![]() Though Australia’s federal government banned dumping of sludge within the Great Barrier Reef’s boundaries in 2015, that only applied to new or capital projects and excluded sludge from maintenance projects, like removing sediment from shipping lanes, at the ports. Now, environmentalists and reef advocates are up in arms over a recently approved plan that would allow 1 million tons of sludge to be dumped along parts of the reef over the next decade, with the operation beginning in March.īen Smee at The Guardianreports that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority recently approved the dumping of sludge, which will be produced by dredging to clear out and deepen the Port of Hay Point, home to one of the world’s largest coal loading facilities. ![]() Pollution, rising ocean temperatures and recent bleaching events have altered-perhaps permanently-one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems of earth. Australia’s 1,400-mile Great Barrier Reef-a wonder of the natural world-has had a tough go of it in the last decade.
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