Australia approves dumping in Great Barrier reef

[avb3]

Very surprised to see that Australia would do this. Any comments from our Aussie members?

Australian authorities have approved a project to dump dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef marine park as part of a project to create one of the world's biggest coal ports.

Australia reef dumping plan approved BBC News - Australia Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan approved

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by avb3

Very surprised to see that Australia would do this. Any comments from our Aussie members?

Australian authorities have approved a project to dump dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef marine park as part of a project to create one of the world's biggest coal ports.

Australia reef dumping plan approved BBC News - Australia Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan approved

Fanatic acolytes/followers of the $$$god rule... thought that was obvious..

[SonjaD]

I think most Australians are in shock. Our current leadership is a mockery.

March In March Australia 2014: A national protest as a vote of no confidence in the Abbott Government’s policies | Social Observant

[Lake-Effect]

Tough call. It's dredged sediment, not nuclear waste, but it may contain traces of industrial pollutants if it's coming from a harbour.

I would have liked to see them reuse the dredged sediment locally (eg a breakwall or a local island). Even if the chosen area doesn't have coral, the habit of "it's ok, just dump it out there somewhere" is a poor practice.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Tough call. It's dredged sediment, not nuclear waste, but it may contain traces of industrial pollutants if it's coming from a harbour.

I would have liked to see them reuse the dredged sediment locally (eg a breakwall or a local island). Even if the chosen area doesn't have coral, the habit of "it's ok, just dump it out there somewhere" is a poor practice.

Yeah.. but it settles on the coral and suffocates it... even natural occurring sediment (hurricanes) can kill off coral..
Give it a couple of years and you'll get the 'Crocodile Tears' and the old song repeated yet again.. 'Lessons have been learnt...'

[tbodine88]

The island idea is good, that's how those palm islands in Saudi Arabia were built. Seem to be well populated by the rich.

There's another older one in South San Francisco bay, filled with middle class homes.

There are others around Galveston and Rockport Texas.

It appears the real estate guys aren't thinking ahead.

[MarkJ]

Well, if you believe misinformation.... Its terrible!

“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.”

In fact its over 80 kms to the closest bit of coral.

What also may elude most non Australians, and many aussies too is that the Great Barrier Reef covers one hell of a lot of our coast! Not desert coast but good land. If we just stop all development because theres a reef 40 nms off shore then Australia is stuffed.

“This approval is in line with the agency’s view that port development along the Great Barrier Reef coastline should be limited to existing ports,” Dr Reichelt said.
“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.



Forty-seven environmental conditions, which reflect the latest science and best industry management practices, as well as the conditions already put in place by the
Environment Minister, impose strict mitigation measures such as:
measures to minimise impact on biodiversity, particularly coral
a long-term water quality monitoring plan that extends five years after the disposal activity is completed
a heritage management plan to protect the Catalina World War II aircraft wreck located in Abbot Bay
offset measures for commercial fishers in the event of adverse impacts
a requirement to prevent any harm to environmental, cultural and heritage values of any areas beyond 20 kilometres from the disposal site
environmental site supervision by a GBRMPA nominee
establishment of an independent dredging and disposal technical advice panel and a management response group which will include community representatives.

Home - GBRMPA




Anyway, I know I can't convert people with facts. All I can do is offer up whats being done so people who are reading links actually get information thats valuable. Not voluble!


Mark

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

In fact its over 80 kms to the closest bit of coral.

What also may elude most non Australians, and many aussies too is that the Great Barrier Reef covers one hell of a lot of our coast! Not desert coast but good land. If we just stop all development because theres a reef 40 nms off shore then Australia is stuffed.

(From the map on the GBRMPA, I estimate about 40 km from the proposed dumpsite to the nearest reef. On the BBC map it looks more like 30 km.... still quite far)

The optics of "oh, we'll just dump it in the ocean" isn't great, but I haven't yet seen all the details. No doubt there's a review system at work. On the face of it, it seems like a reasonable approach, but there's apparently some scientific objection, which I haven't reviewed yet. Maybe currents carry the sediment? No word on the toxicity of the harbour sediment, which can sometimes be significant.

