Dear Editor,
Re: “Massey bridge yes/no debate rages on,” Letters, Feb. 3.
In regard to the bridge issue, letter writer Leslie Tallosi actually thinks Alexa Loo and Ken Johnston on city council are the “only ones with any sense.” Really?
The real question is, have Loo, Johnston (or Tallosi) made any effort to seek out the facts?
Mayor Malcolm Brodie, as well as councillors Harold Steves and Carol Day, have all shown real leadership by attending numerous events by the stakeholders in this issue.
So has MP Joe Peschisolido, and 90 per cent of Richmond agrees with some frightening facts from the experts. Here is what they document:
1) The bridge has nothing to do with traffic. The bottleneck just gets moved a few miles down the road at a staggering waste of $3.5 billion of taxpayer’s money. If moving traffic was the real reason for a bridge, one more tunnel can do the same thing for a tenth of the cost.
2) The bridge is being forced on us by unelected, appointed bureaucrats at Port Metro Vancouver to move extremely dangerous goods on the river, and for financial reasons, the province has colluded in the matter. That’s why our three useless MLAs are hiding under their desks in their high security bunkers in Richmond, evading the media. Linda Reid, Teresa Wat, and John Yap don’t represent Richmond. They represent the premier.
3) So let’s start with LNG. In the United States, shipping LNG on the river and storing it near people is banned by the EPA. Why? Because if any LNG spills on the water it will cause a massive ship explosion that can burn down every building and kill people for a 3.5 mile radius. Nothing is foolproof, so the death and destruction scenario is inevitable for Richmond.
4) The port also wants to trans-ship USA coal on the river. Again, why? It’s because coal dust pollution is so life-threatening that both Washington and Oregon have banned shipment from those states. As it is so dangerous, wouldn’t you agree Ms. Tallosi, that it would be incredibly stupid for us to allow it here?
5) The port bureaucrats (Craig Neeser, chairman) also want to ship and store jet fuel by the river at an unmanned location with no dedicated fire control. An explosion of the fuel would again wipe out buildings and kill people for miles, or a leak would contaminate the river for a lifetime.
The bridge could even be an economic “death warrant” for Richmond, driving a mass exodus of people who will move elsewhere to get away from the danger. So Ms. Tallosi, do you still think Loo and Johnston “make sense?”
If not, then you should join a call for the resignation of Loo and Johnston for disgracefully putting the community at risk.
As an aside, Loo would also do well to quit hanging around “new best friend” Linda Reid and talking like a hand puppet of hers.
Now more than ever, every councillor should demonstrate leadership and faithfully represent the wishes of voters who elected them.
If not, there will be plenty of candidates in the next election who will, and voters will support them.
JJ West
Richmond
