The Wood Fibre LNG project proposed for Squamish comes with environmental concerns, but so does a proposed new ski resort.

Two megaprojects proposed for Squamish come with potential costs to the environment.

With access to tidewater, proximity to Vancouver and a postcard backdrop of mountains, Squamish has a lot going for it from an economic development standpoint.

But all economic development has environmental and social consequences.

Squamish town council is considering two large economic development proposals – one industrial and the other related to tourism and real estate.

There’s the $1.7 billion Woodfibre LNG plant proposed for an old Howe Sound pulp mill site.

Then there’s the Garibaldi at Squamish Inc. (GAS) ski resort proposed for Brohm Ridge, north of Alice Lake and just outside Garibaldi Provincial Park. Proponents say the initial capital cost of building the park would be $870 million.

So what if Squamish were to weigh the two projects from a triple-bottom-line approach? Which of the two projects has the greatest positive economic effect with the least negative environmental and social consequences?

Tourism Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb and Whistler’s mayor have launched a campaign against the Garibaldi project, saying another nearby ski resort would be bad for Whistler.

Concerns have also been raised about increased traffic along the Sea to Sky Highway and Squamish area.

Ultimately, Squamish Coun. Doug Race said the Woodfibre LNG project wins hands down.

From an economic standpoint, Woodfibre LNG is a bigger capital investment, would place little if any demand on municipal services and would provide significantly more in taxes.

How much the GAS ski resort would provide in taxes and development cost charges is not yet known. Much will depend on whether the town agrees to expand its boundaries to absorb the resort, as has been proposed.

Because the property would be the site of real estate development that would include hotels, condos and single-family homes, it would have a mix of commercial and residential assessments, whereas Woodfibre LNG would pay a heavy industrial tax rate.

“The taxes that will come from Woodfibre … are probably in the range of several million dollars per year,” Race said, adding that the plant would require almost no municipal services.

“In the case of GAS, we would have to provide a lot more services. There would be more police, more fire, more everything.”

The GAS project would create an estimated 2,400 direct full-time equivalent jobs; the Woodfibre LNG project would provide 110.

On the environmental side, concerns have been raised over the Woodfibre LNG plant’s effect on Howe Sound’s marine environment, which is only now recovering from years of being poisoned by pulp mills and the Britannia mine.

But ski resorts also have large environmental fallout, mostly in terms of wildlife habitat loss. In addition to the footprint of the ski hill and new resort town, a new 10-kilometre road would need to be built up the mountain, according to developer Aquilini Development and Construction Inc.

Joe Foy, national campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, said the development would essentially allow Vancouver’s urban sprawl to climb up into the mountains above Squamish.

However, Foy said Woodfibre LNG would be more harmful to the environment than the GAS proposal.

“You don’t want to turn Howe Sound back to its old industrial roots.”

Race disagreed. He said the Woodfibre LNG plant’s environmental footprint is much smaller than a ski resort’s.

“Putting a ski resort in what is now habitat for a variety of different animals, covering thousands of acres, to me is a significantly larger impact on wildlife. The Woodfibre site is an existing brownfield site, and we don’t have to provide any services to that either. Woodfibre is a fairly compact development.”

Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman agreed that the ski resort might have more far-reaching environmental consequences.

Heintzman is not in favour of the Woodfibre LNG plant but isn’t keen on the ski resort proposal, either.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a ski resort. There’s no snow up there. From my point of view, it doesn’t seem like a viable project.”

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Photo Cred: 'Diamond Head' Mount Garabaldi, overlooking Howe Sound and Squamish, BC (Brodie Guy via Flickr)