Vancouver British Columbia - The British Columbia government has provided environmental clearance for expansion of the container port at Roberts Bank, B.C., the Canadian Press reports, saying it could not prohibit the project from going forward in light of earlier federal approval.
 
The $3.5 billion Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project was approved by the Canadian government in April, subject to some 370 conditions.
 
It will add some 2.4 million 20 foot container equivalents, or TEUs, of capacity to the existing facility, served by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and BNSF Railway.
 
Five environmental groups have launched a legal challenge to the expansion, but the provincial government said it could not prevent the project, which is almost entirely on federal land.
 
It decided to issue an environmental assessment certificate with 16 conditions to offset adverse affects of the projects to protect provincial interests.
 
Author unknown.