expansion proceeds. Imagine the economic implications to our area if salmon die off because coal dust and runoff contaminates the foreshore around Texada and Lasqueti Island killing off the eel grass where the herring spawn.
Does the regional district really think the province or some other authority will take care of the vague disclaimer requirement for more stringent safeguards?
On July 22, 2010 the regional district formally adopted the Sustainability Charter for Powell River and Region. Just a few of the charter principles that direct the regional district to not vote in favour of supporting a project such as coal export expansion are:
Recognize and respect Tla’amin aboriginal rights, title and cultural history; Recognize ecological limits; Take the long view; Promote self-reliance; Manage uncertainty; Consider local and global sustainability.
Another concern is Panamax single-hulled freighters with questionable safety records coming into our fragile waters, dumping their polluted bilge water brought over from China full of parasites, toxins and bacteria and contaminating our marine life here.
Lafarge must resubmit their stormwater plan, and has yet to submit an application under the Environmental Management Act explaining what waste (coal runoff) and what volume of said waste is involved. How can there possibly be enough information to make an informed vote? It’s time we start thinking in a more sustainable frame of mind locally and globally.
CaroleAnn Leishman was born and raised in Powell River and having lived in many other places is very aware of the irreplaceable natural environment we have to protect, not to mention the health of our citizens. She is a co-founder of Pebble in the Pond Environmental Society as well as many other endeavours.
