Photo by Gary Sutton, courtesy of Raincoast
Summary
At the heart of the Salish Sea lies the Fraser River Estuary: home to over half of the population of the Province of British Columbia, thousands of endemic species, and one world-famous pod of orcas. But as the human population of the region has grown, wildlife populations — including salmonids, orcas, and over 100 species at risk — have been plummeting.
As economic imperatives press up against ecological thresholds, a mega-project that has been in development for over a decade is poised to further alter the character of the estuary, with massive implications for the health of Salish Sea and its many residents.
In this episode, we ask: can we find ways to hear each other through all the noise?
UPDATE
The decision to approve Roberts Bank Terminal 2 was announced on April 20, 2023 by Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, who said “With 370 environmental protection measures that the port must meet, we have set a high bar for this project to proceed. For the first time ever, we are asking a proponent to put up $150 million to guarantee the strict environmental conditions are met and habitats are protected for species such as the Western Sandpiper. Moreover, this decision is paired with massive government investment in the protection of threatened species like Chinook salmon and endangered Southern resident killer whales. “
The measures that have been announced have not addressed the concerns of the environmental and labor movements that oppose the project. Misty MacDuffee, who you heard in this episode, responded: “All viability assessments of southern resident killer whales indicate their threats must be significantly lowered for recovery to occur. Approving this project does the opposite. It increases threats, worsens their feeding conditions and increases their likelihood of extinction.”
While the approval has been made, this story is far from over. The project faces additional regulatory hurdles, a changing market environment, and continued opposition as it enters an estimated six years of construction. We’ll continue to follow the story as it unfolds and we’ll keep you updated.
Show Notes
This episode features Janie Wray, Misty MacDuffee, Steven Slə́qsit Stark, Marko Dekovic, and Stephanie Kwetásel'wet Wood
Music by Ruby Singh (with Dawn Pemberton, Inuksuk MacKay, Russell Wallace, Shamik Bilgi, Tiffany Ayalik, and Tiffany Moses), Thumbug, and Sunfish Moon Light.
This episode was produced by Mendel Skulski and Adam Huggins, with help from Megan Hockin Bennet and Lili Li.
Special thanks to Thanks to Megan Hockin Bennett, Alex Harris, Jennifer Perih, Julia Feyrer, Tara Martin, Matti Polychronis, Rebecca Abel, Aemil Friesen, and Gary Sutton.
And as always, this episode was made possible with the support of our amazing patrons.
Find out more about OrcaLab, BC Whales, SIMRES, and the BC Coastal Hydrophone Network
Satellite image of the Fraser Estuary, by the European Space Agency
Deltaport and tidal flats by Michael Snyder, courtesy of Raincoast
Roberts Bank Superport Causeway by Alex Harris, courtesy of Raincoast
Salmon spawning run by Fernando Lessa, courtesy of Raincoast
RBT2 expansion proposal, courtesy of the Port of Vancouver
DP4 expansion proposal, courtesy of Global Container Terminals
Western Sandpipers by Jason Puddifoot, courtesy of Raincoast
Southern Resident Killer Whale by Tom Middleton, courtesy of Raincoast
“Biofilm: Sandpiper Superfood” by Hakai Magazine
Questions To & Responses from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
Q1: Who are you, and what is your role at Vancouver Fraser Port Authority?
Erin Harlos: Hi my name is Erin Harlos and I'm the Acting Director of infrastructure projects for regulatory and consultation programs at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
Q2: In November 2020, Kehoe et al. published a report on the Fraser River Estuary, stating that
“if major industrial developments continue in the region, the persistence of many iconic species such as the southern resident killer whale, Anadromous Fishes, including salmon and sturgeon, and Saltwater Species, including the migratory western sandpiper, are likely to be jeopardized.”
Assuming major industrial development is halted, the authors estimate the required investment at CAD$381 M over 25 years to give these, among 102+ species at risk, the best chance of survival.
Is halting industrial development in this region feasible? If so, what would we be giving up? If not, how can we ensure that this investment in habitat management strategies will accompany it? What role will VFPA take in this process?
Erin Harlos: Let me start by talking about the Port Authority. Specifically, we are privileged to work under a public interest mandate. So, we work for the benefit of all Canadians in everything that we do. Centrally, we work to enable Canada's trade within a strong context of environmental protection, which is important to us, and it's important to Canadians. As part of that, we regularly work with industry, academics, government and indigenous groups to advance science in the area of habitat management. For example, for the Kehoe report, several Port Authority environmental specialists were involved in sessions hosted by the author in person in 2017, and provided technical input into the final report in 2018. In addition, we deliver a habitat enhancement program to provide a balance between a healthy environment and future development projects. And since 2012, we have created enhanced or restored approximately 15 hectares of functioning fish and wildlife habitat. One example of this work is the New Brighton Park shoreline habitat restoration project in Vancouver. Since construction was completed in September of 2017, juvenile salmon have used the tidal wetland as a stopover on their way through Burrard Inlet. For Roberts Bank Terminal 2, we would create 86 hectares of offsetting habitat, which is equivalent to about 163 football fields. This would be developed in collaboration with indigenous groups to support key species like Chinook salmon and Dungeness crab.
Q3: Deltaport Operator GCT has proposed their own alternative plan for port expansion: Deltaport Berth 4, which they claim will achieve a similar twenty-foot-equivalent-container capacity increase (4.4M v 4.8M) as RBT2, at a cost of less than half ($1.6B v $3.5B), and with significantly lower projected environmental impact (with the exception of impacts to eelgrass).
How does VFPA respond to these claims? Is there a conflict of interest in VFPA acting as both a regulator and a competitor in port development of GCT? Has the VFPA made a comprehensive comparison of the two projects, and if so, what did it find?
Erin Harlos: A core part of our mandate under the Canada Marine Act is planning for long-term port development. We are designed under statute to consider what is in the best interest of Canada as opposed to solely commercial interests. We are also federally mandated to protect the environment and consider local communities while facilitating Canada's trade. I cannot speak to GCTs proposed project, but can confirm that we have been planning the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project for over a decade, which has included a robust environmental assessment with the review by a federally appointed independent review panel. The independent review panel who led the environmental assessment concluded that the Port Authority had duly considered alternatives, saying, quote the proponents assessment of alternative means of carrying out the project was appropriate. Unquote. To protect the environment, we would place the terminal in deepwater away from sensitive intertidal habitats. We know that important species like juvenile salmon use this intertidal marsh and eelgrass habitat to eat and grow before continuing on their ocean journey.
Q4: What is RBT2?
Erin Harlos: Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is a proposed new marine container terminal at the Port of Vancouver that the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is leading. It's a critical infrastructure projects for Canada that would add urgently needed trade and supply chain capacity. As a country, we need this capacity to help Canadians access global goods, such as clothing, household products, and specialty food. And to help Canadian farmers and other businesses sell to global markets. At the port authority, we work under a public interest mandate. So we work for the benefit of all Canadians. Under a federal mandate, we work to enable Canada's trade while protecting the environment and considering local communities. We've designed this project with great care and a lot of research to deliver on these goals for Canada and for Canadians. On the environmental side, we first reviewed decades of existing environmental studies at Roberts Bank. And then we built on that with an additional 77 studies led by more than 100 independent scientists that totaled about 35,000 hours of field work. We used all of that research, which took about four years to develop our environmental impact statement to support the federal environmental assessment process. And work is ongoing as we continue to look at ways that we can protect the environment. The project is still in the environmental assessment process. And we are hopeful there could be a government decision on the project as early as this summer. From a funding perspective, the project would be paid for by the Port Authority, which is financially independent, together with private sector investments.
