Coal spill from Abbot Point into the Caley Valley Wetlands, 1 April 2017 © Google Earth™
The Queensland Government has today fined a company within the Adani Group for breaching pollution limits at the Port of Abbot Point. The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) says that today’s fine shows they cannot be trusted with our Great Barrier Reef.
When Cyclone Debbie hit the Queensland coast in March, Adani were given a special permit which allowed them to increase the amount of polluted water they released adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef.
The government has now fined Adani for breaching conditions of this special licence, exceeding their already relaxed pollution discharge limit to the ocean by more than 800 per cent. That is 26 times more than the contaminant limit that Adani is normally allowed to discharge, under their existing environmental authority.
Tony Fontes, Fight For Our Reef Campaigner said:
“We have said it all along: Adani cannot be trusted with our Great Barrier Reef.”
“Adani have a terrible track record of environmental destruction overseas. Now they have been fined for polluting right next door to our precious Great Barrier Reef.”
“India’s former Environment Minister Mr Jairam Ramesh has said that ‘Mr Adani, who has not complied with regulations in his own country, cannot be expected to comply with regulations in another country.’ (1) ”
“Adani cannot safely operate the existing Abbot Point coal port on a cyclone-prone coast now. The port will double in size if the massive Carmichael coal mine goes ahead, and the risk to our Reef will be even higher.
“Adani can’t cope with their existing infrastructure. We cannot trust them to build this colossal coal mine, and we cannot trust them with our Reef.”
Images and vision available on request
Editor’s notes:
- Quoted from an interview with Former Indian Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, during a #StopAdani meeting in March 2017
For further information please contact:
Gemma Freeman, AMCS Media and Communications Officer
0412 505 405 – [email protected]
Tony Fontes, AMCS Fight For Our Reef Campaigner
0417 749 143 – [email protected]