BC Cities Demand Review of Thermal Coal Exports utilized for co-generation power plants in Asia. Confab of municipalities at UBCM AGM passes resolution in favour of greater oversight. The provinces 190 local governments and 26 districts are calling for more government oversight over thermal coal exports in British Columbia, which are set to increase after a recent federal decision. Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual meeting in Whistler voted in favour of an assessment of the health and environmental risks of coal carried by train from the U.S. through White Rock and Surrey, and by barge to B.C.s Texada Island -- a corridor beyond the scope of Port Metro Vancouvers own required reviews. The UBCM resolution states that there is currently no mechanism that provides oversight or ensures the implementation of mitigation measures to minimize environmental and health impacts of thermal coal transport over coastal waters and by rail. It calls for a comprehensive environmental and health impact assessment for the shipment of thermal coal over coastal waters and by rail, and that a provincial or federal agency be chosen to monitor it. Though non-binding on the provincial or federal governments, the vote came five weeks after a federal port authority approved Fraser Surrey Docks application to build a transfer facility for four million tonnes of thermal coal a year. The facility could eventually handle up to eight million tonnes annually of U.S.-mined coal used for burning in Asian power plants. Another nearby facility, Neptune Terminals on the North Shore, was previously approved to increase its coal handling to 18 million tonnes, but only for the type of metallurgical coal mined in B.C. used for steel production, and considered cleaner by many. thetyee.ca/News/2014/09/26/BC-Cities-Demand-Review-of-Thermal-Coal-Exports/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=270914
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 18:40:47 +0000
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