VTACC takes more legal action - update on coal project
Hi all!
Today our small but feisty VTACC, in partnership with Surrey-based Communites and Coal, launched our second legal challenge to Port Metro Vancouver's approval of a new coal port on the Fraser River, for trans-shipment of US coal to Texada Island. We allege bias on the part of the public decision-making board of the Port of Metro Vancouver, and failure to include climate impacts in the environmental impacts of this project. This challenge will likely get to court in 2015.
(Once burned, the coal shipped by this project is equivalent to a massive 1.2% of Canada's carbon emissions. Such impacts should not be excluded from an environmental review by the stroke of a pen from an unaccountable, federally-appointed board.)
Read about it here!
So now we are challenging these approvals at both ends of this project: the Fraser River and Texada Island.
You will recall that we filed our first legal challenge on June 2, against the Texada Island approval. That legal challenge alleges that the BC government with-held information from the public, and that they misused their own laws by amending a Mines Act permit (which is supposed to be only concerned with mining) to grant approval for an international coal port. Although both the BC government and Lafarge have tried various legal manoeuvrings over the summer, our 3-day hearing for that challenge is still set for October 27-29 in Vancouver. Yes, next month!
The costs of these two legal challenges is adding up, so soon we will have to pass the hat.
Meanwhile, enjoy the fact that there any many people from the US border to Texada who are dedicated to stopping this project, equipped with everything from paddles to legal challenges, to their own personal resolve.
Thank you for being one of those people.
Donald Gordon
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