Channel Deepening
Hey everyone,
no doubt everyone in or around Melbourne has heard about the channel deepening in Port Phillip Bay starting in Feb,here are some facts,
1/There are over 100 sponge species at the heads that can be found no where else on earth,there is a serious chance they could be lost(sediment covered)
2/Nitrogen balance is maintained by Benthic (seafloor)organisms,extensive areas would be covered,increasing the risk of toxic algal blooms.
3/Almost 4 million cubic meters of Yarra sediments containing heavy metels such as Cadmium,Mercury,Zinc,Lead,Arsenic & Ammonia will be dumped in the bay ,contaminants likely to re-enter the food chain,not to mention human risks to exposure.
4/An independant study of some mussels that were sampled & taken from the south end of the bay to the north end (Yarra) found over only a 6 week period that a significant increase in Mercury levels was recorded.The risks to Benthic fauna & potential for leaching of toxins has been grossly underestimated.
5/Bay related tourism provides around 1 billion dollars in benefits per annum & thats just the Mornington Peninsula,thats 10 times what the government hopes the channel deepening will produce annually.Channel deepening will have a negative effect on the economy threatening diving,fishing & bay tourism
6/The Port of Melbournes best estimate is that channel deepening would provide 1.9 billion to the economy by 2035 thats around 70 million per annum,similar to the annual value of the dive industry alone in Melbourne.
These are just some of the facts more info here if you feel compelled send Mr Garrett a message voicing your disapproval
Cheers everyone have gr8 long weekend
Dave Sandersfeld
What is your University doing about this? Credible local science can stop this; but some guy from oregon can’T. This is a local issue fought by local people. I assuming they want to dredge your port?
MattTworkowski
Thats correct Dave,although credible evidence has been given by the local science community ,the government will only acknowledge their own in house advisers whom have done minimal research,Crazy.
salsbells69
I have read the Pdf document indicating why PG’s proposal should go ahead and there isnt a mention AT ALL of what you have listed above. Seems to me that not everything has been taking into account especially when he is required by law to mention it in his reasons for approval. Its not as an appendix either..Sure the birds, whales, some fish and shark species..coastal salt water marshes and areas are listed but all the things we cant see havent had a mention. Obviously not enough study has been done and it falls very short of what is really required. Good work for initiating a response Matt. I am glad I read the link you provided.
MattTworkowski replied
Cheers Sal,they think were all mushrooms!
salsbells69
If it goes ahead the impact alone on the enviorment is going to suffer. What will the dive shops / fishermen and people who rely on the bay for thier living do? Can;t sue the port authority for loss of income because he has “found them not responsible” should this occur. Big losses coming on and I have lost faith in PG. So he admits that there will be an impact : I think in his words…up to two years until some species re populate( and i dont quote but something similar to this). A species cant repopulate without food..its got to repopulate in the right conditions..not the heavy metal toxicity and debris that is bound to accumulate. I have visions of a barren bay. There is so much more to this than meets the eye. Makes me angry….
MattTworkowski
Thats the very best scenario Sal,the bay could very well become a silty wasteland,the ecosystem is so delicate,its almost like they think they can get away with enviromental terrorism.I seriously cant believe in todays day & age this is going ahead.Mr Brumby just scoffs at any suggestion of enviromental damage,ignorant & mis-informed
salsbells69
Ignorant is right. Cant see past the bloody $ for the port authority. Never mind the health and well being of a dynamic eco system that has so much to offer. What proof do they want. They are idiots if they dont involve better scientific studies. Can it be reasonable to foresee the destruction of the eco system or reasonable to foresee that bigger ships cant come into the bay bringing in thier bigger cargoes and bigger dollars? My bet is on the latter. What do they want? People to get sick first from algae blooms – tourism to drop to an all time low..fish stock and rare sponges to disappear forever before they admit they should have carried out more tests or did further studies before they let it occur. They dont have the bays best interests at hand I can assure you. Peoples lives depend on the quality of the bay. A whole ecosystem depends on the health of the bay. Ok….blahed on enough from my end..What can WE do?
MattTworkowski replied
I guess just informing people about the truth,promoting Blue Wedges.Org & voicing our disapproval to the government.
C4 has come to mind once or twice:-)
Ianphares
Go get em Matt. Your entry is thoughtful and informational.
Tony Middleton
Good on you Matt for putting this info up for more awareness !
I feel this state Labor government has truly lost the plot and lost contact with the people of Victoria…Another example of some of the crazy policies and ignorance they are operating under…
Take in to account the proposed desalination plant on the Bass Coast and the proposed Nth-Sth pipeline to pipe water from the struggling goulburn catchment to Melb.
Why not adopt some sustainablilty in Vic…
Best of luck and I hope somehow they can be forced to see some sense on at least these 3 major issues in Vico…
cheers,
tone
MattTworkowski
Cheers Tone
Brett Foster
Here here Matt! Well said.
The bizarrest thing of all here is that if they based the port at Hastings no deepening would be required and the extra 20 million tonnes of freight per annum wouldn’t have to be shipped via Melbourne’s already struggling, polluted roadways.
Ever get the feeling that some joker simply says “Let’s do this this…” and then locks his ego to it? When was the last time this Gov’t did something rational?