~ Wednesday, April 18, 1990 - North Shore News Neptune Bulk -Terminal’s Expa nsion a | What do YOU think? Who is Neptune Bulk Terminals? Neptune Bulk Terminals since 1980 has been owned by avonsortium of shippers from West- em Canada who produce and ship naturally occurring bulk products such as coal, potash, phosphate rock, alfalfa and canola oil. Most of the products are destined for Asian Pacific nations, What is proposed? Neptune proposes to spend $22 million in up- grading and increasing the capacity of its exist- ing potash shipping facility. This will include an additional unit train dumper, potash storage shed to hold 100,000 tonnes of potash fitted with a state-of-the-art Portal scraper re- claimer. Neptune has recently reapplied to the City of North Vancouver forrezoning approval to con- struct the new potash storage shed. The current application follows an earlier proposal which was rejected by the City Council in October 1989, due to public concerns about view, dust and noise. Because of these concerns we have subsiantially modified the original proposal. We are actively working with the City of Noth Vancouver to ensure that the new proposal is ss acceptable as possible. Over the past year we have made sincere efforts to work with indi- viduals and organizations to identify and re- solve concerns about our current operations and about the proposed potash storage shed. We are committed to continuing this process. Why build a new storage shed? We need to'store large quantities of potash in order to meet the growing world demand, par- ticularly among third world nations. A storage Shed will provide this necessary capacity. Pot- ash is an essential fertiliser in the food chain and is a naiurally occurring non-toxic salt. Can the terminal be moved? We do not consider relocating, for example to Roberts Bank, to be a viable option due to the enormous costs that would be involved. If the additional potash storage is not located at Neptune then it will probably be located at some other terminal in Burrard Inlet or in the US. What about dust problems? Some residents in North Vancouver are both- ered by dust and some people attribute this dust to our operations. In addition to our current dust collection system, we have taken further measures to ensure that dust doesn't escape from our operations. This includes dust con- wols for the dry bulk syslem at all transfer points and five additional spray poles for the coal piles. What about noise? Noise trom our facility originaies from bulk loading operations and the movement of rail cars. We currenly handle about 1000 unit trains per year on average. ‘With the expansion, this figure could increase oy 13 to 1h percent. Studies show theonly na jur noise sousce origi- naling from our siteresults from the movement of phosphate rock rail cars. To reduce this noise to more acceptable tevels we are building a 4 foot high tackside sound barrier along the southwest comer of our facility. The barrier is the highest that can be built according to fed- eral safety regulations. In addition to the effect of the new barrier, we estimate that the automated reclaim feature of the new shed will reduce the use of the mobile equipmerit on potash operations by 50% and the second dumper associated with the project will lessen the use of the existing dumper in the early hours of the moming. Would the new building impact views? The height of the proposed shed was | 20 feetin our first rezoning application. In response to concems about the impact of the shed on water- front views, we have reduced the building height to 110 feet. This reduction in height may result in a loss of storage capacity and is about the best we can accomplish and still maintain an economically viable project. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that the proposed potash shed would reduce some views of the harbour from some vantage points, especially from lower elevation-. in the Cloverley area. What about other impacts of the project? Issues related to water use, waste management, and environmental impacts of tankers on the aquatic environment of Burrard Inlet have also been raised. Tis our firm intentionto work with citizens, the’ newly created Burrard Inlet Task Force and all levels of government in doing our part to help solve the major problems of the harbour. The Vancouver Port Corporation has announced that it will undertake environmental assess- ments of all its ‘Terminal Operating” Tenants, ar action which we fully endorse. What about Neptune’s environmental programs? We have taken steps to improve the environ- mental quality of our operations over the past seven years. During this time expenditures on environmental improvements have accounted for up to 60% of our capital budget ($2.3 million will be spent in 1990 alone). Since 1984 we have constructed eight new settling ponds for liquid effluent. A dry bulk dust sys- tem, approved in carly 1989 to solve the prob- lems created by dusty cargoes, willbe completed in mid~May ata cost of $2 million. Site Area (S) Please complete, detach, and mail within a week What are the economic benefits from the Terminal? Neptune provides full time employment for about 235 persons. We pay approximately $1,040,000 in property texes, $487,000 of which is to the City of North Vancouver for municipal tax. The expansion would generate an additional $350,000 in tax revenue, create 6 more permanent jobs and 100 person years of employment during construction, as well as provide long term security for existing em- ployees. The jobs and tax revenue provided by our terminal are an important component of the local economy. Less visible, but also impor- tant, is the vital role the Terminal plays in contributing economic benefits to other parts of Canada, Our Terminal provides an essential service for our shippers, for thousands of farm- ers and miners in Western Canada and for Canada's customers worldwide. What other henefits does the Terminal provide? Neptune attempts 10 contribute to the social, recreational and educational fabric of our community in several ways: * sponsorship of children’s sports teams and presentations at local schools; bursaries at BCIT; support of the Pacific Marine Training Institute's educational programs; participation in Port Days; organized tours of the Terminal; . support of many other charities and chari- table functions. OPEN HOUSES 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm April 24 North Shore Winter Club 1325 East Keith Road North Vancouver, BC April 26 Neptune Bulk Terminals 1001 Low Level Road North Vancouver, BC Note: Shuttle bus tours of the site will be provided - Come along and find out more about Neptune Bulk Terminal’s Expansion Ask questions, make suggestions and register your views. r What do YOU think? _ Infavour [7] Undecided N Name (if you wish): Address: Community: Please mail to: PO Box 86367 In general, what do you think about the proposed terminal expansion? Questions, comments and suggestions: (Please continue on a separate sheet.) Flease tell us where you live so we can sort the results by area. Postal Code:_ sre: Organization (if any): e.g. Chamber of Commerce Are you an employce of Neptune Buik Terminals? John T. Willcox, President ‘Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Lid. North Vancouver, BC, V7L 4K6 C] Opposed [J O a | Yes [J Thank You!