Australia permits dredge dumping near Great Barrier Reef for major coal port

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef watchdog gave the green light on Friday for millions of cubic metres of dredged mud to be dumped near the fragile reef to create the world’s biggest coal port and possibly unlock US$28 billion in coal projects.

The dumping permit clears the way for a major expansion of the port of Abbot Point for two Indian firms and Australian billionaire miner Gina Rinehart, who together have US$16 billion worth of coal projects in the untapped, inland Galilee Basin.

“This is a significant milestone in developing our Galilee Basin coal projects, which represent the creation of over 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and over US$40 billion in taxes and royalties,” said Darren Yeates, chief executive of GVK-Hancock, a joint venture between India’s GVK conglomerate and Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

Environmentalists, scientists and tour operators had fought the plan to dump soil 25 kilometres from the reef, which they fear will harm delicate corals and seagrasses and potentially double ship traffic through the World Heritage marine park.

“It’s a really disappointing decision,” said Selina Ward, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland who was among 240 international scientists who urged the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to refuse the permit.

“What we need to do is to stop putting pressure on the reef, certainly not to be adding further stress to it by dumping 3 million tonnes of sediment on it.”