Friday, September 25, 2015

Aurora LNG outlines design plans for proposed Digby Island terminal

For many at Wednesday's Open House for the Aurora LNG project, the backdrop of Digby Island visible from the North Coast Convention Centre, provided the main talking point for the evening's review. With a number of the members community that call Digby Island home, noting their displeasure at the prospect of having to share their patch of the North Coast with a major development.

A look at the design of the proposed Aurora LNG
Terminal proposed for the south end of Digby Island

The proponents for an LNG Terminal on the southern approach to Digby Island provided a comprehensive overview of their project on Wednesday, offering background to their work so far, noting the engagement process that they have taken on to this point and how their efforts will continue on into the future.

Much of what those residents in attendance on Wednesday might have taken in has already been provided to the public by way of Aurora's most recent Community update.

That information guide was posted to the Aurora website last month, featuring some background on the current level of survey work taking place on Digby Island and the introduction and explanation
Aurora LNG has debuted the
new corporate log for their
North Coast LNG project
of their new logo for the project to identify its connection to the North Coast.

As for some of the details of the proposed development, Aurora LNG highlighted some of the economic benefits that the project would bring to the region, among them:

A construction workforce of 3,000 to 5,000 people, with plans to develop a work camp at the LNG Terminal site.

Upon completion, the operational workforce for the Terminal would be in the range of 200-300 workers. Aurora notes in its information package that they will have a hire and buy local first policy in place as their plans move forward.

Training opportunities will also be part of their presence in the region, with Aurora LNG planning to consult with the community as to how best approach those training requirements through educational and training institutions.

Local businesses and service providers that might wish to work with Aurora LNG can register with the company through the Work With us section of their website.

As for why they selected Digby Island, Aurora officials noted the large size of the proposed development area and the sheltered bay area which offers easy access to the proposed site, making material offloading less of a concern.

As well, with a site as large as what Digby Island has to offer, the company believes that they can confine all construction and operational activities to the immediate area.

Wednesday's Open House was part of Aurora's current efforts related to the initial public comment period, part of the early stages of the Environmental Assessment process, with a deadline for comments coming up on October 1st.

"The focus of this open house is to invite comments on the dAIR,“ ... “As we move forward with Aurora LNG, there will be multiple opportunities for the public and stakeholders to learn more about the project. In turn, we are committed to understanding the interests and concerns of Aboriginal groups, local communities and other stakeholders. It’s our experience that early engagement and collaboration ultimately results in a better project." -- Aurora LNG's Darcy Janko outlining the theme of Wednesday's Open House in Prince Rupert

Those interested in making their submission to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office can learn more about that process here.

And on that theme of feedback, Wednesday provided for a fair amount of comment from those that live on Digby Island, particularly from the Dodge cove region, CFTK TV provided a sample of some of their thoughts as part of their Thursday evening newscast.

The Aurora group in attendance at Wednesday's event will be taking note of the feedback from the community that they received, putting some of those contributions to work for their next Open House which they have tentatively set for sometime in December.

Until that point, more information on the project can be found through their Project office, located in the Coastal Business Centre on 2nd Avenue West, across from the Ocean Centre.

You can learn more about the Aurora LNG project from our archive page here.

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