. Earth Science News .
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Australia offered 21 mln US dollar oil spill compensation

Britain blocks ship over dismantling abroad fears
British authorities used new powers for the first time on Friday to prevent a ship from leaving port over suspicions it was on its way to being dismantled illegally abroad. The Margaret Hill, a 50,700-tonne liquid natural gas tanker, was detained in the port of Southampton on the south coast of England while the fate of the ship is investigated. "Information suggested the ship, which is likely to contain hazardous materials such as asbestos, may be destined for dismantling at an undisclosed facility abroad," the Environment Agency said in a statement. Under international law, ships containing hazardous materials can only be dismantled at authorised dismantling facilities in either the European Union or an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country. They cannot be sent to be broken up in countries outside the EU or OECD such as India or Bangladesh. Liz Parkes, Head of Waste and Resource Management at the Environment Agency, said: "There are rules in place to ensure waste ships do not end up in developing countries, and cause damage to people and the environment. "The Environment Agency will only give permission for a waste ship to be exported if it is going to an authorised recycling site in a country that wants to accept it and has necessary agreements in place."
by Staff Writers
 Sydney (AFP) Aug 8, 2009
 A Hong Kong-based shipping company will pay Australia 25 million dollars (21 million US) in compensation for a massive toxic oil spill during a wild storm, officials said Saturday.

Swire Shipping's cargo liner Pacific Adventurer released about 200,000 litres (53,000 US gallons) of heavy fuel oil off the coast of Queensland state as it travelled through cyclonic weather on March 11.

Vast stretches of popular tourist beaches were blackened by the sludge, which spilled from the hull after it was pierced by fertiliser containers as they fell overboard in heavy seas.

It was one of Australia's worst-ever oil spills.

Swire said the compensation figure far exceeded its legal obligation of between 14.5 and 17.5 million dollars.

"We very much regret the accident, caused by Cyclone Hamish, that resulted in the oil spill - and also the effect of the spill on the Queensland coastal environment and the people of Queensland," said Bill Rothery, head of Swire's Australian operations.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh welcomed the settlement, which she said had taken five months of "hard work and a lot of public outcry".

"Frankly, I wish they'd done it a lot earlier and I wish we hadn't had an argument about it," Bligh said.

"Ultimately they've gone further than they've wanted to and that's a good thing."

The ship's Filipino captain, Bernardino Gonzalos Santos, 47, has been charged with illegally discharging oil, and faces fines of up to 350,000 dollars.

A preliminary transport bureau investigation into the accident found Santos set course toward Queensland despite knowing extreme weather lay ahead.

If successfully prosecuted for environmental or maritime breaches, Swire faces 1.5 million dollars in fines.

Both the national and Queensland governments have said they were seeking legal advice on further court action.

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
 Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up


Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


FROTH AND BUBBLE
Gas leak sickens more than 200 in China: state media
 Beijing (AFP) Aug 5, 2009
 More than 200 people fell ill Wednesday in an ammonia gas leak at a pharmaceutical plant in northern China, state media reported. The leak occurred at 9:40 am (0140 GMT) when a tanker truck was unloading 30 tonnes of liquid ammonia at the plant in Chifeng city, in Inner Mongolia, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the local district government. Twenty-one people were hospitalised and 18 ... read more






The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement