Preliminary work on plan to dredge Burrard Inlet underway, port says [Video]

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority says preliminary work on a plan to dredge Burrard Inlet to accommodate fully loaded oil tankers is now underway.

It says the project, which was recently floated by Prime Minister Mark Carney, will proceed through permitting processes including consultation with First Nations.

A statement issued on Tuesday says the preliminary work that has commenced includes the consultation and field studies.

The project – which has been criticized by some environmentalists, experts and First Nations – would allow a common class of tankers to pass fully loaded under Vancouver’s Second Narrows Bridge after filling up at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

The statement says there’s a “pressing need” to optimize the port in the face of an uncertain and fast-changing global landscape.