Environment impacts of oil spill unknown

Monday, 05 July 1999 10:00

"The most severely affected sites such as Balls Head Bay, Gore Cove and Berry Island Headland will suffer repeat contamination with every high tide. Sandstone is particularly porous allowing it to soak more oil, making it harder to clean, and even after cleaning, oil will be released back into the environment with each high tide," he said.

"The effects of this contamination could be widespread and long term. There has been no large scale ecological inventory done of Sydney harbour so there isnt enough information on which to base an ongoing monitoring program. We simply might not ever know the full impacts of the spill. We need immediate and ongoing spot surveys of intertidal communities in the area, they are the litmus test for impacts of the spill," he said.

"This spill happened in good conditions; a rising tide, calm waters, and low winds. I dread to think of 80 000 litres of light crude spilled in high winds and choppy waters, we'd have a much larger crisis," he said.

"The Premier says the Sydney Harbour is a "working" harbour, but it is also a "living" harbour and its value in tourism dollars would surely outstrip the ecomomic value of "dirty industries" like Shell being on the harbour. The only solution is to move the Shell storage facilities out of Sydney Harbour, it's a relic of a past industrial age. We can still have a working harbour without an oil terminal," he said.

"We are also gravely concerned about the spills impacts on the Endangered Population of Little Penguins at Manly. The Penguins feed throughout Sydney Harbour and sightings have been made just next to the main boom. At least 3 penguins have reportedly been affected but we won't know the total numbers affected for days. This is NSW's only mainland population. There are only around 200 birds left in the harbour. Health affects of oil poisoning can kill some birds. They will also continue through generations of Little Penguins and may threaten the long term survival of the population if too many birds are affected," he said.