Public notice 

Maintenance Dredging – Lhoist North America of Canada Inc. – Public comments invited 

May 27, 2022 – As part of its Project and Environmental Review process, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority must determine whether the proposed Maintenance Dredging – Lhoist North America of Canada Inc., located at 20303-102B Avenue, Langley, B.C., is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. Written comments to be received by June 25, 2022. 

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. In addition, your contact information may be shared with third parties, e.g., the tenant, other relevant agencies, to help respond to your questions and inform possible mitigations. 

Written comments must be submitted by June 25, 2022 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 

Lhoist North America of Canada Inc. is proposing to conduct annual maintenance dredging of their barge loading berth located at 20303-102B Avenue, Langley, BC. Dredging is required to maintain design depths of -6.10 metres Chart Datum. The dredge area is 100 x 30 m, and the maximum dredge volume will be 4,000 cubic metres per year for the next five years. Dredging would be performed using a clamshell dredge from a barge-mounted derrick with dredged material to be loaded to an adjacent flat scow. The proposed disposal is at a disposal at sea (DAS) site approved under a dredging contractor's multi-site disposal at sea permit. Work is proposed to take place within the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) least risk window for the project area.  

Sediment sampling and testing was conducted in December 2021. The material consisted of silty loam and sandy loam and exceeded DAS criteria for Arsenic and Copper. Subsequent sediment toxicity testing (Tier 2 testing) was completed in January 2022 and passed DAS criteria.