Dear Editor,
I’m writing to ask fellow Richmondites to please speak up on LNG by Dec. 21. Thanks to an extremely informative presentation by “Voters Taking Action on Climate Change,” I’m all fired up about LNG and the proposed terminal on Tilbury Island.
I got so enraged to learn the details of the project that I spun all the way to optimism that we can defeat it.
Reasons for optimism? For one, Tsawwassen First Nation members just voted “no” to an LNG terminal on their territory, which puts that proposal completely to rest. So, much gratitude to TFN for this bold leadership.
Secondly, Steveston-Richmond East MP Joe Peschisolido was at the LNG meeting. I spoke with him and truly felt his passion and urgency to try and broaden the environmental review process and stop this project. Councillor Harold Steves was there, of course, tirelessly involved in protecting Richmond and the Fraser River.
Third reason for optimism: The risks and impacts of an LNG terminal on our health, environment, and economy are so serious and damming, that I can’t imagine we’ll let this thing get built.
It’s a crime they get built anywhere in the world, but they do. I learned that I live in the “definitely would die” zone if a passing tanker leaked LNG — anyone within 3.5km of a leak is in a high risk health and safety hazard zone, ranging from death to unknown impacts on property values.
Locating an LNG terminal in the Fraser River (a populated area and a high traffic sensitive marine habitat) would be disallowed according to international LNG siting guidelines the B.C. government is ignoring.
Furthermore, the business case for LNG exports is so weak, it almost guarantees failure. So, this is a no-brainer.
But everyone needs to speak up, urgently. Next Monday Dec. 21 is the public’s deadline to comment on the scope of the Environmental Assessment run by the pro-LNG provincial government.
Learn more and submit comments via the “Voters Taking Action for Climate Change” website (vtacc.org). Because Margaret Mead is right.
Kimi Hendess
Richmond
Documents about the proposal are at this link
