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You Can Have a Say on Port Development
The Vancouver Port Authority is looking for community members to form a < a href=" http://www.portvancouver.com/the_port/community_liaison_committee.html">LOCAL COMMITTEE to discuss issue surrounding the build out of the third berth and other Port related issues. Now is your time to get involved!
No is your time to get involved. More
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Well said Glenn.
Mitigation not confrontation is the best road to take for our collective benefit.
I tip my hat to the efforts of community leaders like Lois Jackson and John Cummins who are standing up for the healthy existence of their constituents. Delta has "worked with" the port operators for many, many years. We've put up with coal dust, air pollution, coal trains, container trains, container trucks, noise pollution, and light pollution. Val Roddick's classic standby phrase "we have to work with them to ensure the best outcome for Delta" is a non-commital, non-answer, spineless quote that offers no sense of leadership from the very person who should be passionate about preserving this incredible community.
Lois Jackson please shut up with all the rhetoric you spew.Your Doomsday cries are if nothing else flawed and also extremely tiresome.
Lois appeared before the Senate on March 13th.Instead of trying to voice reasonable concerns about port expansion she goes off on a doomsday tirade that left many of the powers that be wondering if Lois is dealing with a full deck.
In one sentence she says "We cannot afford to lose another acre of our food-producing lands or our scarce industrial lands to eight or 10-storey high piles of empty containers," she said.
So is other industry ok to use our scarce food producing lands.What other industry does she have in mind?
Secondly most of the containers at deltaport are loaded containers filled with all the goods each and every one enjoys or needs.Also eight or ten storey high?the highest deltaport stacks is 5 containers high,each container is either 8'6" or 9'6" high at most this is 48 feet high a far cry from eight or ten stories.
Lois also went on with this quote."The people of the Lower Mainland, the birds, fish and other species, the agricultural lands, the zoning powers of municipalities – it might be considered by some that all of these are obstacles," Jackson said.
Yes Lois there are some that argue against any development,However the silent majority enjoy,need and depend on goods coming from offshore.In fact this majority will be very upset if suddenly these goods cost much more due to increased shipping if we have to bring these goods up from other ports.This is not to mention the increased truck traffic to deliver these goods from other ports.As far as habitat destruction I say yes initially however in very short order the increased land the port develops actually creates more habitat.Deltaport is a relatively clean industry that generates bag fulls of money for local,provincial and federal coffers,not to mention the thousands of good paying jobs it spins off.
Lois instead of screaming from rooftops that the sky is falling you need to be working to insure Port expansion is done wisely.Work towards holding Deltaport to things like Shore power for ships,cleaner operating equipment,perhaps getting the port authority to contribute some money for a nature preserve or park.Make sure that the governments provide the infrastructure to move these trucks and trains in the most efficient way with the least amount of local disruption.
Lois WAKE up and start working with them as opposed to against them as this will be the best way to achieve a workable compromise.Remember you catch more flies with honey then vinegar.
Glenn
There seems to be an presumption that there is an age relationship between those for or against the current industrializing of Delta. I would not be too hasty in making that assumption. I am a senior and I am pro development if not pro industrialization. I would suggest that those over 50 have more time to attend meetings with less children related conflicts and job demands. While there is a NIMBY mentality with many of the over 50's, I see it also in the younger generations and I know many in my age group (60's) who support common sense development. So be careful to all who join in these debates to refrain from stereotyping. There is enough confusion as it is.
Interesting article!
VPA needs to address this concern publicly. People have a right to know all of the concerns. If buildout is a given, maybe locals should receive protection in insurance premiums or other medical costs in anticipation of potentially negative outcomes?
Here's an article from the Seattle Times that speaks to the issue of how clean the air is around ports.
Thursday, February 23, 2006 - Page updated at 08:01 AM
E-mail article Print view
Where the worst air is
By Warren Cornwall and Justin Mayo
Seattle Times staff reporters
TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A container ship in Elliott Bay belches black smoke into the air near downtown Seattle. The diesel-fueled ships are a major polluter.
Related
• Cancer risk from air pollution
From the courtyard in the middle of downtown Seattle's fancy Harbor Steps Apartments, there's little sign of the industrial giant nearby.
The space is an oasis of calm. A yoga studio beckons from one side, a coffee shop from another. Overhead, apartments rent for as much as $5,600 a month.
The huge red cranes at the Port of Seattle aren't even visible from here. But it's what's invisible that's the problem. The air in this part of Seattle, some of it wafting from mammoth cargo ships idling at the port, is some of the unhealthiest in the state and the entire nation.
With only a few exceptions, the most unhealthful air in the state is found in neighborhoods near ports throughout Western Washington, according to a Seattle Times analysis of an Environmental Protection Agency study of cancer-causing air pollution, released publicly Wednesday.
Those areas are home to tens of thousands of people. And the problem could get worse because of growing global commerce and lax government control over the pollution that spews from the big freighters.
