Opposed to the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion? You’re not alone
Conservation scientists, First Nations, and other community members are demanding the Federal Government to reject this project.
The list of groups opposed to the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion includes several First Nations, a suite of conservation organizations in both Canada and the United States, scientists, Canada’s own federal regulators, local community groups, a church, and a worker’s union. We’ve compiled comments below from 28 groups to demonstrate the scale of opposition to Terminal 2.
We created an email template that you can send to your local MP, with information on how to find your MP’s email address.
Internationally recognized scientists
Letter from scientists regarding Roberts Bank Terminal 2
“If the recovery of Canada’s endangered and iconic wildlife is a priority for the government of Canada, as stated, then it must reject the proposed Terminal 2 project.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada
ECCC Response To the Proponent’s Public Comment Period Submissions
“[Terminal 2] remains likely to lead to reductions in biofilm quality and quantity.”
“[VFPA]’s proposal to offset the effects of the Project on functional biofilm habitat by creating biofilm elsewhere or restoration on-site remains experimental.”
“[VFPA]’s proposed follow-up monitoring program with adaptive measures lacks detail.”
Salish Sea Institute, Western Washington University
https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/80054/contributions/id/57756
“The State of the Salish Sea report, my teaching work in Salish Sea Studies, and attention to local Indigenous concerns about the Roberts Bank proposal all convince me that this project should not move forward. In fact, the proposed expansion raises urgent questions about how future development initiatives like these will be examined in ways that address cumulative, ecosystem-wide, and cross-border impacts.”
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
Federal Review Panel Report for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
“ [Terminal 2] would result in numerous adverse residual and cumulative effects. The proposed offsetting plan for aquatic species, totalling 29 hectares, would be insufficient to compensate for the reduction in productivity associated with a Project-induced habitat loss of 177 hectares of Roberts Bank”
“The proposed terminal and marine shipping associated with [Terminal 2] would occur within Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat that is federally protected under the Species at Risk Act.”
“Acoustic disturbance from vessels in and of itself could be considered destruction of Critical Habitat”.
“There would be significant adverse and cumulative effects on Dungeness crab as well as oceantype juvenile Chinook salmon originating from the Lower Fraser and South Thompson Rivers. These juvenile Chinook reside temporarily in the vicinity of the Project and would be subject to migration disruption by the terminal footprint and Project-related effects on the underwater acoustic and light environments.”
“The Project would cause significant adverse and cumulative effects on SRKW through a small loss of legally-defined critical habitat, reduced adult Chinook salmon prey availability and a minor increase in underwater noise.”
Lummi Nation
Can This Tribe of ‘Salmon People’ Pull Off One More Win?
“Stop the bleeding of the Salish Sea.”
S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance (STSA)
“The specific conditions do not adequately address ecological concerns, as offsetting is proven not to lead to a no-net-loss outcome. The conditions are too segregated and ad hoc; an over-riding condition should be implemented that requires the proponent to acquire habitat to support a like-for-like offset to be managed by or in partnership with a collective of affected First Nations.”
Tsleil-Waututh Nation
Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) comments on RBT2
“[Tsleil-Waututh Nation] is not confident that the draft conditions, as presented, describe any measure to address and mitigate the adverse effects of marine shipping in Tsleil-Waututh’s ability to practice their culture, and therefore to protect the health of its members.”
International Longshore Workers Union Canada (ILWUC)
Open Letter to Government Regarding Roberts Bank Terminal 2
“Ultimately, you and your cabinet will determine whether [Terminal 2] is in the best interest of Canadians. As ILWU Canada, we suggest that it is not, by any measure.”
Sacred Lands Conservancy
RBT2 threatens salmon, our orca relations, and Indigenous life ways and livelihoods
“Terminal 2 would disrupt and destroy critical habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon. These salmon runs are already greatly diminished. We hear stories about how, in the time of our ancestors, the salmon were so thick you could walk across their backs. Today, we struggle to find enough fish to feed our families and make a living.”
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Suquamish Tribe, and Tulalip Tribes
“ [We] are committed to protecting the Salish Sea and are deeply concerned about [Terminal 2]’s impacts on salmon and Southern Resident Killer Whale relatives. Moreover, the Port Authority’s failure to fully assess cumulative impacts of past, present, and future marine vessel shipping projects, and failure to assess transboundary harms associated with the Project, violates international law obligations.”
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
UCV Opposes the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
“Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Wilkinson and Minister Garneau, it is hard to imagine what public interest might conceivably over-ride the significant adverse residual and cumulative effects [Terminal 2] would cause.”
