Spenser Gulf a 'giant experiment'

Article from "The Independant weekly". by Melissa Mack. 26th January 2008.

A leading South Australian biologist has warned against over-development of the Upper Spenser Gulf, which is poised to become on the state’s industrial hot zones.

Biologist Dr Toby Bolton. From Flinders University’s School of Biological Sciences, said the Gulf’s unique oceanography is under threat.

“The concern with the proposed desalination plant is that there is no way of knowing what the impact would be. It is essentially a giant experiment,” he said. Dr. Bolton, a diving officer and operations manager at the Lincoln Marine Science Centre, said water discharged from the plant would be saltier and denser than the natural gulf.

“The discharge could sit on the bottom of the sea, and it is unknown how it is going to behave. There is limited data on oceanography of that area he said.

The State Government is sponsoring industrial development on the upper Spencer Gulf. The land management corporation provides land for Point Bonython Fuels to establish a rail corridor, a storage site for 80 million litres of diesel and a new distribution terminal and oil refinery.

Member for Flinders Liz Penfold welcomes the economic expansion but not at the expense of the environment.

“The tank farm, oil refinery, iron ore port and associated shipping and large scale desalination plant planned for the Spenser Gulf are in my view incompatible with its environmental survival as a fish nursery and pristine marine environments>: she said.

Shipping from Whyalla is expected to increase 300 per cent, which combined with the desalination plant will, according to Ms Penfold, pose an increased environmental risk to the fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries.

“There needs to be an environmental look at the whole issue of the head of the gulf’, she said.

“We don’t know how quickly the desalination’s discharge can be diffused. There are quite big tidal flows but there isn’t a large amount of exchange of water to the open sea.”

According to Ms. Penfold the top end of the Spenser Gulf is convenient for BHP Billiton, Santos and Point Bonython Fuels, and the Government.

“It is not the best location for activities that should be located in more open waters, well away from cuttlefish, prawn breeding grounds and the Kingfish farms, which could be wiped out with one accident.” She said.

She said there were alternatives such as building another port to export to the hinterland’s iron ore, rather than using Point Bonython.

She said such a new deep-water port could be connected by rail to the planned southern Eyre Peninsular mines.

Ms. Penfold wants the proposed desalination plants at Ceduna and Port Augusta to be built at more environmentally appropriate sites around the SA coast.

“The water for BHP Billiton’s expansion should be sourced from a large desalination plant on the west coast of Eyre Peninsular or an expansion of the desalination plant proposed at Port Augusta,” she said.

Results of an environmental impact study on the Port Bonython development are expected mid year.

Lights back on

The Whyalla Council has turn the Point Lowly Lighthouse light back on with a dimmer yellow light