Public notice 

Jetty Breach Construction and Maintenance - Iona North Arm – Public comments invited 

August 16, 2023 – As part of its Project and Environmental Review process, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority must determine whether the proposed Breach Construction and Maintenance - Iona North Arm Jetty, located in the Fraser River Estuary, Richmond, B.C., is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. Concurrently, Transport Canada must determine whether the proposed Breach Construction - Iona North Arm Jetty is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.  

To help inform this determination, and to assist the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in making a decision on whether or not to approve the proposed project, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Transport Canada are inviting comments from the public. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website. In addition, your contact information may be shared with third parties, e.g., the tenant, other relevant agencies, to help respond to your questions and inform possible mitigations. 

Written comments must be submitted by September 14, 2023 to: 

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority 
Project and Environmental Review 
100 The Pointe, 999 Canada Place 
Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6C 3T4  
per@portvancouver.com 

Transport Canada 
Impact Assessment Pacific Region 
820 - 800 Burrard Street 
Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2J8 
PACEnvironment-environnement@tc.gc.ca 

The proposed project  

Raincoast Conservation Foundation is proposing to construct a new linear breach (Breach No. 2) across the Iona Island North Arm Jetty and to conduct repair and maintenance work on the breach constructed in 2022 (Breach No. 1). Pursuant to their legislative duties, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is making its determination on both scopes of work, and Transport Canada is making its determination on the proposed construction of Breach No. 2. 

A previous public comment period was held from December 13, 2022, to January 11, 2023, for the construction scope. Given the new maintenance scope, and revised design for Breach No. 2, a new public comment period is now active.  

New construction work for Breach No. 2 consists of:  

• Excavation of approximately 18,552 cubic metres of material to an elevation of -1.35 metres Geodetic Datum. Material would be used to form part of the breach. 
• Installation of approximately 4,800 square metres of filter cloth. 
• Placement of approximately 3,500 cubic metres of filter rock. 
• Placement of approximately 4,267 cubic metres of riprap. 
• Monitoring of the breach site for a minimum of two years post-completion. 

The second jetty breach would be approximately 120 meters long and 30 metres wide at the bottom and 55 metres wide at the top.  

Repair and maintenance work for Breach No. 1 consists of:  

• Temporary removal of existing filter rock and riprap from the east and west slopes. Material will be set aside for re-use.  
• Re-dress/grade the sand slopes.  
• Installation of approximately 2,200 square metres of filter cloth.  
• Placement of approximately 2,327 cubic metres of filter rock. 
• Replacement of filter rock and riprap.  

Construction equipment and materials would be transported to the site by barge. Works are anticipated to take up to six weeks, within the Fisheries least risk window for the Project area (August 16 to February 28). Some works may be carried out outside of standard hours of work during favourable low tides.