Delta Council hears jet fuel concerns
A residents’ group is asking Delta council to take a definitive stance against the proposed jet fuel delivery system to Vancouver International Airport.
Representatives from VAPOR (Vancouver Airport Pipeline Opposition for Richmond), which includes both Delta and Richmond residents, made a presentation at Municipal Hall on Monday (Aug. 15) asking councillors to pass a resolution opposing the transport and handling of jet fuel in the Fraser River estuary.
The $93-million delivery system proposed by the Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC) consists of a marine terminal and fuel receiving facility in Richmond on the South Arm on the Fraser, and an underground fuel pipeline connecting them to YVR.
Richmond resident and VAPOR member Otto Langer says Delta council is “sitting on the fence” when it comes to the proposal.
“This attitude really has to change. We only have one Fraser River estuary,” he said.
Richmond City Council in April passed a motion confirming its opposition to any new jet fuel pipeline across Richmond.
“They’ve (Richmond council) got a little ways to go, but they’ve been much more assertive and protective than Delta has been,” Langer said.
VAPOR says it is not opposed to the airport having a steady supply of fuel, but wants to see the environment and public safety protected.
“The fragile Fraser River, its estuary and surrounding marine waters in the Gulf of Georgia (Salish Sea) is needlessly being exposed to a new and totally unacceptable environmental and public safety risk,” Langer wrote in a presentation document.
In March, council sent a letter to the Minister of Environment looking for assurance that all possible measures are taken to prevent fuel spills from the proposed project.
Council recently received responses from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office to some comments made in the spring.
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