Woodfibre LNG has received a warning letter from the provincial Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) after it was found to be out of compliance with certain conditions during an inspection in late February.
The letter and inspection report were published on the as is customary.
"A re-inspection of the construction site on Feb. 24, 2025, found the company continues to be out of compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate related to storing hazardous materials," an April 2 post on the government site reads. "A notice of non-compliance was issued after an inspection on Nov. 7, 2024 found a minor issue with hazardous materials with batteries and oil stored in an unsecured area with no secondary containment. The re-inspection found hazardous materials stored in open buckets, missing lids, broken containers and missing labels."
The EAO is a regulatory agency that manages environmental assessments of major projects, like the Woodfibre LNG export facility that is currently being built on the western shore of Howe Sound. The project required an before it could receive other permits to start construction.
The EAO also ensures the conditions on which the certificate was given are met now that the project is approved and under construction.
The company's recent non-compliance was to do with Condition 21 of its Environmental Assessment Certificate, which relates to the management and storage of hazardous waste.
In particular, "containers must be labelled with the shipping name of the hazardous waste it contains and stored, handled, and transported in ways that avoid leakage or rupture."
Further, "containers of hazardous waste must be kept closed at all times during storage or transport except when being filled or emptied."
A spokesperson for Woodfibre LNG told The 小蓝视频 late last week that the issue has since been resolved.
The EAO warning letter states that the maximum penalty for failure to comply with an Environmental Assessment Certificate is $1 million. Any subsequent conviction could lead to a fine of up to $2 million.
"The Environmental Assessment Office Compliance and Enforcement Branch will continue to monitor this issue and may follow up with further inspections as required. Future or continuing non-compliance may result in additional enforcement action as warranted," the letter states.
The February inspection report also notes non-compliance with a few other issues.
“Compliance and enforcement officers also noted issues relating to construction lighting being left on unnecessarily and directed into sensitive marine areas and incomplete contents for emergency spill kits,” reads the EAO site.
However, the report and EAO site also note that Woodfibre LNG was compliant on most of the items that were checked during the inspection.
"The project met requirements for water sampling, safety fencing for amphibians, managing standing water, and storage and management of materials and machinery used with concrete," the EAO site states. "Officers also determined that the project had a current public website as required and a gender safety advisory committee has been meeting in accordance with the project’s gender and cultural safety plan. "
