Aussie Beaches...Oil Spill Area Disaster Zone

[KiwiCoromandel]

THE full scale of the environmental disaster off the Queensland coast has become clearer as the shipping company admitted its earlier estimates of the oil spill's size were "substantially" wrong and the length and the cost of the clean-up were revised upwards by the State Government.

An oil slick measuring tens of kilometres is staining the shore along Sunshine Coast beaches, Bribie Island and Moreton Island.

The cargo vessel Pacific Adventurer leaked the oil late yesterday from a hull breach as it lay moored in Brisbane's port. It was a casualty of rough seas it had encountered on a voyage to Indonesia on Wednesday.

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/oil-spil...90313-8xuo.html

source: Connie Levett in Bribie Island and Ben Cubby/SMH

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-13-voa9.cfm

images: Supplied: Dozens of popular tourist beaches on Australia's northeast coast have been declared disaster zones following a massive spill of oil from a cargo ship..

[KiwiCoromandel]

Weeks to clean up Queensland oil spill....

THE massive oil slick that has coated 60km of pristine Queensland coastline will take weeks to clean up, as authorities last night admitted they were still unsure of the extent of the spill from the stricken Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship Pacific Adventurer.

read more: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...900-601,00.html

source: The Australian/AAP

images: Supplied/cdn.necn.com...More than 200000 LITRES of OIL are estimated to be washing the shores of Moreton and Bribie islands

[KiwiCoromandel]

Queensland braces for more oil....

Queensland is bracing for a second wave of heavy fuel oil after Wednesday's massive spill from a cargo ship blackened 60km of pristine coastline.

Wildlife has already been ravaged in the state's biggest environmental disaster after a 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and about 30 tonnes of oil was lost into the sea off Moreton Island from Hong Kong-flagged vessel Pacific Adventure.

Volunteers have been busy treating pelicans and moving turtle eggs buried in the oil-slicked sand.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/glance/770575/w...ed-by-oil-spill

source: news.ninemsn.com.au

image: http://news.ninemsn.com.au