Planning to dredge the Burrard Inlet to maximize oil shipments is underway
UBC ocean pollution researcher and Tsleil-Waututh Nation concerned about environmental impact
An ocean pollution researcher and at least one First Nation are raising concerns about the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's (VFPA) plan to dredge the Burrard Inlet.
Dredging is when the bed of a body of water is dug out to make way for ships or for construction or cleaning purposes.
Ocean researcher Juan José Alava told CBC's On The Coast that periodic dredging is common for navigation maintenance in the Inlet. However, he says he was surprised to hear that the port is planning to dredge for the purpose of maximizing oil tanker capacity.
The VFPA plan is to maximize oil shipments from the port. Currently, Aframax tankers, a specific size of oil tanker, with a deadweight ranging from 80,000 to 120,000 metric tonnes, can carry loads up to 80 per cent, with the goal of increasing capacity to 100 per cent. However, doing so carries the risk of hitting the sea bottom.
According to Alava, another risk is environmental harm.
Alava is the principal investigator for the Ocean Pollution Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, and says that this development is deeply concerning because of the potential effect on water quality, aquatic life, and First Nations culture in the area that is dependent on the Inlet and the Second Narrows channel.
"At what environmental cost, for a single tanker, do you want to dredge the Burrard Inlet? What about the First Nation communities that are living there?"
He says that as a scientist who studies marine toxicology, the risk of dredging to increase oil tanker capacity can have a drastic impact on the environment if there is an oil spill, citing lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez southern Alaska spill 36 years ago.
Alava says that you can still find oil remnants in B.C. from that spill today, so environmental impact assessments and Indigenous consultation are necessary.
Tsleil-Waututh Nation's Chief, Jen Thomas, said in a written statement on May 8, that no formal engagement has happened about dredging the Burrard Inlet that runs past the nation.
Thomas says that the nation firmly opposed the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, adding that the Government of Canada built it despite the nation's informed decision not to consent to the project.
"Tsleil-Waututh has a sacred, legal obligation to protect, defend and steward our Inlet. We hold inherent and Constitutionally-protected Indigenous title and rights to this area."
Under UNDRIP, the B.C. government has a duty to obtain free, prior and informed consent from First Nations when pursuing projects in their territories.
Thomas says that the nation will have more to say about the matter once it reviews the proposal and says that it looks forward to meeting with agencies in the future about any projects that may affect Tsleil-Waututh Nation rights and title.
Despite concerns from environmentalists and First Nations, B.C. Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix is supportive of the project, pending it meeting environmental assessment and consultation requirements with First Nations.
In a report from the Canadian Press released on May 11, Dix says that the province spoke with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation before expressing views about the project to the federal government.
The plan, floated by Prime Minister Mark Carney in early May, comes at a time when Canada is looking to diversify energy exports away from the United States.
Dix stressed that the dredging would be a federal project, not provincial and that the project "would allow for less traffic at the port and better utilization" because ships could fully load.
The dredging project's preliminary stages of environmental assessment and First Nation consultation began on May 20.
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With files from The Canadian Press