Conservation groups condemn NSW marine parks moratorium

Nature Conservation Council of NSW

The New South Wales State Government’s support for a Marine Parks Amendment (Moratorium) Bill has been condemned by an alliance of 38 conservation organisations as a “dangerous set back for marine conservation”. The proposed five?year moratorium on new marine parks in New South Wales would prevent further action to protect aquatic habitats that provide a home to diverse marine life, including rare and threatened species. The groups opposing the Bill claim to represent more than 590,000 Australians.

posted by seamas on August 15, 2010 at 7:54 am · filed under

BP counts financial cost of Gulf spill

ABC News

BP has spent $US6.1 billion to date on the emergency response to the unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and in grants to affected states, according to the company. BP previously agreed to establish an uncapped $US20 billion compensation fund on top of the money it is spending to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and separate to fines the company may have to pay for the disaster.

posted by seamas on August 9, 2010 at 8:18 pm · filed under

BP finally seals disastrous oil leak

Sydney Morning Herald

BP has finally plugged the gushing oil well that was blown open when its Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The well has been filled with cement. Oil spilled from the well in deep water for 106 days, causing the United States of America’s worst ever environmental disaster.

posted by seamas on August 6, 2010 at 5:47 pm · filed under

China oil leak

The Guardian

Five days after the Chinese pipeline explosion at the north-east port of Dalian, oil has reportedly spread over an area of 430 square kilometres.  Authorities say the leak was stopped with 24 hours of the explosion, but have not revealed how much oil has been discharged.

posted by ruby on July 22, 2010 at 9:38 am · filed under

Concerns over BP clean up

ABC News

New York Congressman Jerry Nadler has voiced concerns that the clean up from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean-up is further damaging the environment through the use of chemical dispersants.  90 million gallons of oil were released into the ocean in the leak.

“Nobody has ever dumped 1.8 million gallons of a dispersant into an ocean before,” he told ABC Radio’s The World Today.  “We know that dispersants generally… are toxic. Recovery workers are getting sick from a combination of the fumes from the dispersants and the oil.”

posted by ruby on July 22, 2010 at 9:28 am · filed under

Whitsundays stretch listed first among world’s best eco-friendly beaches

CNN

CNN has listed Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island in Queensland first among its list of the world’s most ecologically pristine beaches. Other well preserved and spectacular shorelines were noted in Costa Rica, Thailand and Spain. Most picks were well protected and difficult to access.

posted by seamas on July 19, 2010 at 7:12 am · filed under

NASA joins race to relocate sea turtle hatchlings

ABC News

U.S. authorities and wildlife conservation groups are working together to rescue sea turtle eggs from nests along the oil spill impacted coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Space agency NASA is providing incubation facilities for the eggs at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The turtles are expected to hatch in the next few days and should be released into clean waters somewhere on planet Earth.

posted by seamas on July 18, 2010 at 6:31 pm · filed under