environment – Page 2 – Michmutters

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Australia

Ipswich mayor hails ‘good outcome’ as government plans to close smelly Cleanaway landfill cell

A pool of stagnant water at a landfill site.

A commercial landfill company blamed for a rotten egg smell causing chronic problems for Ipswich residents since the February floods may have to permanently close and rehabilitate the affected landfill cell.

Cleanaway’s New Chum landfill site was overwhelmed with stormwater during the floods earlier this year, inundating a newly excavated landfill cell with 140 million liters of water.

The water quickly fermented into leachate, causing an unbearable smell that prompted Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding to call for a health inquiry.

The Department of Environment and Science demurred on that point, but launched a formal investigation into the issues and recently notified Cleanaway that it intended to change the environmental regulations governing the site.

A department spokesperson said Cleanaway had until September 6 to respond to the notice of intention to amend the environmental authority.

Ms Harding said it was a “good outcome”.

“Cleanaway will have to go to the state with their plan of what they’re going to do, but the state has directed them to close that cell, to not receive any waste, and to make sure it’s fully rehabilitated,” she told ABC Radio Brisbane.

Clean-up underground

At parliamentary estimates last week, the director-general of the Department of Environment and Science, Jamie Merrick, confirmed the department planned to amend Cleanaway’s environmental authority.

“No waste would be permitted to be deposited in the cell,” Mr Merrick said.

“Cleanaway would be required to remediate it fully and see those works peer-reviewed to prevent any ground and surface water infiltration into the cell to prevent erosion and restore it, resulting in a safe, stable and non-polluting landform condition.”

Mr Merrick said the compliance response to the flooding issue in February was one of the largest in the department’s history, with more than 60 staff involved and daily reports from Cleanaway.

Cleanaway’s general manager of solid waste services for Queensland, Suzanne Wauchope, said the company had been notified of the environment department’s proposal but had not yet been directed to close the cell.

“We received the notice to say they’re proposing to change our environmental authority, but nothing has actually happened as yet and it won’t until that process is complete,” she said.

A man in safety equipment monitoring air quality at a dump
More than 60 environment department staffers have worked on the response.(Supplied: Department of Environment and Science)

Ms Wauchope said the amount of water in the affected cell was down to just 11,000 megalitres, but since then Cleanaway had been successful in reducing the smell and impact on local residents.

“Our stormwater management system was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water that actually fell in February,” Ms Wauchope said.

“It just so happened that, at the time, we were doing some construction works, which does mean we created a big hole and we were busy lining that hole ready to take waste.”

costly exercise

In a June update to investors, Cleanaway said remediation costs for the site were estimated at $30–40 million.

The company closed the entire New Chum site in April, with investors told it was unlikely to be reopened until 2023.

Ms Wauchope said the company expected the last 11,000 megalitres to be gone from the cell by the end of August.

The contaminated water is being treated and taken to sewer points off-site, with air monitoring data reporting steadily lower discharge levels of hydrogen sulphide.

She said the company was fully committed to working with the environmental department and the community to resolve the issue.

“We want to do the right thing by the environment at the end of the day,” Ms Wauchope said.

“We deliver a really important public service to the community, which is to help the community remove their waste and deal with it appropriately, which is exactly what we seek to do in our landfill.”

Ms Harding said Ipswich City Council had been contacted by the Department of Environment and Science regarding potential breaches of Cleanaway’s operating permits.

“An initial review of the department’s request indicates there is no evidence to support council taking compliance action against Cleanaway,” she said.

“Of course, we will continue to monitor and review the situation closely.”

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Categories
Australia

Cathy Gray wins Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize people’s choice award

Cathy Gray wins Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize people's choice award

South Australian artist Cathy Gray hopes highlighting the plight of disappearing native plants will empower Australians to do more to protect them.

Her piece Endangered has won The People’s Choice Dr Wendy Wickes Memoriam Prize as a part of the South Australian Museum’s Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize.

It was also highly commended by judges for its depiction of the fragile relationship between the arts and the natural world.

Ms Gray’s illustration captured 756 of Australia’s 758 critically endangered and endangered species.

She said while she didn’t win the major prize, it was great that it resonated with people who saw the drawing up close.

red haired woman sitting down drawing with a pen in her left hand
Ms Gray says she was humbled by the recognition.(Supplied)

“It’s a bit surreal and just such an honour,” Ms Gray said.

“I think for my work especially, it’s very hard to see online and in a photo, but when you go in and you see it in person, just to have that connection and for it to resonate with people, it’s really important.

