Coal trains through White Rock likely won't run much longer

Frank Bucholtz photo

No matter what happens in today's provincial election, one result of the campaign will likely be an end to trains hauling thermal coal for export to Asia travelling through White Rock, Surrey and Delta. An export ban or $70 per tonne carbon tax will probably end shipments through Westshore Terminals in Delta.

 

No matter what the result of today's provincial election is, there will be significant changes on one important local issue – the export of thermal coal.

This issue has got a lot of attention in the past few years, due to concerns about coal train traffic through White Rock and South Surrey, and the growing emphasis on climate change. An even bigger issue was the proposal for a coal export terminal at Fraser Surrey Docks, which almost certainly will not go ahead now.

Curiously, it was not environmental concerns that pushed export coal to the forefront in the election campaign. It was the long-anticipated U.S. government decision to impose steep duties on B.C. softwood lumber.

This decision, announced on April 24, adds duties which in some cases are more than 20 per cent – and may turn out to be much higher by June. B.C. is hard-hit by the duties, with the highest ones being added to lumber shipped by B.C.-based companies.

Current premier Christy Clark, who is trying for a second mandate as BC Liberal leader, was quick to jump all over the issue. What was completely unexpected was her linking of it to the export coal issue. Clark announced at a campaign stop in Surrey on April 26 that she had written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking that his government prohibit the export of thermal coal. Up to that point, Clark had never indicated any interest in halting thermal coal shipments.

She followed her April 26 announcement up by saying later that, even if Trudeau’s government didn’t approve the export ban, she would impose a $70 per tonne carbon tax on thermal coal being exported from B.C., which would effectively price it out of the market. Most of the thermal coal currently exported from B.C. goes to China for power generation, with the majority coming from mines in Montana and Wyoming, and being hauled by BNSF railway to Westshore Terminals in Delta.

Some thermal coal is also mined in Alberta, and shipped from Prince Rupert. Although Clark said her proposed carbon tax would also apply to Alberta coal, the federal government does not seem too keen on one province imposing a carbon tax on a product being exported by a producer in another province.

Trudeau told Clark in a letter Friday that his government was looking into her request, but at the same time the Trudeau government told Alberta officials that its coal would not be the target of any export ban. Interestingly enough, Alberta has already told coal companies that supply electrical plants in that province that the plants must stop operating by 2030.

About 75 per cent of the thermal coal exported from B.C. right now comes from the U.S. and is shipped through Westshore, with 25 per cent from Alberta. Most of the coal exported from B.C. is metallurgical coal, used in steel making, and would not be subject to the carbon tax or proposed ban. Almost all of it is hauled by CP from mines in the East Kootenay area, near Sparwood. It is very unlikely that either a BC Liberal or NDP government would even suggest closing those mines, which employ thousands of people.

The long battle over the Fraser Surrey Docks export terminal has involved numerous local governments and environmental organizations. While it has not yet been officially halted, and has received the approval of Port Metro Vancouver, any export ban or carbon tax would certainly kill it off.

The Fraser Surrey Docks proposal called for up to eight million tonnes to be exported annually – which is almost as much as is being currently exported from the Delta and Prince Rupert ports.

Both the NDP and Green parties oppose thermal coal exports, so it seems there is no chance that the Fraser Surrey Docks terminal will go ahead. People in that area of Surrey and Delta, and in the Queensborough area of New Westminster, will no longer be concerned about air pollution from the loading of coal onto ships.