Oz miners fight back

摘要

Efforts by environmental groups to ban further port development on the Queensland coast bounded by the Great Barrier Reef have prompted the state's mining industry to mount a counter attack. A decision by incoming federal environment minister Mark Butler to defer approval of coal terminal dredging at Abbot Point has industry fearful about the success of the "green" agenda. North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP) wants to dredge and dispose of 3M m~3 of material in three separate campaigns over five years, as part of the Abbot Point TO, T2 and T3 coal terminal developments - with dredging approval quite separate from that required for the projects themselves. The dredging faces fierce opposition from conservation groups, which claim neither seabed dredging nor spoil- dumping should be allowed in Great Barrier Reef waters. NQBP pointed out that since 2002, 19 maintenance and capitaldredging campaigns have been completed without incident.