Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project

Please do not approve this project.  The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has submitted this application citing the importance of increasing port capacity.  I suggest that if this new terminal is approved, The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will proceed to sell some of the land under it's jurisdiction in Burrard Inlet.  The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will sell the land for billions of dollars to property developers in order to increase it's bottom line.  Those property developers will in turn build expensive waterfront towers.  The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will justify the sale of it's Burrard Inlet properties by citing increased port capacity provided by the Robert's Bank Terminal 2 Project.

I suspect that many of the people on the decision making panel have never visited the area where the Robert's Bank Terminal 2 Project is proposed to be built.  As a person who grew up in Delta and who now resides near the west dyke in Richmond, I see the importance of this area every day.  It seems that the importance of this area to migratory birds is not a concern of value to The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.  It is very sad that nature is not valued to the extent that it should be valued.  Once this area no longer provides food to migratory birds, they will no longer survive.  Nature versus commerce.   I know which of these two that I value more.  Expand port capacity, if it is indeed necessary, in a more suitable area. 

Remove the coal port.  Why is thermal coal from the United States allowed to be exported through this Canadian port when Washington State, Oregon and California do not allow this US coal to be exported through their ports?  Again, consider nature.  Consider how the burning of coal affects climate change.  Convert the area that the coal port covers into a container port.

Please do not approve the Robert's Bank Terminal 2 Project.

Sincerely,

Laura Pingle