In Seattle, the bad air reaches residential parts of West Seattle and much of downtown. More and more people are living downtown, and once-seedy neighborhoods like the area around Pike Place Market are being eyed as sites for million-dollar condominiums.
Even the small Puget Sound city of Anacortes has some of the region's worst air, partly because huge oil tankers motor past and park at nearby refineries.
That means people in those areas are breathing more pollutants linked to lung cancer, asthma and possibly heart disease.
"The people who live around ports are subsidizing the cost of trade through their health and through their lives," said Julie Masters, a senior attorney for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, and an expert on port pollution.
Local clean-air regulators say the problem could grow as ports get busier, unless more is done.
"Our next big concern is the ports," said Dennis McLerran, executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, which monitors air quality in King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties. "The good news is that everyone that we are working with understands that this is a big issue that needs to be dealt with."
Thanks Glenn. You raise several points that are generally overlooked. Your assessment of the economics at play with changing trade partners is particularly astute.
I have always maintained that we will need this buildout but that it should proceed with the uptmost care and attention. This is where the really hard work comes in to play.
Phillip Raphael wrote an interesting perspective of the goings on in our community as told by several points of view - mine being one them - in the < a href="http://www.southdeltaleader.com/">SOUTH DELTA LEADER (doormat).
Thanks for participating.
Mike;I can not agree more with your comments made here.Your assesment that the issue of port expansion goes well beyond the delta's borders is absolutley correct.
If Canada fails to embrace this economic tidal wave that is coming from China and the entire far east Canadians from Delta to Halifax will be adversely effected.Like it or not Global trade is changing and evolving. No longer can Canada soley rely on riding on the US shirttails and nor should we.
The US is a great nation,neighbour and ally and hopefully will be for a very long time.However the US is also a very protectionist nation filled with very powerful self interest lobby groups who think nothing about other nations economic concerns should they start losing an economic advantage.We in Canada know all about this power when despite dozens of world trade court victories the US continued to punish our softwood lumber industry.After years of punitive damage we finaly reached an ageement but in order to do so we still had to leave a billion dollars of our money to the US.
Now more then ever before does Canada need diversify our economic trading partners so that no one nation can have such a powerful influence on our national well being.
The relativly new players in town China and India will dwarf the US econimic output in the very near future.We as a nation can roll the dice and ignore this fact or we can embrace these opportunities.Most Canadians enjoy a pretty nice lifestyle,do we really want roll the dice and ignore the new world order that is rapidly taking place?.
I and probably the overwhelming majority say no!most Canadians want to maintain or better our lifestyle's for not only ourselves but for our children as well.
Delta,Vancouver and British Columbia like it or not are a gateway to these opportunities to better all Canadians way of life.Port expansion is key to these opportunities.
Unfortunatly the residents of Delta and the entire lower mainland are the ones that have deal with the immediate rammifications that come with expanding our doorway.
The good that comes with this far outweigh the bad however we can not, nor should we ignore the negative impacts this growth will bring.Screaming "NIMBYs" will not be helpful.Sternly but cooperatively working with th VPA,local provincal and federal governments is the best way to ensure that the negative impacts are dealt with in the best possible way.
We must work to ensure that the inevitable infrastructure that needs to get put in place not only helps the VPA but improves on what we have in place now.Anybody who drives anywhere within the lower mainland is well aware of how difficult it can be most times of the day.Improved infrastructure will certainly help this,and before the anti auto green house gas people start screaming think about the fact Automobiles are getting cleaner and in fact probably not to far down the road they will become 0 emmision vehicles.When these 0 emmision vehicles become the norm the guilt that some of us feel driving greenhouse gas emmiting vehicles will be gone.
Container Ports are a realativly clean industry that will help keep our economy strong for many many years to come.We need to take all the good these plans can make but we must all work hard to ensure that we minimize the negative as best we can.
Glenn Hurst
Just got back from the event. Very well attended I though and some interesting commentary.
This is a very important issue and many should get involved to at least understand the implications of port expansion.
Just got back from the event. Very well attended I though and some interesting commentary.
This is a very important issue and many should get involved to at least understand the implications of port expansion.
Port Expansion Public Meeting
February 8th, 2007, Ladner Community Center
***************
AGENDA
• 7:00pm Opening remarks by Liz Gough, APE Spokesperson.
• 7:05pm – Councillor Krista Engelland to present an overview of the evening's agenda, and introduce the guest speakers.
• 7:15pm – Roger Emsley, APE Spokesperson to "connect the dots".
• 7:25pm – Marilyn Montgomery, Brunswick Point Family Spokesperson
• 7:30pm – Donna Passmore to speak about the Gateway 30 movement.
• 7:35pm – John Cummins, Delta-Richmond East MP, to speak about his concerns and what actions the public can take to address Ottawa.
• 7:40pm – Guy Gentner, North Delta MLA, to speak about contacts in the Opposition caucus.
• 7:45pm – The audience is invited to come forward with questions, suggestions and comments.
• 9:00pm – Closing remarks. (The official closure of the meeting will depend on the number of questions/comments.)