With 10% of the world's coral already lost, and a whole lot more threatened, we can't be too careful, I guess.

Anyway, I know I can't convert people with facts.

We don't do 'facts' here on CF.

[44'cruisingcat]

It's not really a harbour. The Abbot point facility is a long jetty. Basically they're moving some sea bed from one place to another.

[Outwest34au]

As an Aussie, a Queenslander and a local to the reef (300km away) I apologise to the rest of the world.

I wonder how thick the brown paper bag was?

[GILow]

As an Aussie, I would like to say...I am moving to N.Z. as soon as I can.

It is heartbreaking and we are getting up to Cairns in a few months so our son can dive on what is left of the reef before it is all totally **** up by greed and corruption and the Australian obsession with consumerism and the supposed benefits of digging the whole damn country up and shipping it to China.

Honestly, I used to be proud of being Australian, but now days between our rubbish rhetoric about "border protection", and "reaping the benefits of the mining boom" I have come to the conclusion that we are a nation of sheep with the exception that sheep have a greater sense of the communal good.

I apologise to all those who see Australia ruining the wonderful natural assets we had, and I can put my hand on my heart and say I have tried to do my bit, but have been bowled over by our blatant self interest, and greed and consumerism.

Sorry, rant off, but I am truly ashamed to be an Aussie sometimes.

Matt

[GILow]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

What also may elude most non Australians, and many aussies too is that the Great Barrier Reef covers one hell of a lot of our coast! Not desert coast but good land. If we just stop all development because theres a reef 40 nms off shore then Australia is stuffed.

Sorry Mark, but I just plain disagree with you there. Stopping development is too broad a statement.

Australian development lead to some of the greatest alternative power technologies, medicines and transport inventions of our time. We are truly a nation of brilliant scientists and thinkers but we lack the people with the balls to put the $$$ behind those thinkers and scientists. Many have moved to places like China where their brilliance is recognised, and fostered, and supported.

Sadly, we are a nation where a student can more easily get into a selective school on a ***** SPORTS scholarship than their science or mathematics skills, and where Australian of the year is awarded to a football player (who to his credit has done much brilliant work of the field with bridging the divide between cultures in Australia) while people working in the field of cancer research and psychology are given a token nod, but ignored in the long run.

Stopping mindless, destructive development that benefits only those in the direct chain of benefit is what needs to be done. The rhetoric that somehow this sort of projects benefits all Australians is rubbish. It benefits a very small group and has the POTENTIAL to destroy much which is irreplaceable.

Sorry, another rant, but I seriously despair of my country at the moment.

Matt

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by SonjaD

I think most Australians are in shock. Our current leadership is a mockery.

March In March Australia 2014: A national protest as a vote of no confidence in the Abbott Government’s policies | Social Observant

Didn't you guys just recently replace your last mockery of a government?
Sounds like the greenies are over reacting again as I remember they did with Hamilton and Hinchenbrook.
Disclosure.. I was a friend of Kieth Williams

[GILow]

Yes, we keep voting them in and then bitching about them. Silly us, but we are not alone, most of the other democracies in the world seem to go through the same sort of thing.

But this goes beyond politics, it speaks to the lack of vision we are displaying as a country. We got hooked on the mining money and forgot about innovation. We used to have a slogan about being "the clever country". So, it was just a slogan, but at least it showed an intention. Now we don't even have the slogan.

Matt

[svseachange]

In Australia we like to vote out anyone in power. Australians just don't like power.

The last government was pretty good but they were becoming arrogant and corrupt. So even though most Australians generally agreed with the last govermment's policies, they were voted out because they were arrogant and corrupt. They needed to be kicked out.

Australians value clean and efficient goverment. They like politicians who exercise power in a humble fashion. The new government is cleaning up government and making things more efficient... but they are exercising power in an arrogant fashion. They are courting a shrinking, xenophobic, anglo-saxon base It"s not hard to figure out where this will lead.

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