Q5: Why is port expansion called for?
Erin Harlos: Trade through Canada's West Coast has been growing for a decade, and in particular container trade, which is a cost effective, safe and secure shipping method preferred by importers and exporters. A big challenge we face in Canada is that container trade is outpacing port development. Our ports are running out of room. Canada's West Coast ports are forecast to hit capacity for container trade as early as 2025. That's just three years from now. Without enough capacity, we'll see growing congestion across Canada's supply chains, which will affect Canadians across the country. To address this, we are optimizing the port's existing capacity by harnessing data and bringing in technical systems, for example, scheduling and managing ship traffic to accommodate more ships. And where needed we're building new capacity. For a decade we've partnered with industry, governments and communities to improve road and rail networks to ensure goods can move smoothly throughout our region. We've also made investments at existing terminals within the Port of Vancouver, including that DP World's Centerm terminal and GCT’s Deltaport terminal. But even with these investments and planned expansions at the Port of Prince Rupert, Canada is on track to run out of West Coast container terminal capacity soon. That's why as a country we need Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is the only project far enough along in the review process that can meet Canada's trade objectives in time
Q6: If hypothetically, the Canadian federal government phased out coal exports, would it be possible to achieve the desired container capacity increase by renovating the Westshore terminal? Does the VFPA have any mandate over regulating the goods which flow through its terminals? For example in service of Canada’s climate goals.
VFPA: The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is mandated under the Canada Marine Act to enable Canada’s trade through the Port of Vancouver, ensuring goods are moved safely, efficiently, and sustainably. We don’t, however, decide what moves through the port; the federal government is responsible for making decisions related to what goods and commodities Canada trades, including coal.
It’s important to note that port authority tenants sign long-term lease agreements. As an example, for Westshore Terminals—a primarily metallurgical coal export terminal that supports steel production (not thermal coal)—their lease extends far beyond when the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is needed.
*Future Ecologies note: 2020 VFPA Statistics report thermal coal exports totalling over 30% of annual coal exports (9.7 of 31.6 million metric tons), inclusive of both Neptune Terminal (North Vancouver) & Westshore Terminals (Roberts Bank). Westshore has recently announced their intention to service Jansen Potash Mine, which may eventually supplant their coal export capacity in the event of a regulatory change.
Q7: Does the VFPA recommend the reinstitution of the Fraser River Estuary Management Program, or a body with a similar mandate? Why or why not? If so, what (if any) changes would be made?
VFPA: The Fraser River Estuary Management Plan was an inter-governmental program that provided a coordinated avenue for decision-making on the Fraser River.
We believe that re-establishing the Fraser River Estuary Management Plan or creating a modified model would require input from Indigenous groups, federal and provincial regulators, local municipalities, and local stakeholders, and that it would serve in an advisory role as opposed to a regulatory role. We look forward to participating in future conversations about the Fraser River Estuary Management Plan and are committed to participating and collaborating in a future iteration of the program if it is reinstated.
Q8: Anything to add?
Erin Harlos: The results of our work over the past decade demonstrate that Roberts Bank Terminal 2 can be built in a responsible way, and in a way that protects and enhances the environment brings lasting benefits to indigenous groups and local communities, creates tens of thousands of high paying jobs and supports Canada's economy. We are hopeful that a decision on the project can be made soon. This will ensure that the project is built in time to support Canadian consumers, importers and exporters who rely on the port to move goods across the world.
Citations
Ashley, K. et al. (2022) Letter from scientists regarding Roberts Bank Terminal 2
Bender, Q. (2020) 102 Fraser River estuary species at risk of extinction, researchers warn. Toronto Star
Cheskey, T. (2019) The Fraser Delta – Importance for shorebirds. Nature Canada
DP World (2022) Prince Rupert Port seeking to double capacity through the addition of a second container terminal. Newswire
Environment and Climate Change Canada (2021) Government of Canada releases Policy Statement on future thermal coal mining projects and project expansions. News Release
Global Container Terminals “Better Deltaport” campaign
Global Container Terminals (2021) Deltaport Expansion, Berth Four Project (DP4) Detailed Project Description
Global Container Terminals (2021) GCT: Port Authority's proposed Roberts Bank expansion costly and misguided. Business Intelligence for BC (Sponsored content)
Hornbrook, J. (2019) The Hwlitsum First Nations Traditional Knowledge at Canoe Pass. Public Hearing for the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
Johnstone, P. (2021) FREMP 2.0?
Kehoe, L. et al (2020) Conservation in heavily urbanized biodiverse regions requires urgent management action and attention to governance. Conservation Science and Practice, 3, 2, e310
Moreau, J. (2013) FREMP dismantled, but 'new model' established. Burnaby Now
PGL Environmental Consultants (2017) Preliminary Environmental Impacts Comparison: RBT2 & DP4 (Prepared for GCT)
Port of Vancouver Bulk and Container terminal statistics
Port of Vancouver Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Program
Port of Vancouver Roberts Bank Terminal 2: environmental assessment timeline and reports
Port of Vancouver (2021) Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project: Information request response executive summary
Port of Vancouver (2020) Statistics Overview 2020
Review Panel (2020) Federal Review Panel Report for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
Riley, S. (2021) The end of an era: how the global steel industry is cutting out coal. The Narwhal.
Schnurr, P. et al. (2020) Peak Abundance of Fatty Acids From Intertidal Biofilm in Relation to the Breeding Migration of Shorebirds. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7.
Stephenson, A. (2022) Trans Mountain pipeline expansion cost climbs 70%, now $21.4B. Global News
Tsawwassen First Nation / Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (2021) Tsawwassen First Nation and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority sign Relationship Agreement
Westshore Terminals (2021) Westshore Terminals Commits to Provide Services to BHP. Newswire
Wood, S. (2022) Scientists make final bid to stop Port of Vancouver’s terminal expansion: ‘they can’t mitigate the consequences’. The Narwhal
This episode includes audio recorded by straget, Noted451, kyles, Soundholder, Kinoton, RTB45, lennyboy, klankbeeld, FlatHill, KevinT1001, jimsim, LG, accessed through the Freesound Project, and by Ian Cruickshank, Davyd Betchkal, and Tayler Brooks, accessed through Xeno-Canto, and protected by Creative Commons attribution licenses.
You can subscribe to and download Future Ecologies wherever you find podcasts - please share, rate, and review us. We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and iNaturalist.
If you like what we do, and you want to help keep it ad-free, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Pay-what-you-can (as little as $1/month) to get access to bonus monthly mini-episodes, stickers, patches, a community Discord chat server, and more.
Future Ecologies is recorded and produced on the unceded, shared, and asserted territories of the WSÁNEĆ, Penelakut, Hwlitsum, and Lelum Sar Augh Ta Naogh, and other Hul'qumi'num speaking peoples, otherwise known as Galiano Island, British columbia, as well as the unceded, shared, and asserted territories of the Musqueam (xwməθkwəy̓əm) Squamish (Skwxwú7mesh), and Tsleil-Waututh (Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh) Nations - otherwise known as Vancouver, British Columbia.