“We actually have more foreign species now in Australia then we do native.”

close up shot of mandala with a small list of words
Ms Gray says some of the plants featured in her drawing haven’t been seen for 20 years.(Supplied)

She said the loss of Australia’s endangered species was happening right in front of people.

“It’s the plants we may have in our neighborhoods and because of that I believe unlike some environmental issues, people may be empowered to make a difference,” Ms Gray said.

She said she spent more than 400 hours researching and producing the detailed pen-inked mandala.

long list of name of endangered and critically endangered native plants species written in black
Ms Gray says two plants were missing because she couldn’t find any photos of them. (Supplied)

She said the most challenging aspect of the piece was researching all the different species and trying to find good photos of each one.

“I actually put it out there on Facebook, and people started to tag botanists they knew and people working in botanical gardens, and those botanists contacted their connections that they had around Australia,” she said.

“They all came together for me, it was a huge challenge for everybody to try and get these last 35 plants.

“Every single plant that is drawn on here might not be around if we don’t make changes, or [we] don’t do something to help these plants.”

close up of mandala with black and white drawing
The piece will be on display at the National Archives in Canberra.(Supplied)

The drawing will be on display in the National Archives in Canberra until November.

The People’s Choice Dr Wendy Wickes Memoriam Prize recognizes the significance of the public vote, a unique feature of the award, providing visitors with the opportunity to decide on the piece they think most reflects the spirit of the Waterhouse.

The competition is open to artists from around Australia.

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Categories
Australia

Farmers digging into the eco-friendly powers of dung beetles in far north Queensland

Two men study a clod of earth in a paddock while cattle look on curiously.

A passing observer might think the cattle and dairy farmers of far north Queensland have been having very strangely by digging through their paddocks — elbows deep in cattle dung.

They are on the hunt for an insect that has one of the most unappealing and yet important jobs in the world: eating animal droppings.

Their search comes as soaring fertilizer prices and workforce shortages across Australia accelerate a movement towards natural, non-labor intensive alternatives.

The humble dung beetle offers a real solution.

It recycles effluent waste into organic fertilizer, eradicates flies, aerates the soil and increases water penetration — all while cheerfully munching on dung and asking nothing in return.

Close-up of two large black dung beetles on the palm of a hand.
Onitis vanderkellen dung beetles are abundant at cattle and dairy properties in the region.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

Beetles that specialize in eating cattle dung have been studied and bred extensively in both southern Queensland and southern states since they were introduced by the CSIRO in the 1970s.

But until now, there have not been any comprehensive long-term studies on how to breed and propagate species suited to northern Australia.

Some 15 farmers in far north Queensland have rolled up their sleeves to find out just what is living in the cow pats on their fields.

Cattle dung ‘attracts flies’

Among the participants is Gail Abernethy, who runs a small herd of cattle at a 36-hectare property at Wondecla on the Atherton Tablelands with her husband Victor.

A woman with a hat and sunglasses stands in a paddock holding a shovel in one hand and a dung beetle in the other.
Gail Abernethy participates in dung beetle collection at her cattle farm in Wondecla.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

She said she wanted to increase the population of dung beetles in the region, not only to reduce pasture fouling and fly outbreaks, but also to benefit productivity and the environment.

“There are native dung beetles, but they eat marsupial dung, so before the CSIRO back in the 70s and 80s introduced dung beetles from overseas, there was a lot of dung on the ground because it wasn’t being processed,” Ms Abernethy said .

“Cattle dung attracts flies, and that’s why the Australians had the fly salute, and had corks on their hats because there were so many flies.”

Ms Abernethy said dung beetles took the manure and buried it, which improved soil quality and created aeration of the soil, “so you’ve got less run-off from rainwater.”

“But there’s so little research and development being done in northern Australia, where all the cattle live,” she said.

A dung beetle for every season

Ms Abernethy began ordering dung beetles from southern breeders in 2014, but soon realized there was very little information about what species survived well in northern Australia at different times of year.

She and 14 other farmers obtained a Landcare grant to undertake their own research — and they have not been afraid to get their hands dirty.

“You take your shovel and you find a cow pat that’s at least 24 hours old, and put it in your bucket with some soil, and then empty some water into it, and they will float to the top in a graceful style,” Ms Abernethy said.

“We have collected beetles once a month for 12 months, and we now know we have nine separate species of introduced dung beetles and four predatory species.

“They’re the smaller ones who eat the fly larvae … and some of our beetles don’t live down south. They’re just up here in the tropics.”

