Public notice 

Amendment to the construction hours in respect to condition 18 of the approved Area IV Site Preparation (PER No. 17-080) – Public comments invited

October 2, 2020 – As part of its Project and Environmental Review process, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority must determine whether the proposed amendment to the construction hours in respect to condition 18 of the approved Area IV Site Preparation (PER No. 17-080), located at Richmond Logistics Hub, west of No. 7 Road canal, Richmond, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. 

To help inform this determination and a decision on whether or not to approve the proposed project, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website. 

Written comments must be submitted by October 31, 2020 via the online commenting tool or to: 

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority 
Project and Environmental Review 
100 The Pointe, 999 Canada Place 
Vancouver, B.C. Canada  V6C 3T4  
per@portvancouver.com 

The Proposed Project 

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (the Permit Holder) proposes to carry out physical activities related to the approved Area IV Site Preparation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, excluding Statutory Holidays  for approximately 16 weeks, concluding on February 28, 2021. This would require an amendment to condition 18 of the approved project permit (PER No. 17-080) which states:  

All general construction and physical activities related to the Project shall be conducted from Monday to Saturday between the hours of 7:00 am and 8:00 pm. No construction and physical activities shall occur during Sundays or holidays. These hours shall not be modified without prior approval from VFPA. 

The scope of the amendment in relation to the delivery and placement of sand from dredged material (pumped to the site from a vessel in the Fraser River via supply pipeline), is being requested to ensure the dredging vessel can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as this is how the vessel is operated. The project components associated with this request include, creating a two metre high berm around the site to contain the water used to deliver sand, preloading the site by pumping dredged material from the Fraser River to an elevation of 7-12 metres, and the discharge of dewatering water back to the river using a pump and dewatering pipeline after being temporarily treated in drainage swales. Heavy equipment will distribute the sand on site to achieve the desired loading. 

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority understands that noise generated in relation to the works concerning the delivery and placement of sand on the site will originate primarily from diesel equipment and pumps. This noise is not anticipated to be audible beyond the site boundaries and is consistent with other activities happening in the vicinity of the project site.