#gbrmp

"An environmental assessment which included a review of 16 environmental studies, found the port's expansion would not have a significant impact on the Great Barrier Reef and that Greenpeace's claims regarding the expansion's impact were overstated."

have created the "about" page "By 9 August 2013 we are hoping that Mark Butler will have made his decision to approve the Abbot Point Expansion to go ahead. Bowen is a small town which is slowly outgrowing it’s current industries (fishing, farming, retail, tourism) and this expansion would be a great employment opportunity for many locals, a chance for the town to expand and a chance for some of the town’s services/resources to be updated. At the moment there are many people having difficulty finding work or finding a job with enough hours to pay their bills and many employed people who work in the same industry or with abbot point are considering the possibility that they might lose theirs if this does not go ahead. The people of Bowen (The Majority) have seen this expansion as a chance to improve the town and have done several things to try and improve their situation. There has been a facebook group created, a rally has been held, a youtube video posted, a facebook page created and now a Tumblr. So why hasn’t the expansion been approved already? For the expansion to occur dredging in the Abbot Point area must be completed. In February a proposal was sent to the government with details of the area in which the sediment would be transported to, but this area has since been changed due to it’s interference with the fishing industry. The new area is to be 35km away from the nearest coral reef, but many “green" organisations have misled people to believe otherwise. The people of Bowen are sick of being branded as the bad guys for wanting this to go ahead. You may have heard about the campaigns and petitions stating that the Great Barrier Reef is in Danger. Fear not! There will be no dredging on the reef, no “dumping" on the reef, no digging up the reef and we will not be mining the reef for coal. It will simply be a case of material being moved from one seabed to another. There is no toxic material, it is not being dumped onto coral and it is a big distance from the mass of coral we call the Great Barrier Reef. We care about the reef and if the project included one of the above monstrosities we would not want it to go ahead either.  The material can not be dumped onto land as it becomes toxic when it leaves the water and that is bad for the environment. Many have also stated that they are not in favour of the project because it will allow more coal ships to pass through the shipping channels in that area. Many ships already use these channels and until there is a replacement for coal (that is cost-effective and does not need any coal for say manufacturing purposes) it is understood that coal will be used/transported. Australia has a reputation for mining a cleaner quality coal. We have created these pages, the video and attended the rally to show the Environment Minister Mark Butler that we not only need and want the expansion, but that the expansion can occur with minimal environmental damage to the reef. Please check out the “links" for more information and feel free to follow or reblog as much as possible. We want to make sure that everyone is getting both sides of the story!" http://isupportabbotpointexpansion.tumblr.com/about