Transcription
Introduction Voiceover 00:03
You are listening to Season Four of Future Ecologies.
Janie Wray 00:09
How do I describe a whale song? It's like an acoustic masterpiece to me.
Janie Wray 00:16
It's like if you had all these puzzle pieces, and you had them spread out on a table, and every puzzle piece had its own little sound to it, and you started putting it together. That's what I think these whales do — at least least humpback whales when they're singing. It's like they try a little sound, they try a little sound, then they put those two sounds together, and to them that's like "oh, yeah, that works" or it doesn't. So that's... I guess for me when I recognize these are emotional beings. Without a doubt, when you hear them vocalize, there is emotion in those sounds, especially to me the humpback whale song because they are actually creating something in the moment. And we're lucky enough to actually be able to listen to that creation while it's occurring.
Janie Wray 00:59
But with Resident Orca who are extremely chatty, the idea that you have three clans and that each clan has their own language, and that within that clan, you have a number of pods that have their own dialect, and then some families that again, have their own dialect and some calls that only they will use. I mean to me right away that just... that just screams recognition. This is who we are by what we sound like.
Mendel Skulski 01:24
Welcome back. My name is Mendel.
Adam Huggins 01:27
And I'm Adam.
Mendel Skulski 01:29
And this is Janie Wray.
Janie Wray 01:31
I am Janie Wray. And I have been listening to whales now for close to 30 years.
Janie Wray 01:40
Sound is everything when it comes to whales. We always compare sound to a whale, to how we use our vision to interpret our environment. So when we're walking through a trail or speaking with each other, most of us are able to use vision to understand our habitat and what's around us. That would be the same for whales. Whales are literally using sound, let's say to see their environment. And I think part of that is not only because of course it's hard to see within a dark ocean. But because sound travels so much more efficiently in water it would only make sense that they would evolve to be a creature that is dependent on sound.
Adam Huggins 02:20
Janie is the founder and lead researcher of the North Coast Cetacean Society, or if you prefer, BC Whales.
Mendel Skulski 02:28
BC Whales, alongside SIMRES and OrcaLab are the three nonprofit marine research organizations behind the BC Coastwide Hydrophone Network: a system of calibrated underwater microphones positioned up and down coastal British Columbia, in partnership with First Nations communities. This hydrophone network is intended, among other things to help us understand the behaviors of cetacean species at risk: Southern and Northern Resident killer whales, transient Biggs killer whales, humpbacks, fin whales, and harbor porpoises.
Janie Wray 03:05
The beauty of it is is that when you put a hydrophone in the water, no matter where it is, you are able to listen 24/7 without having an impact on what it is you're trying to study or protect. It doesn't matter whether it's stormy, it doesn't matter whether it's dark, you are able to collect habitat use of whales, because whales are an acoustic creature. And it also then allows you to record every other sound under the water, including, of course, that of vessel noise, pile driving, any anthropogenic noise that humans are making. But it also allows you to record — and I don't know if everyone thinks about this — weather patterns, because there's also a lot of ambient noise that's caused by storms and waves. And rain! Rain can sound pretty loud underwater. So these whales, you know, they've evolved on a planet where there's always been ambient noise. But then when you add the anthropogenic noise on top of that, I think that's a pretty huge thing for them to have to deal with.
Janie Wray 04:42
Not only of course, listening to whales but listening to each other. I think there's a huge lesson and something we can really learn from whales — because they have to listen to each other. And I've always thought that if we could learn to listen to each other, like whales listen to each other, in many ways it would be a better planet because they're so dependent on communication. So listening to me is everything.
Mendel Skulski 05:08
Today, we're bringing you a story about how we navigate listening. Even when sometimes our interests are misaligned, can we find ways to hear one another through all of the noise? And what happens when we expand the circle of listening to include the more than human world?
Mendel Skulski 05:29
We're going to be talking about ecology and extinction, dollars and sense, and perhaps the biggest construction project you've never heard of.
Adam Huggins 05:40
From Future Ecologies. This is Terminal.
Introduction Voiceover 05:51
Broadcasting from the unceded, shared, and asserted territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and other Hul'qumi'num-speaking peoples, this is Future Ecologies: Exploring the shape of our world through ecology, design and sound.
Adam Huggins 06:44
If you’ve listened to our show before, you may have heard me mention that I live on Galiano Island. It’s a small, skinny island: part of an archipelago known as the Southern Gulf Islands, which lie within the Salish Sea, halfway between the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Island
Adam Huggins 07:02
All of this is off of the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada and just across the US border. So, to get between Vancouver and Galiano Island, you have to take a ferry across what's known as the Strait of Georgia. It's just a fact of living out here. If you need to do anything off island, your day is at the mercy of the ferry schedule. And going to or coming from Vancouver means passing through the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen, a community that bears the name of the local First Nation. In English Tsawwassen translates to "the land facing the sea".
Adam Huggins 07:41
The Tsawwassen First Nation's traditional territory includes the rich tidal flats formed by the delta of the Fraser River, which snakes its way across the entire province before emptying into the Strait of Georgia. The freshwater plume from the river delta, rich with sediments from the interior forms a massive estuary, and it has an enormous influence on the Strait of Georgia and even Galiano Island. In fact, it's common knowledge among island beach goers that the typically icy ocean water is just a little bit warmer on the strait side, due to the outflow of the Fraser.
Mendel Skulski 08:15
Wait.. it you knew that, then why did he take me swimming on the other side of the island?
Adam Huggins 08:22
I like the cold.
Mendel Skulski 08:24
Okay, so to recap, we have the largest river on the west coast of Canada, passing directly through the largest metro area in Western Canada and forming an enormous estuary at the heart of the Salish Sea. There's a whole bunch of small islands, including Galiano Island, that sit just beyond the river delta, and are accessed by ferry from Tsawwassen.
Mendel Skulski 08:51
The ferry terminal sits on a piece of manmade land at the end of a long causeway, jutting out into the strait. But the ferry is not the only terminal in Tsawwassen. Roberts Bank, this short strip of coastline and south of the Fraser, is also home to a second causeway, a conduit linking rail lines and transport trucks to another artificial island, where goods flow to and from other continents. This manufactured peninsula is the site of Deltaport. As part of the Port of Vancouver, the busiest port in Canada, Deltaport is overseen by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, a federal Crown Corporation. It's the waypoint for millions of cargo containers: corrugated metal boxes, which arrive loaded with consumer goods, clothes, electronics and all of your COVID impulse purchases and then leave packed with grain pulses, lumber and pulp. And the fact that the port, the ferry terminal, and these communities are all located here — on this estuary, at the mouth of the Fraser River — that is no coincidence.
Misty MacDuffee 10:07
Globally if we look at the fact that the mega cities around the world are usually plunked down on estuaries, and it's because that's where small communities started. They started because of this unbelievably rich environment for food — not just for wildlife species, but for humans as well. It's also a great trade corridor because you can move up and down the river and you can move your goods up and down the river. So why not start your little village on the edge of an estuary? The soil is fertile, it is productive. It's heaven. It's got everything. And so that's why 70% of the world's mega cities are built on estuaries and that estuaries are now some of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet.
Mendel Skulski 10:54
This is Misty,
Misty MacDuffee 10:56
My name is Misty MacDuffee and I am a conservation biologist that focuses on salmon ecology. And I work for the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.
