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Vancouver Airport Fuel Delivery Project

The Minister of the Environment has designated this project and the environmental assessment will continue under the former Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC), is proposing to develop a new fuel delivery system to serve the Vancouver International Airport that includes:

  • upgrades to the marine terminal to accommodate fuel cargo shipments on a range of vessel types and sizes, from 20,000 DWT articulated barges to 40,000 DWT Handysize tankers, and up to partially laden Panamax-class tankers in the 60,000 to 80,000 DWT category;
  • construction of six above ground steel tanks within a secondary containment compound on land directly adjacent and northeast of VAFFC's marine terminal property.  The tanks will have a total storage capacity of approximately 80 million litres (500,000 barrels, bbl);
  • construction of an approximate 1 km long pipeline to transfer off-loaded fuel from the marine terminal to the fuel receiving facility, and an approximate 15 km long pipeline to deliver fuel from the fuel receiving facility to the Vancouver International Airport.

The proposed Project has three (3) components:

1. Upgrade and Operation of an Existing Marine Terminal on the Fraser River

VAFFC owns a waterfront property with an existing marine terminal on the north shore of the South Arm of the Fraser River, approximately 2 km east of Highway 99 and 1 km north of the Steveston Highway. VAFFC proposes upgrades to the marine terminal to accommodate fuel cargo shipments on a range of vessel types and sizes, from 20,000 DWT articulated barges to 40,000 DWT Handysize tankers, and up to partially laden Panamax-class tankers in the 60,000 to 80,000 DWT category. These upgrades will consist of structural strengthening of the marine terminal, installation of new breasting and mooring infrastructure, construction of fuel off-loading and transfer facilities and equipment and, depending on the final design concept selected, possibly initial dredging of the riverbed between the navigation channel and the terminal berth to ensure adequate underkeel clearance for Panamax-class tankers during all river conditions.

2. Construction and Operation of a Fuel Receiving Facility

VAFFC intends to lease an upland portion of industrially zoned land owned by Port Metro Vancouver (the Port) to construct and operate a fuel receiving facility. The proposed lease area is located directly adjacent and northeast of VAFFC's marine terminal property. VAFFC intends to construct six above ground steel tanks within a secondary containment compound on the land, which will have a total storage capacity of approximately 80 million litres (500,000 barrels, bbl). The proposed lease area will be able to accommodate a further two tanks as determined by distant future fuel demand at YVR.

3. Construction and Operation of Pipelines

VAFFC proposes to construct an approximate 1 km long pipeline to transfer off-loaded fuel from the marine terminal to the fuel receiving facility, and an approximate 15 km long pipeline to deliver fuel from the fuel receiving facility to YVR. The fuel transfer pipeline will be approximately 16 inches to 20 inches in diameter, and the fuel delivery pipeline will be approximately 10 inches to 12 inches in diameter. With the exception of the crossing under Williams Road, the transfer pipeline will be located on industrially zoned land either owned by VAFFC or leased from the Port. The delivery pipeline will be constructed 2 to 3 metres under existing transportation and/or utility corridors in the City of Richmond. Major road and waterway crossings (e.g., Highway 99 and the Moray Channel of the Fraser River) will be installed by directionally drilling underground. After consultation with the City of Richmond and the public, an alternate route alignment was selected to follow Highway 99 from Francis Road to Bridgeport Trail. From the fuel receiving facility the route alignment has been identified to the west along Francis Road to Highway 99, north along Highway 99 to Bridgeport Trail, west and then northwest to along Bridgeport trail to Van Horne Way, southwest to Charles Street, west along Charles to River Road, southwest along River Road to No. 3 Road and northwest along No. 3 Road to Moray Channel. The route would cross under the Moray Channel and then follow adjacent to existing airport service roads on Sea Island to reach VAFFC's fuel facilities at YVR. The pipeline will avoid the Sea Island Conservation Area.

Initially, the barges that currently service the existing Burrard Inlet terminal are expected to be the type of vessels servicing the Project. Handysize tankers, and potentially Panamax-class tankers, are anticipated over the long-term as determined by future demand for fuel at YVRand sources of international fuel supplies.

Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

 

Latest update

December 16, 2013 - The assessment decision has been taken.

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Contacts


  • Location

    • Richmond (British Columbia)

  • Project Type

    • Building and Property Development

  • Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2010-03-08

  • Proponent

    Vancouver International Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation

  • Authorities

    • Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

  • Assessment Type

    Screening-type assessment under CEAA 1992

  • Reference Number

    53860

Nearby projects

..within 200 kilometres
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