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Vancouver Sun

Woodfibre LNG near Squamish wants second floating hotel

Article content Woodfibre LNG near Squamish wants to moor another floating hotel at the project site to house hundreds of workers needed to speed-up construction. Article content Article content On Thursday, the Indonesian-controlled company said it had submitted an application to regulatory agencies asking permission to moor a 900-room ship alongside the existing MV Isabelle that houses 650 workers. Article content Article content Last year's approval of the MV Isabelle was controversial, with the City of Squamish at one point banning the accommodation plan before being overruled by B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office. Article content Article content The Woodfibre LNG facility is being built on the old Woodfibre Pulp and Paper land on the western shore of Howe Sound about seven kilometres south of Squamish and is only accessible by water. It is expected to process 2.1 million tonnes of LNG a year for export and is forecast to open in 2027. Article content Company CEO Luke Schauerte said approval of the second floating hotel would allow 'more employment opportunities sooner and accelerate construction of the world's first net-zero LNG export facility.' Article content The project was approved in 2015 with workers expected to live in and around Squamish. But as the rental vacancy rate dropped in Squamish, the floating hotel idea was suggested in order to reduce the impact on the community. Article content The first floating hotel was permitted through an amendment to the project's environmental assessment certificate, but is the subject of a legal challenge from a local residents group that claims the permitting process was flawed. Article content Article content Tracey Saxby, spokesperson for My Sea to Sky, said this claim will be heard in Federal Court starting May 28, 2025. Article content Article content She said her group would also protest the application for a second floating hotel. Article content 'I can't imagine that Woodfibre LNG could be permitted to dock a second floatel while the first floatel blatantly ignores local jurisdiction, and is being challenged later this month in Federal Court as having followed an improper permitting process,' Saxby said. Article content 'The impact of this project keeps getting bigger. It's clear that Woodfibre LNG grossly underestimated the need for worker accommodation in their original proposal. Both the company and its regulators failed to listen to warnings from community members made over a decade ago that accommodation was scarce.' Article content Schauerte said that if approved, the company would contract Vancouver-based Bridgemans Service Group that retrofitted a cruise ship into the MV Isabelle. Article content Article content