Mendel Skulski 11:07
Misty lives on Pender Island, another one of the Southern Gulf Islands.
Adam Huggins 11:12
We're neighbors... sort of.
Mendel Skulski 11:14
Sure. And it's her work on salmon that brings her here to the Fraser River estuary.
Misty MacDuffee 11:21
It's the rearing grounds for Canada's largest populations of salmon from a single watershed. It feels like my backyard. If you want to like look at just what's the definition of an estuary. You could say, well, it's the point of high tide or it's the point of the saltwater wedge up into the river. But then as it fans out and mixes with the marine waters, that freshwater is still detectable right out to the Gulf Islands. So we are actually in the estuary. Even though I often get on the ferry to go get there, it's all the estuary, so I'm working in my backyard.
Adam Huggins 11:59
The muddy fan of an estuary is a critical part of the salmon lifecycle, in their role as an anadromous fish — or fish that are born upriver, and then spend their adulthood in the ocean. All salmon must pass through the estuary at least twice: first as adolescents, and then again, on their final homeward journey to spawn. The estuary feeds them and shelters them. It's critical habitat for this keystone species, whose nutrient rich bodies ultimately provide food to a litany of other creatures from the land, the air, and the sea.
Misty MacDuffee 12:33
Grizzly bears, black bears, cormorants, mergansers, herons, killer whales, salmon sharks. It's a gauntlet — from the time they come out of that egg, 'til the time that they return to those same spawning grounds to lay their eggs — it's a gauntlet of predators... before we get to anything else we've piled on top of them.
Mendel Skulski 12:54
And we have, admittedly, piled a lot on top of them. Urbanization and development along the river and in the delta, has profoundly degraded the quality and character of this habitat. Factors like the sedimentation, the salinity, the plant and insect populations, and the estuaries capacity to moderate the flow of water and mitigate flooding each have an impact on salmon survival. Taken together, these impacts have reduced some salmon populations to the brink of local extinction.
Adam Huggins 13:29
This is a problem not just for those salmon, but for an entire food web that relies on them, including the Salish Sea's most famous residents, who Janie introduced us to earlier.
Misty MacDuffee 13:39
And when we think about the implications from populations blinking out, a great one of the consequences is from the loss of early time Fraser Chinook for Southern Resident killer whales. And there's a population of whales that are critically endangered that are dependent on Chinook salmon and even dependent on Chinook salmon from the Fraser River. So you've got an endangered population that's reliant on other endangered populations.
Adam Huggins 14:11
Chinook salmon and Southern Resident killer whales are just two of the species that depend on the Fraser River estuary for their survival, although maybe they're the two most recognizable. But many other creatures live here year round, and others just pass through.
Mendel Skulski 14:26
For example, the Western Sandpiper, a small shorebird that descends annually on Roberts Bank in the hundreds of thousands: making a stopover to rest and eat along their northward spring migration. And what they eat is biofilm — effectively shorebird superfood. Biofilm, which is a slurry of diatoms and bacteria, covers the tidal mudflats. Its nutritional density, and really just its presence, also depends on all the dynamics of the river delta: the salinity, topography, temperature and more. And besides the animals we've discussed, this interface between the land and the ocean is important for so many reasons. The delta has provided food, shelter and economic opportunities going back millennia. And now, the Fraser River lowlands are home to more than half the human population of BC.
Adam Huggins 15:24
And counting! So why have we brought you here, to the Fraser River estuary? And why have we introduced you to just a few of the communities connected to it? Well, that's because this whole region is standing on the threshold of even more change.
Mendel Skulski 15:41
We're talking about a mega project with a price tag in the billions of dollars, that while controversial, has escaped the kind of international public attention that the TransMountain pipeline and the Site C dam have attracted. This is the proposed site of Roberts Bank Terminal 2, or RBT2 for short. And the decision over its future may be only weeks away.
Steven Stark 16:09
Let's just dive right in the meat and potatoes of it.
Steven Stark 16:12
RBT2 would be a further extension beyond what the current footprint is — like the current footprint is substantial already, but RBT2 is looking to further increase their landscape into deeper waters.
Mendel Skulski 16:27
This is Steven.
Steven Stark 16:28
Yeah, my name is Steven Stark, my ancestral name is Slə́qsit. I’m from Tsawwassen First Nation.
Mendel Skulski 16:34
And what's your role within Tsawwassen First Nation. First Nation?
Steven Stark 16:37
Well, I have many roles. I sit on a variety of different committees. I currently sit on executive council at Tsawwassen First Nation. First Nation. I also sit as the chairman of the Housing Committee. I'm also a member of the Natural Resources Committee. And then I'm also a business entrepreneur in the community, and a father and all those other roles too.
Adam Huggins 16:59
At its core, the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 proposal is to build a new island, doubling the area of the existing terminal and connecting to it at one corner. It would jut further out into the deeper waters, past the causeway and towards the river. At a cost of approximately three and a half billion dollars. It stands to create three additional births for the world's largest ships, and double the total container capacity.
Mendel Skulski 17:25
RBT2 was officially proposed by the Port Authority in 2013. Since then, it's been slowly churning through a process of community consultations, environmental reviews, and detailed submissions to the federal government. Over two dozen First Nations across the Salish Sea have been involved in years of consultations around this project, including, of course, Tsawwassen First Nation.
Steven Stark 17:50
It's been many years, and people coming in and out of the community to get feedbacks and surveys and, you know, stewardship ideas and impacts to our members. So, you know, it starts to become redundant. Do you feel like sometimes that your words aren't being translated?
Steven Stark 18:10
Consultation, you know, the studies, the surveys, the workshops, the presentations, there's been a significant amount of them and doesn't mean that anybody's any more informed today than they were the first time.
Steven Stark 18:27
You know, there's a reason why Tsawwassen picked this foreshore? It's because it was rich with opportunities of all types. Tsawwassen First Nation has always been a hub of trade. We used to have 100 longhouses down here. We were the people facing the sea. People from all different nations would come here, and barter and trade.
Steven Stark 18:53
The old saying is when the tide is down, the table is set, because at that point, there's so much resources available and you can walk out so far, and pretty much find anything that you're looking for. And I always said this is amazing, like I I fell in love with it. I fell in love with walking the foreshore beach and picking crab right out of the sand.
Mendel Skulski 19:14
But ever since 1970, the people facing the sea have found themselves facing the port instead.
Steven Stark 19:22
You know, there's a long standing relationship issue with how the port was built and what transpired from the governments, and same with the ferry terminal as well, which still to this day hasn't been even acknowledged by the province.
Mendel Skulski 19:37
Besides interrupting the view and limiting access to the tastiest offerings of the intertidal. Both the ferry terminal and the port have brought all kinds of disturbance to awesome.
Steven Stark 19:50
You'll get nighttime shutters of the house when the trains smashed together, right? You can hear the ground shake, you get particular matter from diesel exhaust burning. Whether it's from the ship, whether it's from the diesel trucks doing delivery out to the port as well. So you get accidents, you get police calls, you see lights flashing, you get longshoremen speeding through the area — not just speeding but reckless speeding.
Mendel Skulski 20:19
And this is how things are today. RBT2 would sit right on top of Tsawwassen's traditional crabbing grounds. It would expand the no-float exclusion zone for boats and draw yet more traffic to the near shore.
