Urgent: Texada coal transshipment proposal: public input

There is a proposal to the Ministry of Energy and Mines to barge low-quality US coal up Sabine Channel to Texada and store it there to be loaded on bulk cargo ships bound for Asia to burn for making electricity (up to 8 million tonnes/year). This plan would impact us all in many ways, especially the coal dust created transporting, unloading, storing and loading it. In addition, burning this high carbon coal will have high climate change impacts.

 

The local and global impacts of this proposal are so high that coal producers are meeting heavy opposition to port proposals in the US. Hence this convoluted plan through BC.

 

We have only been afforded a few days to tell our BC government that we don't want them to allow this huge expansion of coal handling on Texada Island. For more details and issues of concern, please read the following letter posted on the VTACC web site and already signed by several Lasqueti, Texada and other people:

 

http://www.vtacc.org/content/pdf/Texada application response July 12 2013.pdf
 

The VTACC website has lots of other information on this proposal: http://vtacc.org

 

If you'd like your name added to the signatures, email Donald Gordon at emailfordonald [at] yahoo [dot] ca

You can also send your own email or letter to SouthwestMinesDivision [at] gov [dot] bc [dot] ca

 

Don't delay -- the deadline for submission of public comments is July 19th!

Here are some additional names and addresses:

Eddy Taje
Ministry of Energy and Mines
Mining and Minerals Division
6th Floor,  1810 Blanshard Street
Victoria   V8W 9M9
Eddy [dot] Taje [at] gov [dot] bc [dot] ca
250-952-0732
fax   250-953-3878

our Parksville/Qualicum MLA,   Michelle Stilwell
Michelle [dot] Stilwell [dot] MLA [at] leg [dot] bc [dot] ca
250-356-6171

Honorable Bill Bennett
Minister of Energy and Mines
PO Box 9060 Stn Prov Govt
V8W9E2
MEM [dot] minister [at] gov [dot] bc [dot] ca
telephone   250 387-5896
fax    250 356-2965

Christy Clark
Premier of BC
PO BOX 9041 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BC
V8W9E1
telephone    250 387-1715
fax    250 387-0087
premier [at] gov [dot] bc [dot] ca

NDP critic for Energy and Mines
John Horgan
John [dot] Horgan [dot] MLA [at] leg [dot] bc [dot] ca
250-387-3655

any and all local and BC media - newspapers, radio stations, etc.