Protecting orcas and salmon from the Terminal 2 expansion

Ecojustice is calling on the Minister of Environment and Climate Change not to approve the proposed Terminal 2 expansion.

Located at the mouth of British Columbia’s Fraser River, the shipping terminal project proposed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority poses a threat to endangered killer whales, wild salmon, and other wildlife that rely on the Fraser estuary.

In 2019, Ecojustice represented the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Straight Alliance, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Wilderness Committee at a federal review panel hearing on the project. Ecojustice’s clients expressed concern about noise from vessel traffic associated with the expansion, marine pollution, threats to wild salmon and their rearing habitat, and threats to the other 119 species that call the Salish Sea home.

As a result, the federal review panel concluded that the expansion would have “numerous” adverse effects on the environment, including “significant adverse effects on Chinook salmon” and “significant adverse and cumulative effects on Southern Resident killer whales.”

The decision on whether to greenlight despite these impacts now lies in the hands of Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault.

If built, the Terminal 2 Project would cause significant harm to the environment and threaten precarious salmon populations and endangered killer whales.

The expansion threatens to disrupt Chinook salmon migration patterns and force young salmon into the open ocean before they are strong enough to survive there. This, in turn, could harm predators up the food chain. Any decline in Chinook jeopardizes the future of Southern Resident killer whales, which rely almost exclusively on Chinook for prey.

According to the federal panel’s final report, other impacts from the project would include greater underwater noise, which interferes with the orcas’ ability to hunt and communicate, and loss of critical Southern Resident habitat.

What would a win mean?

If Ecojustice and its clients are successful, the Minister will recognize the significance of Terminal 2’s adverse impacts and will not approve the project.

In that event, the decision for approving the project will fall to Cabinet, who will have the final say on whether or not to allow the expansion to proceed.

Ecojustice staff

Dyna Tuytel

Margot Venton

Mar 2022

2 adult orca backs and dorsal fins appear above still water. A baby orca comes up for air.

blog

Terminal 2 project would be disastrous for at-risk species

At a time of a global biodiversity crisis, all governments must do everything they can to protect species threatened with extinction.

May 2021

A pod of orcas come up for air from the water.

blog

The grandmother effect: How female Southern Resident killer whales take care of their families

Learn about “the grandmother effect” – and how you can take action today to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

Mar 2020

Southern Resident chasing Chinook, Oregon State University via Flickr

press release

Ecojustice: Minister should not approve terminal expansion that will have ‘adverse’ impacts on endangered killer whales

VANCOUVER – Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change should not approve a proposed terminal expansion at the mouth of British Columbia’s Fraser River, Ecojustice says, following a panel report that found the project would have significant adverse impacts on the environment.

Aug 2019

An orca breaches the water and catches a fish in its mouth.

blog

Southern Resident deaths show whales can’t handle existing conditions — much less new TMX threats

Earlier this week, we received devastating news about the Southern Resident killer whales.

May 2019

press release

Terminal 2 expansion threatens orcas, salmon and climate action

VANCOUVER, May 22 2019 — Tomorrow, conservation groups will present three main concerns with the proposed Terminal 2 expansion at Roberts Bank in Delta to the federal review panel.

Jan 2010

press release