BCIT Rivers Institute
Letter from scientists regarding Roberts Bank Terminal 2
“Rejection of the project and protection of the Fraser River Estuary as critical habitat for at-risk species would demonstrate federal commitment to legislation like Canada’s Species at Risk Act, and directive policies like Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy”
City of Delta
City of Delta, Council Report Jan 4, 2022
“ [………] deny approval of RBT2 based on the Federal Review Panel Report which, among other things, concludes that the project would result in numerous adverse residual and cumulative effects, and that many of those effects would be significant and unable to be mitigated.”
“Our federal scientists have come out and said the adverse effects will be immediate, continuous and cannot be mitigated,”
City of Richmond
Richmond joins Delta in opposing T2
“The City relies on the Fraser River estuary to reduce the impacts of flooding and improve the community’s quality of life. Our vision of a healthy, safe island community is at risk from the expansion of industry in the Fraser River estuary and the impacts of climate change”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA Letter to Impact Assessment Agency Canada regarding Roberts Bank Terminal 2
“We urge consideration of substantive comments from U.S. stakeholders, such as those regarding the protections necessary for migratory birds including the Dunlin, Western Sandpiper and Black-bellied Plover. Their populations would be at risk should the ecological functions in the Fraser River Estuary, a significant migratory bird habitat, be degraded.”
Laurel Collins, NDP Environment and Climate Change Critic
NDP wants to extend consultation on shipping terminal that poses risks to shorebirds
“The Liberals like to talk a big game about protecting the environment but, in reality, they are acting no better than the Conservatives by refusing to follow science.”
Global Container Terminals
Port of Vancouver’s Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is NOT in Canada’s best interests
“It is time to consider the facts, the data, the science, and the economy. It is time to #RejectRBT2”
Birds Canada and Nature Canada
“Cabinet should say no to the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project. The more we learn about the origins of this pandemic and its links to the destruction of natural habitat, the more apparent it becomes that biodiversity and natural ecosystems are integral to the survival of our future generations.”
Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, David Suzuki Foundation, and Wilderness Committee
Terminal 2 expansion threatens orcas, salmon and climate action – Ecojustice
“If the Trudeau government is going to protect endangered killer whales and iconic wild salmon populations, it must get its priorities straight. The Terminal 2 project threatens to destroy important Chinook salmon habitat and harm southern resident killer whales. Approving the project without an effective way to mitigate these harms would be another black mark on the Liberal government’s disappointing record of putting industrial interests over species survival.”
Friends of the Earth US
Friends of the Earth US activist comments on Roberts Bank T2 proposed project
“Please reject the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 and demonstrate a commitment to Canada’s Species at Risk Act and Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy, and to the integrity of the Salish Sea’s biodiversity and ecosystems.”
Rivershed Society of BC
“The evidence that Roberts Bank Terminal 2 will place too many stressors on endangered species, including Fraser Chinook salmon and southern resident killer whales is overwhelming. But there’s little evidence that habitat offsets would successfully mitigate adverse effects of the port expansion.”
The Waterbird Society
“Due to the uncertainty around impacts of expanding the Roberts Bank Terminal to migratory shorebirds, especially the Western Sandpiper, we believe that the environmental risks posed by the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project will result in unavoidable and significant impacts to birds and other wildlife, including priority aggregations of shorebirds and the food and habitat resources they depend upon.”
OrcaLab
Please reject Roberts Bank terminal expansion proposal
“We oppose the expansion of the Roberts Bank terminal for numerous reasons. It violates the conclusions of the Review Panel, which stated bluntly that it would impact the recovery of Southern Resident Orcas, and the salmon they depend on.”
Against Port Expansion in the Fraser Estuary (APE)
Against Port Epansion in Delta
“ [Terminal 2] will see the loss of globally-signifcant wetlands and habitat for migratory birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, salmon, herring, crabs and orca whales; degradation of the quality of life for thousands of Lower Mainland residents; and the industrialization of prime agricultural land.”
Garden City Conservation Society
Garden City Conservation Society
“Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) threatens to irreversibly damage the Fraser Estuary and set back Canada’s environmental responsibility, climate action and more.”
White Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society
Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
“ Further losses and impacts to bird habitat from port development dismisses any real commitment to international responsibility for migratory birds whose presence notably affects an area.”
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group
Comment Letter on the Fraser River Delta Port Development
“ Based on our review of the Environmental Assessment and the above mentioned documents, we have concluded that the environmental risks and likely impacts posed by the project will result in unavoidable and significant impacts to birds and other wildlife, including hemispherically significant aggregations of shorebirds and the food and habitat resources they depend upon. ”
PenderPod
“We recommend that the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project be rejected on the grounds of Human Health, threats to species at risk including the Southern Resident Killer Whales, and the impact this project will have on the culture and food security of First Nations.”
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