Ridley Terminals looks to expand capacity for coal terminal operations

RTI is proposing a second terminal berth to handle the increase in throughput
that the coal terminal is receiving now
(Photo from RTI website)

Expansion plans may be part of the agenda for Ridley Terminal's Annual Public Meeting at the North Convention Centre next week, with one of the regions major industrial giants finding that increasing coal output has created a demand for expanded shipping options at the Ridley Island facility.

The increase for coal production in Northeast British Columbia was noted in RTI's First Quarter Report of March, and with it the volume of shipments out of Ridley which saw a 25 per cent increase in the first quarter.

The rebound for coal transiting through the North Coast has been such, that the total comprehensive income for the first quarter of 2018 was $6,874,000 making for an increase of 712.53% compared to one year before.

The first indication for a potential expansion of shipping options came from that First Quarter Report, which in addition to highlighting the ongoing work of AltaGas on the Ridley site, also indicated that RTI was exploring further options for its own terminal operations.

RTI has additional capacity options at its availability and continues to explore the potential for further terminal utilization and development.

In order to meet future capacity requirements, RTI has undertaken preliminary activities, such as initial engineering and project description work, as well as continued discussions with relevant stakeholders, to substantiate the option of establishing a new berth face on RTI’s existing dock structure. 

The new berth face would be designed to handled small to mid-size bulk carriers.

Port Edward Council received the first public briefing on the plans from Ridley Terminals at their July session, with representatives from RTI outlining their plans for a second terminal berth which will allow for increased shipment volumes and turn around times for vessels calling on the facility.

The Northern View has some background on the RTI presentation to Port Edward Council here, including a look at some of the concerns that Port Edward council members outlined for the RTI group.

One item of note flagged by the weekly paper's review of the presentation is the theme of increased rail operations through Port Edward and the suggestion from Ridley officials that one option may be to increase the length of CN's trains that call on Ridley Terminals.

That is something that may catch the eye not only of Port Edward residents, but for those living across the CN rail line from Port Edward through to the coal fields of the northeast, with a number of cities and towns having already expressed concerns about the frequency and length of those trains in the past.

Communities along the CN Rail Northern mainline may see increased
volumes of coal trains in the future if RTI moves forward with
a terminal expansion plan

The planned expansion is still a fair bit off to the future, with Public consultation not scheduled to start until the fall, along with a the requirement of approval from a number of Federal agencies.

All of which means that any actual decision to move forward with the proposed expansion is not expected until later this year or early in 2019.

So far, RTI has not posted much in the way of information related to their plans to their corporate website, where updates related to corporate operations appear to be few and far between.

North Coast Residents can explore the themes of potential Ridley expansion on July 17th when RTI hosts their Annual Public Meeting. 

The meeting is set for a 3 PM Start at the North Coast Convention Centre.

For more items of note from Ridley Terminals see our archive page.

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