Australia {oil} spill '10 times worse' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

An oil spill along the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia is 10 times worse than originally thought, state authorities said.

A Hong Kong-registered ship damaged by a tropical storm on Wednesday leaked 230 tonnes of oil, not 20-30 tonnes as initially reported, officials said.

They warned that the toxic sludge is carcinogenic and threatening wildlife.

Dozens of beaches along a 60km stretch (37 mile) on the Sunshine Coast have been declared disaster zones.
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Hundreds of people are working to clean the beaches and save affected wildlife.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7943392.stm

[defendandprotect]

1. Remember ExxonValdez . . .

"The company and its insurers will meet all their responsibilities."

[eppur_se_muova]

2. " ... as we see them." nt

[GliderGuider]

3. Except the Exxon Valdez spill was 1000 times bigger than this.

Of course this one shouldn't have happened, but no human endeavour is without risk. As accidents go, this one was no Torrey Canyon (which spilled 750,000 tons of oil...)