First Nation Challenges Vancouver Port Dredging Approval Over Tanker Expansion Concerns

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation has launched a legal challenge seeking to overturn federal approvals for a dredging project in Burrard Inlet that would allow oil tankers calling at the Trans Mountain pipeline’s Westridge Marine Terminal to load to full capacity.

The First Nation filed applications for judicial review in Federal Court on Wednesday, challenging both the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s project permit and a Fisheries Act authorization issued by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the Second Narrows Dredging Works.

The dispute centers on a project to deepen sections of the navigation channel east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver’s