Belize plan to allow offshore drilling threatens Great Blue Hole, say critics
Source: The Guardian
Belize plan to allow offshore drilling threatens Great Blue Hole, say critics
Rose Hackman
Sunday 10 May 2015 13.00 BST
The government of Belize is considering new regulations that would allow offshore drilling in 99% of its territorial waters, a move which environmental groups say would threaten the second-largest coral reef in the world.
The draft regulations would allow companies to undertake offshore exploration for oil and gas near the Great Blue Hole, an astonishing submarine sinkhole that was named a Unesco world heritage site in 1996. The 124-metre sinkhole is visible from space, and was named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the world’s top 10 dive destinations.
“They’ve declared open season on almost 99% of Belize’s marine area,” Janelle Chanona, of the US activist group Oceana, told the Associated Press. “That includes seven world heritage sites, that includes marine protected areas ... and it is unacceptable.”
Following a 2013 ruling by the Belize supreme court, all licences and contracts related to offshore drilling in Belizean waters were thrown out, due to fears over safety standards and unsatisfactory environmental provisions.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/10/belize-offshore-drilling-great-blue-hole
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