The Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has ordered Woodfibre LNG to ‘cease the unauthorized use’ of boat ramps to transport material to its construction site.
The order from EAO follows a warning in October about using Watts Point as a barge landing and shipment location for materials and equipment. The company was also found unlawfully transporting construction materials to the site from St Vincent, located southeast of Powell River. The inspection report states: “It is noted that shipment between the Project and Watts Point and St Vincent do not follow the approved marine access route as per the Marine Transport Management and Monitoring Plan.
In the order on its website, the EAO says it’s the second time this year that WLNG has contravened EAO requirements around marine transport. The company can only transport material from designated routes in Vancouver.
In October, EAO compliance and enforcement officers conducted inspections that found workers had used a private boat launch between September 16 and October 4 to barge construction materials to the site, including fuel tankers and equipment. The site can only be accessed by water.
A warning letter was issued on October 7 after a similar incident in the spring. EAO conducted inspections in May, July and September after complaints from the District of Squamish. The inspections found that in April 2024, workers used a private boat launch to barge construction materials to the site, which included fuel tankers and solid waste.
Woodfibre is required to transport materials using vessels from the Port of Vancouver. EAO says this helps protect the environment and mitigates the risk of spills and other hazards. The illegal use of boat ramps made the company non-compliant with Condition 16 of the certificate, which requires WLNG to transport workers, materials and equipment to the Project by primary and secondary access routes as described in the Construction Marine Transport Management and Monitoring Plan.
The maximum penalty for failure to comply with an Environmental Assessment Certificate is $ 1,000,000 and, on each subsequent conviction, is $ 2,000,000, according to a letter from Kyle Rice, the Senior Compliance and Enforcement Officer at the Environmental Assessment Office.
This is the third warning the company has received this year. Warnings and other orders the company has received so far can be seen on the activities and updates page of the EAO.