Adam Huggins 20:34
And yet, it's complicated. Because for now, Tsawwassen's economic well being is still closely tied to Deltaport,
Steven Stark 20:43
We develop the lands and lease them out that our port-related businesses: for shipping goods and services in and out. So, you know, we signed a treaty as well. That gave us self-governing avenues available to us to be able to develop those lands, create revenue opportunities, because at the end of the day, we need to be self-sufficient, because the lifeline that the federal and provincial government has thrown Indigenous people and Tsawwassen First Nation eventually will be pulled away, and we need to be able to be self sufficient. And we need to be able to provide schooling, housing programs, youth centers, daycares, administrative day-to-day operations, things like that. It's got to be funded somehow. So, you know, Indigenous people are supposed to live off the land? You know, I've heard that so many... I'm not gonna say racist, but a different — there's a different word for it. You know, naive — being naive, in that sense that Indigenous people should just live off of the land, but how... you can't, you have to evolve in today's environment.
Adam Huggins 21:50
So when we asked Steven whether he was for or against port expansion, he just wasn't willing to come down on either side.
Steven Stark 21:59
You know, am I in support of the port? I'm not going to say yes or no. There's going to be a great impact on our crabbing, our fishermens, our water rights, and I'm very concerned about that. And we all have been for many years. Do you feel like sometimes you just powerless against a Goliath that is going to do it anyways, and you just... you know, do you take what you can and run with the bag?
Adam Huggins 22:24
When we come back, we're going to chart the options that lay ahead. Because, as it turns out, Roberts Bank is facing not just one port expansion proposal, but two. Right after this.
Mendel Skulski 22:37
Hey, this is not an ad. In fact, you may have noticed that we don't have any ads on Future Ecologies. Not one. We make this show because we love it, and we're not interested in selling you stuff. For me personally, it's the most interesting, challenging and rewarding job that I've ever had. Of course, I mean, emotionally, if not financially rewarding. I feel unbelievably lucky to have been able to do so much learning in public, and to share these stories with you.
Adam Huggins 23:26
But the cold truth is that we're still on our way to becoming a sustainable organization. To be able to keep making this show, and hopefully to offer stable creative opportunities to other storytellers. We need your support.
Mendel Skulski 23:41
If you appreciate the work that we do, and you have the means, the best way to help is at patreon.com/futureecologies. And don't worry, there's a link in the show notes.
Adam Huggins 23:53
Besides all of our amazing patrons, keeping us afloat, we also wanted to extend our thanks to the Sitka Foundation for helping support our fourth season. We've got a few special treats in store for you that simply wouldn't have been possible without them.
Mendel Skulski 24:07
So to everyone who has ever supported us in any way. Thank you.
Mendel Skulski 24:13
Okay, enough with a hard sell. Let's get back to it.
Marko Dekovic 24:21
City of Vancouver, Vancouver where we live, is really a port city and it's grown. The question is, has Vancouver grown and then the port grew, or has the port grew and then Vancouver grew as a result of it?
Adam Huggins 24:33
Welcome back. My name is Adam
Mendel Skulski 24:35
Mendel
Adam Huggins 24:36
And this is future ecologies.
Mendel Skulski 24:38
Today, we're in the Fraser River estuary where the largest container port in Canada stands to get even bigger. And the voice you just heard is Marko.
Marko Dekovic 24:49
My name is Marco Dekovic. I'm the Vice President of Public Affairs with GCT Global Container Terminals. We're a container terminal operator, so we are in business in handling our customers' trade. Our customers are ocean carriers, and their customers are consumers and beneficial cargo owners. And so, as the demand for those cargoes grow, it is our job to ensure that our customers have the ability to move that cargo through our terminals.
Marko Dekovic 25:16
As terminal operator, we're tenants of port authorities. So in Canada port authorities are federal crown agencies that have been entrusted to manage the land that's been given to them, to generate revenue by renting it out or leasing it out. And so I like to equate it to a mall, a shopping mall. So the port authority is the mall administration, and we are the tenant in the mall.
Marko Dekovic 25:39
We like to think of ourselves as the anchor tenant in the mall.
Mendel Skulski 25:42
So GCT operates Deltaport, leasing the lands from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. But despite what you might have assumed, they don't support the Port Authority's proposal to develop Roberts Bank Terminal 2.
Marko Dekovic 25:56
So the Port Authority has been inventing a project called Roberts Bank Terminal 2, where they actually want to build a new island landmass out of Roberts Bank adjacent to the existing landmass outer Roberts Bank. And our proposal is to incrementally expand our existing facility by adding an additional birth and filling the land behind it.
Adam Huggins 26:18
GCT, that's Global Container Terminals, calls their proposal Deltaport Berth Four, or DP4. Essentially, they want to grow the terminal back towards the shoreline, adding in just one birth beside the causeway on the opposite side from the Fraser River.
Mendel Skulski 26:36
But GCT doesn't just differ on the details. We were surprised to learn that they actually completely reject the Port Authority's rationale for expanding the terminal in the first place.
Adam Huggins 26:48
And it's not a quiet disagreement. GCT is behind the Better Deltaport campaign. So if you live here, and you've seen articles about the project in the Vancouver Sun or other regional publications, you might have caught their sponsored content, criticizing the Port Authority and RBT2.
Mendel Skulski 27:05
So, faced with all these moving parts, we called in some help from Stephanie Wood.
Stephanie Wood 27:11
Yes, Hello. My name is Stephanie. My ancestral name is Kwetásel'wet. I'm from Squamish nation, and I am a journalist with The Narwhal.
Adam Huggins 27:20
Stephanie has been covering the controversy at Deltaport for the past few years. So we asked her to give us the big picture, starting with the biggest question: why expand the port in the first place?
Stephanie Wood 27:33
For some time, the Port Authority has been saying that there's going to be a need for more container capacity at the port. They've been talking about this since the 90s. And they say they have all these forecasts that show it gets really urgent, they say, by the mid 2020s, which is like... now, really. But then Global Container Terminals who is competing with a different proposal — so obviously, they have some business interest here — but as a container operator, like they are saying that that is not true.
Marko Dekovic 28:04
There is no scenario that we can see in the near term, despite you know some more recent spikes and demand for consumer goods or container trade, that there will be a need for 4 million-plus TEUs of capacity in Port of Vancouver in the near term. So, in the next 10,15, 20 years.
Mendel Skulski 28:23
That measurement, TEU stands for 20 foot-equivalent unit, the standard unit of a shipping container. Currently Deltaport has capacity for 2.4 million TEUs. And Roberts Bank Terminal 2 stands to double that. But then there's another important question: where do all those containers end up?
Marko Dekovic 28:46
35% of everything that moves through Canadian terminals — be it in Prince Rupert or in Vancouver — is US-destined. We're capturing that discretionary US-destined cargo to move through our terminals. The Canadian demand for containers has been relatively flat over the last 10 years.
Mendel Skulski 29:03
According to GCT, any port expansion would be driven by the economic business case. That is the opportunity to outcompete terminals across North America by getting containers onto railways to service the Asia Pacific Gateway traffic.
Adam Huggins 29:20
Of course, it's their whole business model to capitalize on those opportunities as they can, which is why they still want to eventually expand the port.
