New Scientist - Abbott Point Destruction Avoidable W. Longer Pier, But That Would Cost More
And that would be bad!
LATE last year, the Australian government approved a plan to expand a coal terminal at Abbot Point in Queensland, one of five major ports along the Great Barrier Reef coastline. The project involves dredging approximately 5 million tonnes of sediment from the seabed to deepen the port. The resulting material will be dumped 25 kilometres out to sea, inside the boundaries of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The park authority claims that the approval is subject to 47 strict environmental conditions that will protect the reef from damage.
Environmentalists, not surprisingly, are up in arms. Some claim that the dredge material is toxic and that it will be dumped directly on to the reef. Neither claim is true – the material is just sand, silt and clay and will be dumped on to bare seabed. But that doesn't mean that the project won't damage the reef. Far from it.
The Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Site but has been in severe decline for decades. For many species and ecosystems – corals, seagrass, dugongs, turtles and fish including sharks – the situation is dire. The causes of decline are well known: pollution from coastal development and agricultural run-off, coral diseases, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and increasingly severe storms. Water pollution is a particularly serious threat. Suspended sediment makes the water murkier, which can deprive sunlight-dependent organisms such as coral and seagrass of food. Farm run-off also increases the population of crown-of-thorns starfish, which prey on coral.
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There is another way. At Abbot Point, dredging could be avoided altogether by building a long jetty into deeper water. If dredging must happen, the spoil could be dumped behind container walls. It is inexcusable that these options have been rejected: the decision has clearly been made to expedite the project at least cost to the developer but maximum cost to the environment.
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http://standardspeaker.com/news/corbett-issues-order-supporting-drilling-at-state-parks-1.1692449