Gladstone, Queensland, Australia – Storage Silos on the Gladstone waterfront. Photo source: ©© Nickj
Excerpts;
Figures obtained through Senate Estimates reveal more than 112 million cubic metres – or 65 Melbourne Cricket Grounds – are proposed to be dredged from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area, with 52 million cubic metres already approved by the Federal Government.
A coalition of representatives from the fishing and tourism industries and reef scientists joined Australian Greens environment spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters to make the announcement today.
“The amount of dredging planned for the Reef for coal and coal seam gas export is off the charts – until October 2010, 6.5 million cubic metres of dredging had been approved in a five year period, now that’s ballooned to 112 million cubic metres on the books,” Senator Waters said…
The Great Barrier Reef extends for 2,000 kilometers along the northeastern coast of Australia. It is not a single reef, but a vast maze of reefs, passages, and coral cays (islands that are part of the reef). Photo source: ©© jamestee
Read Full Press Release, From Larissa Waters, Queensland
Greens Worried By New Dredging Plans ForThe Great Barrier Of Reef, News Aus
Dredging Up The Great Barrier Of Reef, The Australian
Work is already under way to dredge 46 million tonnes of sediment from Gladstone Harbour as part of the $30 billion Curtis Island project to export coal-seam gas to Asia.