Creating plant nutrients

South Australia’s Dr Bernard Doube is among the world’s leading dung beetle ecologists and is helping the group with beetle identification.

A man with a hat, gray beard and glasses kneels in a paddock using a stick to dissect a pile of dung.
Dr Bernard Doube is helping Far North Queensland farmers with dung beetle identification.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

He said the study had revealed a particularly abundant population of one species of dung beetle, Onitis vanderkelleniwhich was thriving in the Atherton Tablelands.

“It’s got a very restricted distribution up here and hardly anywhere else in Australia, but up here, it’s doing a great job,” Dr Doube said.

“It digs a tunnel to about 20 centimetres and lines the tunnel with dung … and down below, the beetle puts perhaps half a liter of dung, a huge amount really, and lays a whole [lot] of eggs in it.

“The eggs hatch into larvae, and the larvae eat all of the dung, and then [produce] all this processed stuff, which is rather like compost.”

Dr Doube said it created a “great big pile of plant nutrients”.

“The roots grow down there, and you get increased production and increased carbon storage because it’s a relatively permanent change in the structure of the soil,” he said.

“And our experiences from southern Australia indicate that we get about a 30 per cent increase in productivity due to the dung burial activity of the beetles.”

A close up of a small pale grub in a nest of dung
Onitis vanderkelleni larvae nest in dung at a property on the Atherton Tablelands.(Supplied: Louise Gavin)

Importantly, Dr Doube said the study had also revealed a gap in the winter population of dung beetles.

“What this project has shown is that we have quite a diversity of beetles here, and they are active during the summer,” he said.

“But at this time of the year in autumn and winter, although there are some beetles present and they’re burying dung, they’re not very common.”

Dr Doube said the group would now seek further funding to import and breed a species of beetle called Onitis caffer, which was more active during autumn and spring.

“We hope that we can get some financial support to establish a dung beetle importation program again, bringing in this particular beetle, which is going to be most beneficial, in my view,” he said.

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Categories
Australia

Great Barrier Reef coral cover at record levels after mass-bleaching events, report shows

An underwater shot showing a scientist wearing a snorkel, holding a tow bar, and floating over a large expanse of corals.

Record coral cover is being seen across much of the Great Barrier Reef as it recovers from past storms and mass-bleaching events. But the new coral taking over is leaving the reef more vulnerable to future devastating impacts, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).

AIMS’ 36-year Long-Term Monitoring Program has seen continued dramatic improvement in coral cover in the northern and central sections of the reef, following a period without intense disturbances.

The results come off the back of mass coral bleaching events that have happened at an unprecedented frequency — four out of six occurred in the last seven years. Mass bleaching, caused by marine heatwaves, was not known to occur at all prior to 1998.

When the water gets too hot, the algae that live inside the coral and provide it with most of its energy is expelled. If it remains too hot for too long, the coral stars and dies.

“The 2020 and 2022 bleaching events, while extensive, didn’t reach the intensity of the 2016 and 2017 events and, as a result, we have seen less mortality,” AIMS chief executive Paul Hardisty said.

“These latest results demonstrate the reef can still recover in periods free of intense disturbances.”

Line graphs show coral cover in the northern and central Great Barrier Reef declined after 2012, but increased after 2020.
The percentage of coral cover in the northern and central Great Barrier Reef has increased.(Supplied: Australian Institute of Marine Science)

Eighty-seven reefs were surveyed between August 2021 and March 2022 as part of the report, which showed cover in the north increased from 27 per cent to 36 per cent, and from 26 per cent to 33 per cent in the central section.

That recovery has led to the highest-ever coral cover the Long-Term Monitoring Program has recorded in those sections, which begin north of Mackay.

But Dr Hardisty said the frequent bleaching showed how vulnerable the reef remained.

Despite the good news, the southern section, which extends from the Whitsundays down past the Keppel group of islands, has seen a small reduction in coral cover largely due to an ongoing outbreak of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish.

Some thick, spiky red crown-of-thorns starfish are seen crawling around branches of white coral.
Crown-of-thorns starfish (seen in the front) continue to decimate coral reefs.(Supplied: Australian Institute of Marine Science)

“This shows how vulnerable the reef is to the continued acute and severe disturbances that are occurring more often, and are longer lasting,” Dr Hardisty said.

But even the southern section of the reef remains in relatively good health, with 34 per cent coral cover, a reduction from a recent peak of 37 per cent in 2017.

Increased coral cover could come at a cost

The rapid growth in coral cover appears to have come at the expense of the diversity of coral on the reef, with most of the increases accounted for by fast-growing branching coral called acropora.

