Canpotex announcement not a sign Prince Rupert won't get facility, says Mayor
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Updated: October 21, 2009 4:18 PM
An announcement by Canpotex on Tuesday that they will be investing $37.5 million to upgrade their existing Neptune Terminals potash export facility in North Vancouver doesn't mean that the company will not be building on Ridley Island, says Prince Rupert mayor Jack Mussallem.
“This is an upgrade that has been planned for some time, but in talking about Prince Rupert it was said to be a matter of building on Ridley Island versus the expansion of a facility in Vancouver with some additional land they have there. This upgrade is just to make that terminal more efficient, they are not adding onto or expanding it,” he said of the investment that will increase the throughput speed of the terminal to produce another 1.5 million tonnes of capacity.
“They are doing upgrades to the facility, which they have been planning for a while, and that should in no way be viewed as being connected to Prince Rupert.”
Mayor Mussallem said that the City is continuing to do whatever it can to attract Canpotex to the region for the construction of a $400 million potash export facility on Ridley Island. But, he said, this upgrade announcement “is not something we should be concerned about”, adding that the company told those gathered at an open house last month that a decision to expand Vancouver or build in Prince Rupert would come near the end of the year.
Calls to Canpotex were not immediately returned. Look for more on this story at www.thenorthernview.com as it becomes available.
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