Port dredge tactic won’t stop spillage

A PLAN to dump dredge spoil in the Barron Delta without harming the environment has been described as fanciful by a Far North conservation body.

Ports North is proposing to pump 900,000 cubic metres of “soft clay”, taken from Trinity Inlet, into an existing Barron Delta sand mine as part of the $120 million Cairns Shipping Development Project.

But Roz Walden, director of Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC), questioned whether the “complex engineering” project would be up to the task.

“Will it stand up against a one in 100-year rainfall event, a cyclone or even the next big wet season?” Ms Walden said.

“Anyone who thinks that sediments will be transported from the port to the Barron Delta and (remain) contained there without major spillage and environmental impact is living in fantasy.”

A revised draft EIS for the Cairns Shipping Development Project is now open for public comment, closing August 25.

By dumping dredge spoil at the sand mine and port-owned land at Portsmith, Ports North believes it has found a solution that is a win for the local economy and environment.

CAFNEC, however, has long opposed the development on principle.

“Fundamentally, we should not even be considering a project of this scale, in this location, in this day and age,” Ms Walden said.

Ports North chairman Russell Beer told the Cairns Post on Tuesday that the dredge spoil would “spend forever at the bottom of that sand pit in the Barron Delta”.

WILL IT STAND UP AGAINST A ONE IN 100YEAR RAINFALL EVENT, A CYCLONE OR EVEN THE NEXT BIG WET SEASON?

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