Marko Dekovic 29:29
Our approach for growth has always been through densification, incremental expansion — doing more within our footprint... doing more with less, if you will.
Adam Huggins 29:39
And to do so, GCT believes that they have a much better solution than the Port Authority's Terminal 2, which has understandably put a strain on their relationship.
Marko Dekovic 29:48
When we saw from our private sector perspective that we need to start planning for the next incremental expansion for our project, we started engaging with the Port Authority in 2015 about Deltaport Berth 4 said "we think this is this is the next best way to grow capacity in the port, and we want to do it together with you". The port did not want to engage. And we submitted an application to begin working on Deltaport Berth 4, and the Port Authority completely dismissed the application. They would even review it. So it's not like they looked at it and said "Okay, well, we don't agree with this. So we're not going to process the application or advance your project", they actually just refused to look at it. We felt that that was a wrong approach from a regulator which again, is a government agency, who's decided to you know, get in the in the business, if you will, of container handling. So it'd be like the mall administrator getting into the retail business.
Stephanie Wood 30:37
Marko was saying that basically, the Port Authority is now their landlord, regulator, and competitor. And no matter how people feel about containers, I think most people can be like that's a unique and possibly problematic situation.
Marko Dekovic 30:51
And as you can imagine, from you know, day to day operations, it became challenging, because it was seen in the light where we're now competitors.
Mendel Skulski 30:59
GCT claims that Deltaport Berth 4 would achieve almost the same capacity increase at less than half the cost, and with significantly lower environmental impacts: to salmon, to biofilm, and to crabbing grounds.
Marko Dekovic 31:15
The only one where DP4 would potentially have slightly more impact is eel grass, because of where we're building slightly shallower.
Mendel Skulski 31:23
But even then, they assert that they've successfully remediated eelgrass habitat in the past, when they first incrementally expanded the port — from two berths to three, back between 2008 and 2010.
Adam Huggins 31:37
So we asked the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to comment on this schism with GCT and the rationale behind their own expansion plans. They told us that without terminal expansion, they see Canada's container capacity running out by 2025., with ripple effects across the national economy. They wouldn't make any statement on GCTs plans specifically, but they did refer us to a 2020 independent review panel of RBT2, which found that the Port Authority had appropriately considered alternatives.
Mendel Skulski 32:08
This same panel was not optimistic about the environmental impacts, concluding that RBT2 would have numerous adverse residual and cumulative effects.
Adam Huggins 32:20
The Port Authority remains adamant that they can offset the damage caused by construction and operation, recently increasing their commitment to restore habitat from 29 to 86 hectares
Mendel Skulski 32:32
Although their proposed terminal itself would still permanently destroy twice that amount of habitat.
Adam Huggins 32:38
From our readings of what the Port Authority has published previously, they contend the Deltaport Berth 4, being closer to the intertidal flats, would have worse environmental impacts than the deeper water RBT2. And they've expressed concern that DP4 would give GCT, an anti competitive hold over local container terminal services.
Mendel Skulski 32:58
So we have two very different proposals on the table for port expansion: one by a federal Crown Corporation, and the other by their corporate lease holder, who feel that they're being denied due process.
Misty MacDuffee 33:10
I think they have a fair argument in terms of procedural fairness, like how can you legitimately go through this project for RBT2 when there's a proposal on the table that has definitely less consequences? And so how can you fairly say that you're going to evaluate Global Containers' proposal if you've already made this decision on Roberts Bank? So even just from a procedural perspective, the whole Roberts Bank review process should just stop until they can legitimately review Global Containers'. But if we're going to do this, there needs to be a regional plan.
Stephanie Wood 33:50
People aren't looking at this project in isolation, they're looking at everything that has happened to the estuary in the past few decades, how much development and other proposals there are already. And I think that people are starting to really realize just what's at stake. People are just already experiencing the impacts. They're already seeing the losses. Like how much more can this area really take?
Adam Huggins 34:19
I think that this is a question that we're all kind of grappling with, at a planetary scale, and at a local scale as well. And on this podcast, we've already covered one tool that has been applied to answer these kinds of questions. Priority Threat Management.
Misty MacDuffee 34:35
Priority Threat Management is becoming an increasingly popular approach to responding to the conservation crisis that we have globally around the world. And in the case of the Fraser, as in other areas around the world, it's not just you know, a couple of species that were concerned about. In the case of the Fraser it's more than 100 species that are recognized to be at risk — some level of at risk of extinction — that live parts of their lives or all of their lives within the bounds of the Fraser estuary. And not only are the status of the species not recovering, and in many cases getting worse, there's more and more species being added to these lists all the time.
Adam Huggins 35:25
We first discussed Priority Threat Management with Dr. Tara Martin, in relation to the Southern Mountain Caribou in Episode 2.1. But we'll give you a quick recap.
Mendel Skulski 35:34
It's a decision-making tool: a way to break out of the tunnel vision of trying to manage conservation for one endangered species at a time, and instead find the most effective solution for all of them.
Misty MacDuffee 35:49
The way that Priority Threat Management works is by bringing all the biologists and ecologists that work on the individual species or a group of species
Adam Huggins 36:01
Experts who deal with anadromous fish, marine mammals, aquatic plants, shorebirds, insects, etc, etc.
Misty MacDuffee 36:09
Getting them all into a room and saying "if we do X, what are the chances that the species will recover?"
Adam Huggins 36:17
Starting with —
Misty MacDuffee 36:18
"If we just continue the way we are? What is the likelihood that this species is going to be here in 25 years?"
Misty MacDuffee 36:28
And the outcome of that was that two-thirds of those 100 species had a less than 50% probability of persistence in 25 years. So pretty dire, for most of the species that are in the estuary.
Mendel Skulski 36:48
Then they look at the suite of possible interventions,
Misty MacDuffee 36:52
Restoring aquatic habitat, implementing green infrastructure, more fisheries regulation, changing the way we manage public lands, changing the way we manage private lands, dealing with invasive species, dealing with how we move vessels through their habitat, what about pollution?
Mendel Skulski 37:11
And they crunch the numbers on how those would help the odds of survival for each of those species at risk. But it doesn't stop there.
Misty MacDuffee 37:19
What if we combined strategies? A combination of aquatic restoration and fisheries regulation, and changing the way we manage agriculture?
Misty MacDuffee 37:31
What if we were to implement all of the strategies?
Adam Huggins 37:35
And finally, they tally up the price tag for every single one of those options.
Misty MacDuffee 37:40
So you come up with this matrix that says "here's the probabilities of survival for the species, and here's how much it's gonna cost" — what's the best thing we can do to recover the most number of species at the most cost effective price.
Adam Huggins 37:54
And... with all of those strategies combined, the odds of persistence for most of those species in 25 years gets bumped up to... just over 50%.
Misty MacDuffee 38:06
So in business as usual, it's below that 50% probability, which isn't a lot. Like it takes them from a worst chance to a better chance.
Mendel Skulski 38:18
There's no escaping the fact that it's pretty late in the game to turn things around, especially for this region, which has already seen so much fragmentation and development. But the take-home message is that there is still a chance. And we have a good idea of how much it would cost.
Misty MacDuffee 38:37
It would cost about $380 million, or about $15 million a year, which on some levels is a drop in the bucket. You know, it might sound like a big figure. But I mean, how much are we spending on trying to expand the port?
