Dear Editor,
Thank you for this opportunity to respond to concerns raised by Anton van Walraven in the Bowen Island Undercurrent last week.
At Woodfibre LNG Limited, safety is the number one priority, which is why, should our project go ahead, we will have firefighting capabilities on land and on the water. In particular, we will have a tugboat equipped with firefighting capabilities at the Woodfibre site, and it will be available to respond should an incident, similar to what happened at Squamish Terminals, occur in the future.
In terms of potential fuel spills, the LNG carriers that would come to and from our proposed project will primarily use the boil-off gas (methane) that they are transporting as fuel. In the unlikely event of a spill, LNG does not pollute water. It turns back into a gas and quickly dissipates. LNG carriers have complex containment systems and double hull protection, and they carry bunker fuel as a back-up fuel.
In terms of marine-traffic related to the Woodfibre LNG project, we are licensed by the National Energy Board to export 2.1 million tonnes of LNG per year. The natural gas that we will export is the same gas being distributed to homes on the Sunshine Coast and in Squamish. We expect an LNG carrier to arrive at the Woodfibre site three to four times per month (up to about 40 vessels per year), escorted by at least three tugboats, and piloted by two BC Coast Pilots who know our coast best. The application before the Environmental Assessment Office does not call for the exaggerated number of tanker return trips per month claimed in last week’s letter to the editor.
At Woodfibre LNG we are committed to building a project that is right for the region.
If you have questions, please contact us. Our email address is [email protected] and you can reach us by phone at 1-888-801-7929. More project information can also been found at our website (www.woodfibrelng.ca) or at our new questions and answer website (www.askwoodfibrelng.ca).
John French
Community Relations Manager
Woodfibre LNG Limited
