By Staff Writer – Richmond Review
Published: May 09, 2013 4:00 PM
Updated: May 09, 2013 4:50 PM
http://www.richmondreview.com/news/election/206853551.html

John Cummins was in Steveston Thursday morning to announce the B.C. Conservatives are opposed to the Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation’s plan to ship jet fuel along the south arm of the Fraser River.

“The Liberal government has ignored some of the fundamental recommendations of the Auditor General, and the current effectiveness of the BC (Environmental Assessment Office) is questionable,” the Leader of the B.C. Conservatives said.

“The Auditor General has stated that the EAO is not making appropriate monitoring, compliance and outcome information available to the public, and the approval process for these important projects is taking far too long.”

The B.C. Conservatives would increase public participation and improve the speed with which decisions are made by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.

“We would ask the Auditor General to review the pre-approval process of the BCEAO,” Cummins said. “The public deserves to know what’s going on and it’s important that local residents have a say. We also need to increase the speed of these environmental assessments. The current Airport Fuel project has taken nearly 1,000 days, a far cry from the so-called guarantee of 180-day approvals.”