Despite not having any means of monitoring air quality along the South Arm of the Fraser River, the head of Fraser Surrey Docks (FSD) is confident Richmond residents should not be impacted by barges hauling coal along the waterway from a proposed facility adjacent to the south eastern tip of Annacis Island.
Jeff Scott, president and CEO of FSD, told the Richmond News there will be enough measures taken when loading the coal barges at the planned new terminal to prevent wind borne particles from becoming a concern.
The goal is to have, as close to possible, an emission-free facility, Scott said in a telephone interview Monday.
Application for a new coal transfer terminal is currently being reviewed by Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) which has sole jurisdiction on the matter. PMV is also the landlord for the property, which may be seen as a conflict of interest.
To keep dust down from the incoming rail cars, a topping agent coating the coal will be applied as it leaves the mine area in the U.S.
Scott said it is effective in reducing coal dust by 85 per cent. But when the coal is loaded on the barges at FSD it will not have another application of the spray.
Instead, water will be used to keep the dust down.
Thats been proven to be an adequate dust-suppression measure.
Keeping any other emissions in check at FSD, the hopper portion that will unload the coal train cars will be completely enclosed, Scott said.
Conveyors shuttling the coal to the barges will also be covered to help keep the dust down. And when loading barges, a special snorkel will empty coal starting almost from the base of the barge, lessening the height the product is dropped and decreasing the amount of dust created.
We would also not load barges in heavy winds, Scott said.
A pair of air quality monitoring stations will be placed on site at the proposed coal transfer terminal.
They will measure the amount of particulates, if any, are to be released, and measure them against a baseline, Scott said.
Currently, there is no testing along the barge route, he added. We dont believe that will be necessary.
While Richmond City Council has yet to take a formal position on the proposal White Rock and Surrey have already voiced their opposition to it Coun. Bill McNulty has concerns.
To put it mildly, the answer is yes, McNulty said. I think that anything going up the Fraser River that could threaten the environment is a concern.
McNulty added council has not been provided with specifics on the plan, But when someone says they want to start barging something up the river, I have concerns right off the bat.
I think theres a better way to do things, he said, referring to sending the coal through an existing facility at Roberts Bank in South Delta, which is Canadas busiest coal export facility.
According to its website, Westshore shifted 27.3 million tonnes of coal in 2011. Of that total, 8.2 million tonnes came from the Powder River Basin.
Denis Horgan, Westshores vice president and general manager said his facility is running at capacity and was not able accept any more coal.
Unfortunately, weve been turning away business now for several years, he said. Theres far more demand for port services than there are port services. Were at capacity. Were full.
Plus, with contracts that stretch to 2022 and no expansion plans on the drawing board, the expectation is that any small increases in coal handling volume will come about through efficiencies thanks to equipment upgrades at Westshore Terminals.
That left the door open to allow FSD to get into the coal shipping game.
If the plan goes ahead, FSD would initially handle up to four million metric tonnes brought in by rail from a massive coal deposit in the western U.S. called the Powder River Basin.
In the first year, 320 trips by barge would be made from FSD to a deep sea port coal terminal facility on Texada Island. From there it would be shipped to customers in Asia.
By year six, as much as eight million tonnes 1,280 barge trips a year are estimated to be shipped along the South Arm.
No timeline has been set for PMV to hand down its decision on granting approval for the coal transfer facility.
