***For Immediate Release*** October 9 2013 BC Nurses Union stands with community groups in opposing new coal port at Fraser Surrey Docks -- says project would impact health and well-being of thousands, harm fragile environment Surrey -- The BC Nurses Union (BCNU) has expressed its opposition to a new coal port in Surrey in a letter released Tuesday October the 8th. The letter, signed by BCNU President Deborah McPherson and Vice President Christine Sorensen, was written to Communities and Coal, a grassroots group based in South Surrey that has been leading local opposition to the proposal. Communities and Coal has collected more than 10,000 petition signatures opposing the new coal port in Surrey. In the letter, McPherson and Sorensen support the call for a health impact assessment, at international standards, of any proposed coal export expansion. They also call for public and local government involvement in all coal export decisions. “Communities and Coal is pleased to have the support of the nurses union on this issue as it is reassuring that more health professionals are opposing this project, are putting the public interest first, and supporting what residents have been asking for all along; A comprehensive Health Impact Assessment and full public hearings” says Paula Williams, co-founder of Communities and Coal. The BCNU represents more than 40,000 nurses throughout British Columbia. Their letter follows on other recent expressions of concern about the health and environmental impacts of this project: • In early September the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment also wrote a letter expressing strong opposition to the Fraser Surrey Docks coal port. • In late September a group of environment and health impact assessment experts wrote to the Port Authority requesting that it scrap the announced Environmental Impact Assessment of the Fraser Surrey Docks coal port and start over, working with key stake holders like the Health Authorities to develop proper terms of reference and scope. Communities and Coal urges the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to pause and consider their situation. There is no public support for a new coal port in Surrey, and there are grave concerns about the harm this project will bring to our communities, our health and our environments. It is time for the Port Authority to accept the facts and reject the proposal to build a new coal port on the Fraser River.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 16:46:53 +0000
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