Australian government approves new port dredging near Great Barrier Reef

The Guardian reports, 10th December 2013: “The Australian environment minister, Greg Hunt, has approved controversial dredging off the Queensland coast that will help create one of the world’s largest coal ports, while imposing some of the “strictest conditions in Australian history” to safeguard the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

Abbot Point

Greenpeace activists protest at the Abbot Point coal terminal in 2009.
Photograph: Greenpeace

Hunt said he would allow the contentious dredging program for three proposed terminals at the Abbot Point port near the town of Bowen. The approval documents show the spoil from the dredging will be dumped within the Great Barrier Reef marine park area.

A study commissioned by the previous Labour government found that dredging spoil dumped at sea travelled further than previously thought, potentially endangering coral and other marine life.

This year Unesco’s World Heritage Centre warned that the Great Barrier Reef, which has lost half of its coral cover in the past 30 years, would be placed on its “in-danger” list if there were major new port developments.

Louise Matthiesson, Greenpeace’s Queensland campaigner, was also scathing. “The approvals today are a massive assault on the environment and place the future of the reef in jeopardy,” she said.

Source: The Guardian, 10th December 2013. For the full text see: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/10/greg-hunt-approves-dredging-off-queensland-to-create-huge-coalport

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS