Second Public notice 

Sterling Shipyard Remediation and Infill – Public comments invited 

March 28, 2023 – As part of its Project and Environmental Review process, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority must determine whether the proposed Sterling Shipyard Remediation and Infill, located at 2089 – 2095 Commissioner Street, Vancouver, B.C., is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. Written comments to be received by April 26, 2023

To help inform this determination and a decision on whether or not to approve the proposed project , the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.  For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website. In addition, your contact information may be shared with third parties, e.g., the tenant, other relevant agencies, to help respond to your questions and inform possible mitigations. 

Written comments must be submitted by April 26, 2023 to: 

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority 
Project and Environmental Review 
100 The Pointe, 999 Canada Place 
Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6C 3T4  
per@portvancouver.com

The proposed project 

SNC Lavalin on behalf of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's (the "Port Authority") Planning and Development department (the "Applicant") has applied to undertake remediation and redevelopment activities in subtidal, intertidal and uplands areas of a former shipyard at 2089 to 2095 Commissioner Street in Vancouver. The Applicant has amended the project scope to include on-site kelp seeding as part of habitat offsetting measures, therefore a new public comment period was required. The Applicant also proposes to carry out offsite habitat offsetting. The Port Authority will review offsite habitat offsetting as a separate project.   

The original project description is as follows. The Applicant proposes to remove contaminated sediment in the project area replace it with clean fill to raise the grade and reclaim approximately 4,500 square meters of additional land for future industrial use. The proposed works include the removal of approximately 17,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment down to a maximum depth of approximately 5 metres, installation of a rock berm, approximately 100 metre long, in the low intertidal area of the site, and the placement of approximately 40,000 cubic metres of engineered fill in both the intertidal and upland areas. The contamination from the former shipyard includes debris, wood waste, metals and hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and covers over 80 per cent of the intertidal area down to a maximum depth of approximately 5 metres. The fill layer in this area ranges in depth from approximately 4 metres to 8 metres. Project works also include the creation of two subtidal reefs and marine riparian planting.  

As some of the activities are dependent on tides, work may need to take place outside of standard hours (except for Sundays and statutory holidays). Should the project be approved, construction is expected to take approximately 10 months to complete.  

Note: Fisheries and Oceans Canada is reviewing this project as well as the proposed offsite habitat offsetting as a single project (CIAR #84198).  

Document Reference Number: 2

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