On December 12, Communities and Coal held a town hall about coal in Richmond. About 80 people listened to the speakers talk about coal and port expansion in the lower mainland. This video shows the esteemed biologist Otto Langer, retired from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans after 40 years of service, speaking about the 3rd Industrial Era in the Fraser Estuary. Otto spoke passionately about the grave changes made by the Federal Conservative government that have unraveled a lifetime of protections for fisheries and oceans that he helped to create. Real Port Hearings The numbers are in: no one supports a coal port in Surrey. The final count on the Port Authority's EIA: approximately 3500 public comments opposed to a new coal port in Surrey, just six in favour. Experts, Health Authorities and local and regional governments have also weighed in with highly critical comments on the Port's review of this proposal, saying it contains "significant deficiencies, incorrect assumptions and superficial analysis." The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will now make a decision on the Fraser Surrey Docks coal export proposal. The onus is on the Port to show how it will incorporate this overwhelming rejection of the coal export EIA into a decision that is in the public interest. You can learn more about the flaws in the coal export proposal and the EIA at RealPortHearings.org where you can submit your own comments to the Port using our email tool. We'll make sure they're sent to key decision makers, and we'll post them on the site to continue building a public record of opposition to the Port's coal export agenda. RealPortHearings.org was created to: 1) become a transparent knowledge base showing opposition to the Port's proposal from community groups, scientists, local and regional governments, school boards, and many others 2) become a matter of record for public comments on the Port's flawed EIA What we are asking for in a new EIA: We think that the Port Authority's assessment of the risks of coal export expansion is fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped. They need to start over. We call on the Port to put a moratorium on coal export expansion and commit to working with key stakeholders to conduct proper health and environmental impact assessments. In our view, these new assessments must include the following features: -they must involve key stakeholders like our Health Authorities from the start, including determining the scope and terms of reference; -they must include an assessment of the risks of the proposed coal export expansion at Neptune Terminals; -they must consider all local impacts from the time the coal enters our region by rail to -the time it enters international waters by ocean going vessel; -they must consider climate change impacts of the end use of that coal; -they must be open and transparent and incorporate public hearings. If the port cannot or will not properly assess the potential impacts of coal exports, it should deny the Fraser Surrey Docks permit and suspend any further expansion of coal exports. What's Wrong With the Port's EIA? Problems with the scope and terms of the announced EIA There were some fundamental flaws in the Port's announced assessment of the risks of coal export expansion, including the failure to involve key stakeholders in planning the scope of the assessment, an implausibly short time frame for its completion and a lack of transparency in the study terms of reference. Experts in the field of impact assessment raised all of these concerns and more with the Port in an open letter sent shortly after the study was announced. The Port did not respond to their concerns. Our Health Authorities also raised concerns about the flaws in the assessment process in a letter sent to the Port in September. The Port Authority brushed off our Health Authoritys' concerns in a reply sent in October. We're forced to conclude that the Port's September announcement of an Environmental Impact Assessment was more of a public performance than a sincere proposal to review the risks of coal export expansion.

• published: 29 Jan 2014
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