Now that Vancouver has the 2010 Olympics where do we go from here ?
Who will keep an independent eye on the activities of the organising committees, sponsors, environment, contracted workers and many other aspects of the games ?
An update on the progression of the Sea to Sky Highway expansion project through the environmental assessment process:
Kevin Washbrook
The comment period is now over and most local governments have provided a response to the application, as have several provincial ministries, federal ministries, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) and numerous members of the public.
Most notable:
In its response, CEAA rejects MoT's application for an EA certificate because it does not meet the requirements outlined in the application process.
The Federal Department of Fisheries has also provided a scathing review of the application, and recommends that it be rejected because it does not give "appropriate and meaningful treatment to the project's terms of reference," has not addressed the issue of cumulative effects resulting from the project, has not provided a compelling rationale for the destruction of fish bearing streams, has ignored or inadequately addressed recommendations provided by DFO in a pre application review, and has relied on outdated (1992!) guidelines for protection of fish habitat. DFO has since backed off from this critique in a "clarification letter" submitted by the Regional Director for habitat and enhancement. Most media coverage has focused on this particular issue, and MoT's project director has been quoted as saying that he doesn't think any of the criticisms raised will lead to delays in the start of the project.
Health Canada has also raised concerns about the application's reliance on outdated standards and models for the assessment of noise impacts.
Several local government comments have also been critical of the application, in particular its failure to consider the use of TDM measures and the inadequacies of the consultation process. Squamish and Lil'Wat Nation responses are also highly critical, as is WLAP's review of the air quality impact assessment in the application. All documents associated with the STS environmental certificate application can be found at:
Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) has a number of
additional concerns about MoT's application. These include its use of outdated population projections (and resultant traffic volume forecasts) to estimate traffic, noise and air quality impacts from highway expansion, and its failure to acknowledge that corridor growth and development which will be induced by highway expansion is a cumulative environmental effect of the project that must be evaluated. BEST's submission to the Environmental Assessment Office can be found at:
