A small port benefits and suffers from the boom
SOME locals in the port town of Gladstone recall swimming and catching mud crabs off Curtis Island in the city’s harbour. The harbour is now undergoing the biggest dredging operation ever approved in Australia. From 2014, huge ships are due to load liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Curtis Island for export, mainly to Asia. Mud crabs, fish and other seafood have erupted in lesions, red spots and other signs of sickness.
Gladstone harbour lies within the World Heritage Area of the Great Barrier Reef, an area the size of Italy stretching along the coast of Queensland. It was listed as a heritage site for its coral reefs, seagrass habitats and rare marine species, but worries about the impact of the harbour’s rapid industrial development led to a recent visit by UNESCO experts. They are due to issue their report in late June.
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The Economist
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