If it were decided the additional environmental impacts from an oil shipping terminal could be tolerated, there is still the question of whether there is enough room
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There is a big question hanging over the choice of Roberts Bank in Delta as the location for a new oil shipping terminal.
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Can it be done?
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Roberts Bank is already the location of two artificial islands — one is B.C. Ferries’ Tsawwassen terminal, the other is the Roberts Bank Superport that contains the Westshore coal terminal and Deltaport, Canada’s largest container-handling facility. There is also a $3.5-billion second container terminal planned adjacent to the coal and container terminal on a new 1.3-square-kilometre artificial island, with a hoped-for construction start in 2028.
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Approval for the second container terminal was granted because it was determined the project was key to supporting Canada’s economic growth and the Pacific Gateway trade corridor, after an environmental assessment determined the project would cause significant adverse effects on the environment, threatening species like chinook, orcas and birds.
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FP West: Energy Insider
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If it were decided the additional environmental impacts from an oil shipping terminal could be tolerated, there is still the question of whether there is enough room at Roberts Bank for another major terminal, and whether two major projects could be built at the same time.
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The proponents of the project — the Alberta and federal governments — have no answers to those questions, at least for now.
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The federal government referred Postmedia’s questions to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, with Natural Resources Canada communications adviser Maria Ladouceur saying in an email: “They are best suited to respond.”
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The port authority says it has no information on the proposed oil shipping terminal and has not been involved in discussions on the pipeline project.
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“It’s important to keep in mind that these are two separate projects: The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s Roberts Bank Terminal 2 and the Alberta’s west coast pipeline proposal,” Haley Hodgson, director of communications for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said in a written response.
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“Alberta’s proposal is still at a conceptual stage and details regarding route and infrastructure have not been provided to us,” added Hodgson.
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The port authority did not respond to Postmedia’s questions about whether there is room for both projects and, if there were room, where the oil shipping terminal could be located. And, if the oil terminal went ahead, whether the two projects could be combined or co-ordinated.
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The Alberta government also did not respond to Postmedia questions about whether there is room for the two projects at Roberts Bank, whether the projects could be built at the same time, and where the land for the terminal would be secured.
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The land onshore from Roberts Bank Superport in the immediate area is Tsawwassen First Nation treaty lands, while just to the north, at Brunswick Point, is land in B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve. To the south are residential neighbourhoods.