Those corals grow quickly after disturbances but are very easily destroyed by storms, heatwaves and crown-of-thorns starfish. By increasing the dominance of those corals, the reef can become more vulnerable.

Colorful little fish swim among a variety of healthy-looking corals on the Great Barrier Reef.
Acropora corals have proliferated across much of the northern and central parts of the reef.(Supplied: Australian Institute of Marine Science)

It is a point acknowledged by Jodie Rummer, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townsville.

“While it’s great to see increases in coral cover of a particular species, we can’t ignore that the diversity is really what we need to emphasise, and that’s going to be key to a healthy ecosystem over the longer term,” Professor Rummer said .

“While one species might be fast growing and repopulating very quickly, that also might be the most susceptible to some of the stressors that the Great Barrier Reef has faced over and over and over again over the past decade.”

Mike Emslie wearing an Australian Institute of Marine Science T-shirt, and smiling in a portrait taken near the ocean.
Mike Emslie says Acropora corals are vulnerable to wave damage and bleaching.(Supplied: Australian Institute of Marine Science/Marie Roman)

Senior research scientist Mike Emslie, who leads the AIMS Long Term-Monitoring Program, agreed the news was mixed when it came to acropora.

“These corals are particularly vulnerable to wave damage, like that generated by strong winds and tropical cyclones,” Dr Emslie said.

“They are also highly susceptible to coral bleaching, when water temperatures reach elevated levels, and are the preferred prey for crown-of-thorns starfish.

“This means that large increases in hard coral cover can quickly be negated by disturbances on reefs where acropora corals predominate.”

Reef remains in danger from rising temperatures

Around the world, coral reefs face a grim future unless urgent action is taken to drastically halt man-made global warming.

In 2018, the United Nations released a report warning that coral reefs worldwide were projected to decline by up to 90 per cent even if warming was capped at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

On a shelf of coral, some corals are a stark white colour.
In February 2022, various types of corals experienced bleaching, pictured here in the central part of the reef.(Supplied: Australian Institute of Marine Science)

Great Barrier Reef campaigner with the Australian Marine Conservation Society Cherry Muddle said while the findings were promising, the reef remained in danger.

“The fact remains that unless fossil-fuel emissions are drastically cut, the reef remains in danger from rising temperatures and more mass bleaching events,” she said.

“In the wake of the State of the Environment report, which showed Australian inshore reefs were in a poor and deteriorating condition due to climate- and water-pollution pressures, it is more important than ever that we ensure urgent action is taken to address all threats to the reef.”

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Categories
Australia

Lake Tyrrell traditional owners apply for protection of sacred meeting place, Mallee tourism drawcard

People taking photos at a lake which reflects the sky.

Traditional owners of a popular tourist destination in Victoria’s north west are calling on the federal environment department to urgently intervene and protect the area from further desecration.

Lake Tyrrell, an ancient saltwater lake that is dry most of the year, is a tourist drawcard for the small but vibrant town of Sea Lake.

Indigenous elders from Wemba Wemba Aboriginal Corporation made the application to Tanya Plibersek’s office after the local council approved plans to build a tourist park and put its in-principle support behind the resumption of the Mallee Rally, an off-road dune buggy race.

The rally that runs around the lake, also known to traditional owners as Direl, started in 1973 but was discontinued in 2019 after Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) recommended it stop because of heritage concerns.

A group of people wearing skins and holding a black and red checkered banner.
Traditional owners from the Mallee including Gary Murray and Bobby Nicholls say their application is a last resort.(ABC Wimmera: Alexander Darling)

Preventing further damage

The report found hearths, flaked stone material, directly on the race track indicating the presence of culturally significant artefacts.

Direl, meaning ‘sky’ because of its mirror-like reflections of the sky when wet, is also an ancient meeting place for traditional owners and home to burial grounds, artefacts, mounds, and middens.

One of the lead applicants, Gary Murray, a Wemba Wamba and Wergaia elder, said Direl is culturally significant because it is the home to creator spirits like the dark emu that was also central to First Nations astronomy used for foraging.

He said while the report recommended the race stop, there was a chance it could summarize as the report did not offer the same protections from private development that a Cultural Heritage Management Plan did.

Gary Murray sits on a log
Gary Murray would like the lake to be permanently protected from the Mallee Rally, unregulated tourism, and private development.(ABC Lateline)

“The root cause of our concerns is the Mallee Rally, the lack of heritage protection progress, and poor planning and development regimes around Direl by the Shire of Buloke and [the] state,” Mr Murray said in the application.

