Canada's largest port okays US$15m coal transfer project

[LONDON] Port Metro Vancouver, Canada's largest port, said that it has approved a new facility to transfer coal from trains onto barges at Fraser Surrey Docks, following lengthy public scrutiny of the project's environmental and health impact.

After a permitting process lasting more than two years and including environmental impact, air quality and other human health assessments, the port said that it found no "unacceptable risks" in allowing the US$15 million project to move forward.

But opponents of the project say that they will look at every possible option to challenge the decision. "There is one more permit that the project needs to move forward, and that's an air quality permit from the regional government - Metro Vancouver," said Laura Benson, a campaigner with the Dogwood Initiative, a non-profit that has been opposing the project. "We feel pretty confident that unlike the port, which is an unaccountable federal agency run like a corporation, that Metro Vancouver, which is led by our local elected officials will stand by our communities," she said.