|
|
Article: SLICK OPERATORS TARGET REEF.(oil exploration, Great Barrier Reef)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Habitat Australia
- Article date:
- April 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Australian Conservation Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In a return to the dark days of the 1980s, oil sharks are again circling Australia's greatest natural icon, the Great Barrier Reef, in search of petroleum and profits.
IT IS DECEMBER 28 2000, and in the middle of Christmas celebrations and family holidays, a Texas-based company with the inscrutable name TGS-NOPEC is preparing to hunt for oil near the Great Barrier Reef.
Lodging an application with the Federal Government, the company proposes a 5,000 kilometre trail of seismic detonations -- more than one a minute, 24-hours a day, over 50 consecutive days -- less than 50 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The application ...