Environmentalists Urge GBRMPA to Refuse Dumping Permit (Australia)

Australia’s largest environment groups have joined forces to fight the planned dumping of dredge waste in Great Barrier Reef waters.

The chief executive officers from WWF-Australia, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Get Up!, and the Humane Society International-Australia have sent a joint letter to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said the fact that the six conservation groups had combined on this matter indicated it was one of Australia’s most pressing environmental issues.

“We need to nurse the Reef back to good health not treat it like a dump,” Mr O’Gorman said.

“The world’s best Reef deserves the world’s best protection and we want a total ban on the dumping of dredge spoil in Reef waters.

“It’s harmful to coral, sea grass, fish and other marine creatures and is a totally unacceptable way to treat one of the wonders of the world,” he said.

In the letter the six CEOs urged GBRMPA chairman Russell Reichelt to refuse a permit that would allow three million cubic metres of Abbot Point dredge spoil to be dumped in the Reef waters.

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Press Release, January 27, 2014