image courtesy of nasaimages.orgA Chinese coal ship sits in the Great Barrier Reef right now, leaking fuel and adding to the destruction of the already ravaged and delicate World Heritage Site. Read about it here.
And this isn't the only ship to navigate the protected waters. Apparently it has happened before, and experts say it will likely happen more often now that more coal and natural gas are being shipped from Australia.
The Environment Minister of Australia says it's "too early to tell" if the oil already leaked will damage the reef. Hello? Any toxic chemical spilled into a fragile environment is going to cause damage.
The ship is there because the people in charge wanted to save time and money. Just another example of greed and a lack of understanding of our precious ocean. It absolutely breaks my heart.
3 comments:
Did Exxon ever pay anything for the Valdez oil spill?
Yes...$900 million. You can read more about it here: http://www.pwssc.org/education/FinalEVOSbrochure.pdf
It's a pretty interesting brochure done by the Prince William Sound Science Center.
Actually, that was just the civil settlement. They paid hundreds of millions of dollars more in the class action suit, and they also paid a fine.
Of course, no matter how much money is thrown at the issue, it still doesn't make up for the loss of life and health.
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