Utah People's Post

The Latest News from the Beehive State

Saturday, May 21, 2022
Log in
  • National News
    • Female Caseworker Killed & Doctor Shot in Philadelphia
  • State News
    • Car Chase Leads to Drug Arrest
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
    • How to Prepare For Ticks Season
    • Magical Weight Loss Bean Scam
  • Sports
  • Business
You are here: Home / Tech & Science / Australia permits dumping near Great Barrier Reef after coal port expansion

Australia permits dumping near Great Barrier Reef after coal port expansion

February 2, 2014 Posted by Staff

images

The Australian authorities approved the plan to dump 3 million cubic meters of dredge sediment in the Great Barrier Reef Park as part of a project to build one of the world’s biggest coal ports.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) gave its consent to a plan to dump dredge spoil from the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion in the Marine Park area on Friday.

In a statement, GBRMPA said, “After rigorous assessment, it has approved an application by North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation to dispose of dredge spoil at a deep-water location offshore of Abbot Point, subject to environmental conditions.”

The Great Barrier Reef is a collection of more than 2,800 separate reef sections, stretching for some 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) off northeast Australia’s Queensland coast and housing a staggering diversity of marine life.

The Great Barrier Reef was chosen a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

The proposal, while conflict-ridden and disagreed by environmental groups including Greenpeace, had already been approved by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt last month.

Hunt has undertaken that “some of the strictest conditions in Australian history” will be in place to protect the reef from damage, together with water quality measures and upholds for the reef’s plants and thousands of species of coral, fish, molluscs, jellyfish, sharks and whales.

“We’re going backwards on the reef—that’s the sad truth,” says Australia Reef Campaign for international conservation group WWF, Director Richard Leck. “Exactly the wrong thing that you want to do when an ecosystem is suffering is introduce another major threat to it — and that’s what the marine park authority has allowed to happen today.”

Australia is a land of vast mineral deposits and a mining boom fueled by demand from China kept Australia’s economy strong during the global financial crisis. As the demand from China has diminished; Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his conservative government have given a word to focus their efforts on stimulating the industry.

“As a deepwater port that has been in operation for nearly 30 years, Abbot Point is better placed than other ports along the Great Barrier Reef coastline to undertake expansion as the capital and maintenance dredging required will be significantly less than what would be required in other areas,” said Dr Russell Reichelt, Authority Chairman.

“It’s important to note the seafloor of the approved disposal area consists of sand, silt and clay and does not contain coral reefs or seagrass beds.”

Bruce Elliot, general manager for the marine authority’s biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use division echoes the statement, saying that the environmental safeguards -47 in total -insisted upon by the Authority would protect the reef and seagrasses, along with the social and heritage uses of the marine park.

He also said that stringent settings would be placed on the sediment disposal, which will include a water quality monitoring plan that will linger in place five years after the dumping is done.

Infuriated conservationists say the reef is already at risk and will be fatally in jeopardy by the dredging, which will crop up over a 184-hectare (455-acre) area. Apart from the vulnerability that the sediment will asphyxiate coral and seagrass, the augmented shipping traffic will increase the risk of accidents, such as oil spills and collisions with fragile coral beds.

“This go-ahead for dumping is one more body blow for the Reef which further threatens marine life, its World Heritage status and Australia’s tourism and fishing industries,” Greenpeace Reef Campaigner Louise Matthiesson said on the group’s website.

“Green lighting the reef’s destruction makes a mockery of the Authority’s charter which obliges it to protect the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the World Heritage Area.”

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: Abbot Point coal terminal expansion, Australia Coal Ports, Dredged Sediment, Great Barrier Reef, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Greenpeace, Sediment Dumping

Woman working out at the gym

Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

United Airlines airplane

Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston

June 28, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Breakfast sandwich

Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poppy flower

UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

U.S.-Canada border

French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border

June 26, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Plus size model

Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

June 25, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Giant manta ray

Unique Manta Ray Nursery Spotted off Texas Coast

June 23, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

The rainbow flag

WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

June 22, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

June 21, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Kenyan girls dancing

Kenyans Facing Poor Nutrition as Supermarket Shopping Is on the Rise

June 20, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Recent Posts

  • Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)
  • Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston
  • Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat
  • UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply
  • French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

Related Articles

  • Crosses on a wall

    Religious People Live Longer, Are Less Stressed than Atheists, Study

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Antineutrino Detector

    Scientists Discover an Even More Elusive Particle than Neutrinos

    Jun 5, 2018
  • Funny Albert Einstein

    Time Travel Is Already Here

    May 30, 2018
  • Planet 2003UB313

    Scientists Found Evidence that Elusive Planet 9 May Be Real

    May 18, 2018
  • Kuiper Belt Object

    This Asteroid in Kuiper Belt Is Nothing Scientists Have Seen Before

    May 11, 2018
  • Elephant raising its trunk

    Elephants Communicate with Their Feet, Scientists Confirm

    May 9, 2018
  • Starbucks store

    Black Men Settle for $1 Each after Racist Arrest at Starbucks

    May 3, 2018
  • Tech addiction

    Facebook Pioneers Forming Coalition to Lobby Against Tech Addiction

    Feb 5, 2018
  • Kaspersky Co-founder Natalia Kasperskaya

    Kaspersky Boss: Bitcoin Was Created by U.S. Govt to Fund CIA’s Black Ops

    Feb 1, 2018
  • Amazon Go shopper

    Amazon Gets Rid of Cashiers at Its Check-Out Free Store

    Jan 30, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake News
  • Science
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech & Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • West Jordan
  • West Valley City
  • World

Copyright © 2022 utahpeoplespost.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Site Map · Contact