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'Sustainable transportation, not monster highways'
by Abbotsford News •
Monday March 27, 2006 at 03:52 PM
Opposition groups say increased air pollution from vehicles and the potential damage to the environmentally sensitive Burns Bog are key reasons to say "no" to expanding Highway 1 and the other Gateway projects, such as the South Fraser Perimeter Road.
Abbotsford News 'Sustainable transportation, not monster highways' Mar 25 2006 Opposition groups say increased air pollution from vehicles and the potential damage to the environmentally sensitive Burns Bog are key reasons to say "no" to expanding Highway 1 and the other Gateway projects, such as the South Fraser Perimeter Road. Some 20 different conservation and community groups say the government could better spend $3 billion by increasing transit, bus, and cycling alternatives. The Fraser Valley Conservation Coalition (FVCC) is seeking public support for its opposition effort. "There should be sustainable transportation, not monster highways," says Donna Passmore, spokeswoman for the FVCC. Here are some of the reasons the FVCC is opposed: - Each day of a bad air visibility day results in future tourism revenue losses of $7.45 million in Greater Vancouver and $1.3 million in the Fraser Valley. Environment Canada study - Between 15 to 150 deaths per year in the Lower Mainland may be attributable to air pollution. Fraser Health Authority air quality report. - Farm gate receipts in Fraser Valley are $1.5 billion annually. Ground level ozone pollution costs up to 25 per cent of crop yields. - 200 acres of farm land are to be removed for highway expansion. - Increased ship traffic to Roberts Bank pose a threat to three local pods of Orcas. - Roberts Bank is at the mouth of the endangered Fraser River, the greatest salmon river in the world. - Environment Canada warns the project could create a stagnant stinking shoreline between the ferry terminal and Deltaport which "could result in such massive environmental change between the causeways that there would be public outrage as well as agency embarrassment on an international scale." For more information on the FVCC, call 533-0173 or 536-2790 or email: fraservalleycc@yahoo.com.
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