****************
Delta – Is it theirs to ruin, or ours to protect?
"Community Unity" makes a difference…..thanks for coming!
Contact APE: ape.info@dccnet.com
Is there a way to see an agenda for this scheduled meeting tomorrow?
This is a pretty big thing and I am interested in attending. Is there a web site or something? Does anyone know?
Some people love to refer to Port Expansion and the associated infrastructure build-out as the "Master Plan" as if it has been ill-conceived and is laden with inherently evil characteristics.
I have heard people and local Government officials say that Port Expansion issues are being negotiated in secret and that there is a massive conspiracy at play.
Some have referred to the surrounding issues as "dominoes" implying that each component has been secretly developed to fit in to an overall master plan to deceive the citizens of Delta and British Columbia. Can you give us some credit please? The majority of people that live here understand our plight. Most of us have the cognitive ability to understand and interpret our environment. We do not need a constant run of zealots to remind of us of every idiosyncrasy that for most would seem as obvious as waking up in the morning.
A couple of things are clear. If you are the VPA, you can't expand your operation without first having the transportation infrastructure. That is why the South Perimeter road discussion had to evolve before approval of the Third Berth. When business is good you make arrangements to keep it going...correct?
On the TFN side of things, of course a land deal in the area of the Port would make sense. We may not like it, but at face value it seems like an appropriate business transaction given the complexities of the issue.
In the Jan 31 Delta Optimist Liz Gough takes a poke at Ted Murphy for feeling that resistance to Port expansion and other issues can seem futile. Ted has it right in the sense that people who have semi-logical minds understand that things have to happen regardless of ad nausea references to Margaret Mead quotes.
Gough again suggests that our lifestyles are being "assaulted". Mine?..not so much. I can still very easily appreciate my local environment in a short walk from my house. I am sure most others in South Delta can as well.
I bet Gough has never even been to the Port. I would venture to say that she has a vague idea of what it does but I think that she would completely disagree that it actually contributes to maintaining the" lifestyle" that we have become accustomed to and the one that she constantly refers to. Unless, of course, she only wears, buys , eats and furnishes her home with Tsawwassen or "Canadian" made items. Ya.right!
Would that be a reasonable thing for your family and my family to consider?
No...it is not.
No expansion at our Ports would see an increased trade deficit, lack of business investment, movement of goods to other Ports and a loss of employment, higher interest rates and a myriad of other problems. That is when the "for sale" signs would come up.
We are a nation of traders and always have been. Our plentiful primary resource base is what makes Canada one of the most stable and live-able countries in the world.
When did Gough move to South Delta and what infrastructure was in place then?
Did farmers and early pioneers like or hate the fact that their trade routes would be expanded?
Look...we may hate the fact that changes are happening in our community. I don't want more trucks on our roads and I don't want erosion of our wetlands and I would certainly like to catch a coho in Georgia Straight like I used to not so many years ago.
As unfortunate as it may seem, I have also "resigned" to the fact that I am ineffectual in halting the development of these social and economic building blocks. I know they will be built. My job and yours...now...is too ensure as much as possible that the build-out will be undertaken with due care and attention.
As much as I applaud APE's intent I certainly do not, for a single moment, deny the "government" for doing what is has to do to keep our Nation strong.
Local fights are impressive in intent but unfortunately lame in practice.
Liz...sign up for the Port Committee and see if you can help fine tune an unfortunate local situation in to a live-able compromise on a fundamental need of our society.
Mike Schneider
For those who are wondering how large 1000 acres is.
640 acres is one mile by one mile. 1000 acres is very close to the
area bounded by 56th. , 1st ave, English Bluff, and 12th ave.
(The route used in the Tour of Delta Bike race). The circumference is
approx. eight kilometers around. No small amount. There will
be no where in Delta where you are less than a few hundred meters from a major transportation or utility coridor.
What are those benefits? I didn't think the unemployment rate was that
high in Delta. Although with all the heavy industry moving in
housing prices may come down enough that a truck driver will be
able to afford a place in South Delta. It is becoming more apparent
that living here has fewer advantages of urban living and more
disadvantages. We are all to some extent refugees in our communities
planning our lives around peak traffic periods.I missed the democracy in this whole process...
I have alot of trouble beleiving they are going to listen to
anything thats not on their agenda at this point
I have concerns about the port, like anybody. I think we have to work with the port, even play a little hardball, toward getting those concerns addressed. But ultimately we should not be trying to screw them over and punt them out of the community. Richmond doesn't do it with its airport which is probably a far more direct intrusion on its citizens lives.
Like it or hate it, the reality is that the Port affords us an opportunity to maintain a strong economy. Some recent stats are shown in the < a href="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=152ed54c-037f-4f9f-a6e4-45b1c589109d&k=73251">VANCOUVER SUN
Ya..it would be like sitting your own funeral arrangements. Does anyone honestly believe that a "resident" could make a difference at this table? Gimme a break!
Could someone describe in more detail what would be involved. Would ordinary citizens actually have the ability to affect change?
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