Editor:
Re: Surrey Fraser Docks seeking dust-free port, Feb. 20
First off, who's who? Fraser Surrey Docks came to Delta council; they used to be Fraser River Port Authority. In 2008 they became part of Vancouver Fraser Port Authority now known as Port Metro Vancouver. And who is reviewing this coal project? Port Metro Vancouver.
A dust-free coal port? Remember the Optimist photo of the dust storm last April and that was only a 45 km/hr wind gust. Studies show that 500 pounds to one ton of coal escapes as dust per rail car in transit depending on weather conditions.
Coal trains from the U.S. are piled well above the top of each rail car maximizing the release of fugitive coal dust. It has been shown that a crust sprayed over the coal breaks up over long journeys (e.g. from coal mines in Wyoming). So it will be pretty ineffective by the time the train comes through Burns Bog let alone the White Rock and Delta communities.
Every time coal is handled, there is an escape of fugitive coal dust. Fraser Surrey Docks will give at least two doses: unloading the rail car into a pit, possible storage on site and then a conveyer belt to a barge.
Unless each barge is covered, there will be fugitive dust all down the Fraser River, the greatest salmon river in the world, then all up the Georgia Strait to Texada Island.
Coal dust has not only deadly inhalable fine particles that can stay airborne for days, but also heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium. Add to this diesel emissions from the trains, port equipment and barges.
These are some of the reasons coal export projects in the U.S. are held up in thorough environmental and health reviews.
And what about global warming? Nobel laureate energy economist Mark Jaccard says this alone means there should be no more coal port expansion in Vancouver.
Mary Taitt
