Pollutants threaten inshore areas of Great Barrier Reef

Click Here to Add Comment

Previous

Current Articles

Next

---

Subject:  Pollutants threaten inshore areas of Great Barrier Reef, study finds
 Date:     Fri, 1 Feb 2002 09:50:37 -0500
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Dear Mr. Helliker,  I thought you might like to read about another "act of terrorism" entitled: "Pollutants threaten inshore areas of Great Barrier Reef, study finds.

Friday, January 25, 2002 By Associated Press

BRISBANE, Australia — A cocktail of pollutants carried to the ocean by floodwaters is threatening inshore areas of the Great Barrier Reef, according to a 10-year study by marine authorities released Thursday.

The report, by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), found pollution levels in floodwaters, or flood plumes, were four times worse than 15 years ago.

Of about 750 inshore reefs in the park designated as a World Heritage site by the United Nations, 200 were considered at high risk and more than 400 were at risk, GBRMPA water quality director Sheriden Morris said. "The pollution contained in floodwaters is now a threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park," Morris said.

The study said floodwaters discharge onto the reefs from 26 river systems in Queensland state about once a year, carrying sediment, nutrients, herbicides, and pesticides. Sediment and nutrients damage sea grass beds and create algae growth, while pesticides and herbicides stop the growth of plankton and sea grass, the report said.

The study found concentrations of dissolved nutrients in flood plumes were well above levels known to damage coral reef ecosystems.

World Wildlife Fund Great Barrier Reef campaign manager Imogen Zethoven said most of the pollution came from agricultural land. "You're getting high levels of fertilizer runoff from sugar-cane-growing properties and horticultural properties," Zethoven said. "We've got to find a way of growing cattle, cane, and fruit and vegetables where those industries can coexist harmoniously with the tourism and fishing industries," she added.

But a group representing sugar cane growers said the industry was being demonized. "We have now got sediment loss down to levels equivalent to sediment loss under a natural situation for a wet tropical environment," said Jennifer Marohasy, crop production and natural resources policy manager for Canegrowers Queensland.

Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers assistant general manager Mark Panitz said the organization was happy to be part of a solution, but the problem needed to be better defined.

The 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) Great Barrier Reef is the largest complex of coral reefs and islands in the world, comprising more than 2,600 individual reefs and some 300 islands. The fragile ecosystem and surrounding heritage area is home to one of the world's richest and most diverse marine parks and is a magnet for tourists from around the world.

Copyright 2002, Associated Press All Rights Reserved

Dear Mr. Helliker,  When the world finds out "they" were needlessly and hopelessly contaminated with your "registered" POISONS, "they" will be looking for "someone" to blame.

Respectfully,  Stephen L. Tvedten

---

If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, Email Us.

TOP