Mendel Skulski 38:51
Just to remind you, the current estimate for RBT2 is three and a half billion dollars.
Misty MacDuffee 38:57
How much are we spending on pushing through TransMountain right now? All of these things that affect the survival probability of the species.
Adam Huggins 39:06
As of a few weeks ago, the cost to build the TransMountain pipeline now stands at $21.4 billion, which is way up from an estimate of 7.6 billion just four years ago, when the federal government bought the pipeline. And just for reference, 21.4 billion would cover the estuary remediation we've been talking about for over 1300 years.
Misty MacDuffee 39:30
But then we also looked at what other components there could be to implementing the strategies that might improve it. And one of those components was if we were to change the way we make decisions collectively, and that if we were to implement a co-governance model that includes First Nations — actively as, you know, decision makers in these decisions, which hasn't happened in the past — and that we were able to have the funding to implement these solutions. That just that implementation of better decision making and co-governance increases that survival above the 60% probability.
Mendel Skulski 40:14
The total cost for the strategies recommended by this Priority Threat Managment process to give these species a fighting chance, and to institute a regional co-governance model would come out to less than $8 per year for every adult in just the Metro Vancouver area.
Adam Huggins 40:32
But there's another strategy that the PTM process highlighted. Although they were unable to assign a cost to it. One of the most effective ways to preserve the endangered species of the Fraser River estuary is perhaps the most obvious.
Misty MacDuffee 40:46
Don't proceed with the proposed mega projects that are on the books. Stop destroying this habitat with those kinds of projects, and undertake restoration. It's sort of intuitive that you would think "Oh, you know, what do we do?" Well, one, hold the line don't make anything worse. And second, start restoring the habitat that has already been trashed.
Adam Huggins 41:08
Halting major industrial development in this economic nexus might seem like a pipe dream. But the authors of the study are resolute on this point. They write "if major industrial developments continue in this region, the persistence of many iconic species, such as the Southern Resident killer whale, anatomist fishes, including salmon and sturgeon, and saltwater species, including the migratory Western Sandpiper are likely to be jeopardized."
Mendel Skulski 41:36
And arguably, the reason that industrial development has been able to carry on as it has been, is because each project has only had to assess its environmental impacts in isolation, rather than considering its interactions and cumulative effects. There is no oversight that considers the region as a whole. But it wasn't always that way. Up until 2013, just a few months before RBT2 was officially proposed, there was a government agency with exactly this mandate: FREMP, or the Fraser River Estuary Management Plan.
Adam Huggins 42:16
Fingers crossed, this is the last acronym in this episode.
Misty MacDuffee 42:19
FREMP was the coordination of Fraser estuary activities between the federal government, the provincial government, the port, and, you know, sort of the greater metro region. And they didn't have any authority over decision making. They didn't have any funding. And they didn't have any First Nations participation. But what they were doing was they were conducting studies, they were compiling literature and undertaking assessments, and they were all talking to each other. So it, it wasn't great. But it was completely eliminated under Stephen Harper. So FREMP disappeared, and a lot of the really big expansion proposals have happened since then.
Mendel Skulski 43:14
the co-governance model that Misty and her Priority Threat Management colleagues recommend is the aspiration to improve upon FREMP 1.0.
Misty MacDuffee 43:25
So we need for all of those past stakeholders to come together again — with First Nations and the public — and have a set of criteria and principles that are going to guide decision making in the estuary, and that that be rooted in, you know, looking at cumulative effects and looking at our societal goals. But to correct the three main things that FREMP didn't have: the First Nations presence, the funding, and the decision making authority.
Mendel Skulski 44:00
So we have a Port Authority, a Port Operator, a First Nation, a gaggle of ecologists, and a pod of orcas, each agreeing on some points and completely diverging on others. What do we want? What do we need? And what can we tolerate — for ourselves and all the communities touched by the Fraser River estuary? Is an effective compromise even possible here? Or is the estuary already compromised to the limit? Can there really be a middle ground when one party — actually a whole host of parties in this relationship — are facing extinction.
Adam Huggins 44:49
And to that point, here again, is Janie Wray
Janie Wray 44:52
At some point, there has to be that moment in time where we turn around and actually care enough, that instead of constantly taking, that we just start to give back — by giving back meaning giving something up. In all levels, when it comes to the resources that we take from the planet, we're going to have to start to give back at some point here, and we're all going to have to give up a little something in order to do that. That's what always goes through my mind when I hear about another expansion, about another port, about, you know, increasing vessel traffic. I just don't know how these whales are going to survive it.
Mendel Skulski 45:33
On the other hand, even the most ardent environmentalists among us are keenly aware of the social and economic tolerances that we live within.
Janie Wray 45:43
I mean, I'd love to say, but wouldn't it be great, right? No more shipping, we're gonna stop at all. But we know that can't happen. The reality is we're all participating in this, we're all using the products that are coming off of these vessels most likely. So there has to be a way to make that work.
Adam Huggins 46:03
So, as Mendel and I were staring a hole right through this issue, we realized that there might actually be an outside-of-the-box sort of solution staring right back at us. And we weren't the only ones to see it. The terminal at Roberts Bank isn't just home to GCT-Deltaport. The same artificial island and causeway also houses Westshore: a bulk export terminal whose business is based around just one thing. Coal.
Mendel Skulski 46:32
Most of that is metallurgical coal used in the manufacturing of steel. But almost a third of the coal shipped by Westshore is thermal coal, destined to be burned for heat and electricity. And in the end, both thermal coal and metallurgical coal have effectively the same carbon footprint.
Stephanie Wood 46:51
Ports on the west coast in the States refused to export this thermal coal, and the way that it gets out is by coming up into Canada by train, and then out of the port. And so a lot of people have kind of pointed out the hypocrisy in the fact that the Canadian government is allowing the export of thermal coal to power electricity elsewhere in the world, which is extremely greenhouse gas intensive, while at the same time leading an initiative to ban the use of thermal coal for electricity.
Mendel Skulski 47:22
In June of last year, the federal government released a new policy statement, calling for the elimination of thermal coal mining and burning in Canada, but made no mention of closing this loophole: our continued facilitation of the mining, export, and combustion of American coal. So we wrote to GCT and asked whether they could get the extra container capacity they want, by taking over the coal port instead of by building out a new berth. Their answer was that Westshore is a strong, viable business, who hold the lease to their terminal until 2066. And who have announced their plans to diversify from coal and begin to export potash, which is widely used as fertilizer. Plus, converting the bulk terminal would require extensive renovations so that it could handle the weight of stacked containers. In short, from GCT's perspective, not feasible.
Adam Huggins 48:24
Although we should point out that Westshore is effectively GCT's, roommate at Roberts Bank, and so it's possible that this response is at least partially diplomatic. For their part in this question, the Port Authority wrote to us that they are mandated under the Canada Marine Act to enable Canada's trade through the Port of Vancouver, ensuring that goods are moved safely, efficiently and sustainably. They don't however, decide what moves through the port. The federal government is responsible for making decisions related to what goods and commodities Canada trades, including coal.
Misty MacDuffee 48:59
I'm sure there's an economic argument for why the port profits by shipping US coal. But I think that socially in this day and age that's getting harder and harder to sell. You know what, if we really, really really need a little bit more capacity at Roberts Bank, get rid of the coal terminal. That is the logical place for it to go. Because we really can't increase shipping traffic through the Salish Sea anymore. The Salish Sea can't get any noisier if we hope to recover Southern Resident killer whales.
