Aerial Shots Show Wetlands Covered In Coal Sludge From Oz Storm: Adani, Of Course, Lies
New footage reveals the scale of coal dust contamination of nationally significant wetlands after Cyclone Debbie hit Adani’s Queensland port, environmentalists claim.
Helicopter and drone flyovers recorded footage showing a large part of the Caley Valley wetlands “smothered” by a “thick black sludge of coal”, together with lumps of coal scattered on a nearby beach where turtles nest, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian Marine Conservation Foundation said.
The groups commissioned the footage following the release of floodwaters from the Abbot Point coal terminal after Debbie’s torrential rains last month. Adani, which released the water under a temporary licence from the Queensland environment department, claimed aerial photos showing the wetlands as black were “misleading and are not representative of the water quality in the wetland”.
Adani on Tuesday released photos it said were taken a day before and showed “clear and blue water” in the wetland next to the port’s settlement pond. The environment department launched an investigation after the release of satellite photos appearing to show a flow of polluted water into wetlands. A spokeswoman for the environment minister, Steven Miles, said officials had accessed the site and taken samples, with test results expected to take a week.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/12/footage-shows-wetlands-blackened-by-abbot-point-coal-dust-activist-say