Mendel Skulski 49:33
Replacing the coal terminal in order to get this extra container capacity isn't a slam dunk. And it might or might not even be feasible. But it does pose a case study for what, as a society, we are or aren't willing to consider as a compromise in order to meet our stated climate change and biodiversity goals. But, frankly, something's got to give.
Misty MacDuffee 49:58
Knowing what we know and where we are how do we move forward? And I think that we kind of have to get away from this economy versus the environment approach because ultimately, we have to recognize that our economy is underpinned by the health of our ecosystems and our environment. So if you're going to compete between those two, it's it's not too long before everything runs out, and we have neither.
Adam Huggins 50:24
As a case in point, nothing illustrates this better than the experience of Tsawwassen fishermen over the past several decades.
Steven Stark 50:31
You would see so many Tsawwassen boats out on the water. You would see a camaraderie within the community that uplifts people and people helping to get nets and fuel their boats up with each other, and people running around with trucks and ice, and we would have fishermen's parties, ball for the community, things like that.
Steven Stark 50:51
Those days are long and gone. Crabbing is getting more and more difficult. But salmon as well is... I would have to say it's like life support at this point on salmon stocks, and the camaraderie is definitely changed. Unintended consequence of depleting of resources means people's morale is going down.
Mendel Skulski 51:14
So where do we stand, right now? We asked Stephanie to sketch out who, besides the folks we've talked to, has come out as for or against Roberts Bank Terminal 2.
Stephanie Wood 51:26
I saw one mining company – it's like a Surrey-based mining company was like, "Yeah, we're for it". And that's all I found. Even the municipalities in the surrounding area are all against.
Adam Huggins 51:38
That includes the city of Delta, where the port is located, plus the city of Richmond, both have passed motions in opposition to RBT2, either to reject it outright, or at least to wait until it can be compared with DP44.
Mendel Skulski 51:52
And as far as the official process, for the last year and a half, the federal environmental review for RBT2 had been on pause. The previous Minister for the Environment had postponed making a decision, instead sending the Port Authority to gather more information. And then, in December of 2021, the Port Authority filed their response.
Stephanie Wood 52:15
So now they're in the middle of a public comment period.
Mendel Skulski 52:17
Which will last until March 15. And again, is open to the public.
Stephanie Wood 52:23
Yes, everyone can comment, it's pretty easy.
Misty MacDuffee 52:25
I urge urge urge more people to submit their comments.
Mendel Skulski 52:31
And so like us, you might wonder what will happen after March 15.
Stephanie Wood 52:36
So if the minister decides that he got enough information to make an informed decision, then the timeline restarts, and he has to make a decision within 89 days. So theoretically, by mid-2022, we will know what the decision is. If the minister decides that the project will have adverse environmental impacts, then it's then passed on to the governor and council, and the process isn't over yet.
Adam Huggins 53:04
At that point, the federal cabinet can decide to overrule the Minister of the Environment if it decides that, despite all of the concerns, raised port expansion is still in the public interest. So to reiterate, the public can speak out for or against the expansion, the Minister of the Environment will make his determination. And still, all of that could potentially be overturned by the federal cabinet one way or the other.
Marko Dekovic 53:32
Based on what we've just discussed, I do not see how that project is in public interest. Money will create further burden on the public purse, it will create more negative environmental impacts, and this is not really in line with what the customers are looking for. But ultimately, it will be a government decision.
Adam Huggins 53:52
So thank you all for listening. This has been Future Ecologies where we keep you informed about important issues that you have absolutely no control over.
Mendel Skulski 54:02
Wait wait wait... cut that out. I know that none of this seems particularly democratic. But every observer we've spoken to so far, thinks that this decision could easily go one way or the other. And nothing is certain at this point. So those public comments might actually make a huge difference.
Steven Stark 54:22
In reality, your voice does matter whether you feel it's insignificant or not. We need to accumulate all of that information and just try to make the best decision you can collectively and hope 20 years from now. You didn't fail miserably at it.
Mendel Skulski 54:42
Inevitably, there's going to be conflict in this world about this port, about development, about anything. Get enough people together, or for that matter, enough animals, or enough plants and you can guarantee that they're not all going to get along.
Adam Huggins 55:03
We started off this episode by thinking about the importance of listening — really listening. Listening to the sound of an increasingly noisy ocean, and listening to each other — as our values increasingly press up against our needs and our desires.
Adam Huggins 55:22
If you listen to the Port Authority, our economy urgently needs more container capacity, and we can get it safely and responsibly.
Mendel Skulski 55:30
If you listen to GCT, we will eventually need that capacity. But we can get it in a much less expensive and risky way.
Adam Huggins 55:39
If you listen to conservationists, any additional development within the estuary chips away at an already precarious food web, and plants another nail in the coffin of over 100 species at risk.
Mendel Skulski 55:51
And if you listen to Tsawwassen and other First Nations of the Salish Sea, these cumulative effects have been rapidly stacking up since the waterways of the delta were first diked in the 1860s, providing some opportunities, but also posing significant cultural, economic, and ecological harms that are ongoing.
Adam Huggins 56:12
So for those of you who live here, in the Salish Sea, it might sound trite, but now is your opportunity to speak and to make your voice heard on this issue. For those of you who are tuning in from elsewhere, we're absolutely certain that there's a controversial development proposal just like this one on the horizon in your own backyard. We don't pretend to have the answers, so instead, we're going to give the last word to just a few of the other voices of the estuary.
Mendel Skulski 56:43
We can't say for certain what they're saying, but the least we can do is to listen.
Adam Huggins 57:33
Future Ecologies is an independent production made possible by our supporters on Patreon. For photos, citations, transcripts and a link to make a comment on RBT2, visit us at futureecologies.net
Mendel Skulski 57:49
this episode was produced by me, Mendel Skulski.
Mendel Skulski 57:53
And me, Adam Huggins
Mendel Skulski 57:55
With help from Megan Hockin Bennett and Lili Li
Adam Huggins 57:59
Geaturing the voices of Janie Wray, Misty MacDuffee, Steven Stark, Marco Dekovic and Stephanie Wood
Mendel Skulski 58:08
And with music by Ruby Singh, Dawn Pemberton, Inuksuk Mackay, Russel Wallace, Shamik Bilgi, Tiffany Ayalik, Tiffany Moses, Thumbug and Sunfish Moon Light.
Adam Huggins 58:24
Special thanks to Megan Hockin Bennett, Alex Harris, Jennifer Perih, Julia Feyrer, Tara Martin, Matti Polychronis, Rebecca Abel, Erin Harlos and Gary Sutton.
Mendel Skulski 58:37
And thanks to OrcaLab for the amazing underwater audio. For more on their work and the BC Coastwide Hydrophone Network, check out the links in the show notes
Adam Huggins 58:47
Which you can find on our website
Mendel Skulski 58:49
futureecologies.net
Adam Huggins 58:52
Where you'll also find all of the Port Authority's answers to our questions. And while you're there, you can get in touch with us. Or if you prefer, we're also on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The handle is always Future Ecologies.
Mendel Skulski 59:08
Okay. That's all for now.
Adam Huggins 59:11
You'll be hearing from us soon.