He also said the DELWP report did not analyze the salt mining activities and tourism park, even though water and electricity infrastructure that had been installed — according to a specialist First Nations archaeologist who visited the site in November 2021 — had already caused damage.

He said traditional owners were worried that tourism, while encouraged, would be unregulated and lead to damage, pollution, and desecration of sacred sites.

Bobby Nicholls smiles as he stands in a park, dressed in a warm checked jacket on a rainy day.
Bobby Nicholls, a multi-clan Aboriginal elder and applicant, says governments have failed Indigenous landowners.(ABC News: Joseph Dunstan)

Mr Murray criticized the DELWP conservation plan for failing to survey large portions of the lake and shoreline.

Organizers of the rally, the Sea Lake Off Road Club, had offered to modify the route but fellow applicant and Wergaia elder Bobby Nicholls said the rally in any way made it incompatible with preserving cultural heritage because it was an uncontrolled environment.

“They tear around open county … and given there are some very sensitive areas where we need protection … [the buggies] can go anywhere off the track,” Mr Nicholls said.

“We have no choice but to engage the Commonwealth as a last resort.”

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Categories
Australia

Sustainable wild sandalwood harvest sought by Yilka traditional owners

Sustainable wild sandalwood harvest sought by Yilka traditional owners

The smell hits Kayshun Murray when his chainsaw is almost through the trunk.

Standing in a helmet and steel-capped boots in the West Australian desert, the young ranger inhales a fragrance judged to be among the world’s best.

“You can actually smell all the beauty in it,” he said.

The scent of the sacred sandalwood tree has wafted over Yilka country, more than 1,000 kilometers north-east of Perth, for millennia.

It has long been coveted by international perfume houses and incense makers from New York to Beijing.

Western Australia has harvested the trees and distilled their valuable oil to help meet that demand since 1845.

But Mr Murray and other Yilka traditional owners were only granted a seat at that table a year ago when they received a license to harvest wild sandalwood on their country.

They are determined to retain that right into the future.

Push to ban wild harvest

Calls have been made to ban the harvest of wild sandalwood amid fears it is being pushed towards the brink of extinction.

A law that determines how much can be taken will be reviewed before the end of 2025.

The government will call for public comments about a management program in the coming months.

He wears hi-vis and leans on a crate of sandalwood
HM has wanted to see sandalwood harvested on Yilka country for decades.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

The driving force behind the Yilka sandalwood operation, known as HM for cultural reasons, said he understood those concerns.

But the Yilka Talintji Aboriginal Corporation chairperson said Aboriginal people should have the opportunity to benefit from industry on their land — as the WA government had for years.

Figures from WA’s Forest Products Commission (FPC) show that total revenue from wild sandalwood is expected to exceed $21 million, excluding costs, in the past financial year.

Yilka secured native title to the Cosmo Newberry reserve in 2017.

That meant, after receiving its harvesting license, it could profit from harvesting the wild tree.

HM said all earnings were invested back into the land after paying rangers’ wages and buying new equipment.

“That way, you don’t have to depend on government,” he said.

Sandalwood sits in a crate
Sandalwood is worth up to $25,000 a tonne.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

‘Regeneration is happening’

HM said his organization hired an external consultant who said a 100-tonne annual wild harvest would be sustainable on Yilka country.

But he said Yilka Heritage and Land Care rangers would instead harvest 60 tonnes, 20 of which would be dead wood.

He said rangers harvested “every second legal tree” from pre-determined lots.

He said they would not return to that lot for 45 years — the time it took for trees to grow.

HM said 20 seeds were thrown down to replace every felled tree.

WA’s Forest Products Commission has attributed the decline of wild sandalwood to the disappearance of small marsupials that buried and dispersed seeds, overgrazing, and reduced winter rainfall rather than harvesting.

It believes regeneration work could help turn things around.

HM stands to the right of the machine, which looks like a tractor
Plant equipment has been customized to pull sandalwood trees.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

HM said the junior ranger program — made up of school-aged children from Cosmo Newberry — helped with regeneration by measuring, photographing, and recording the coordinates of pulled and planted trees.

“So when we go for our next license we can prove to the government that all this regeneration is happening from where we pulled last year,” HM said.

social sustainability

The harvested sandalwood is taken to Dutjanh Sandalwood Oil’s distillery in Kalgoorlie where oil is extracted and sold to the international fragrance market.

Distillery chief executive Guy Vincent, who recently returned from the World Perfumery Congress in Miami, said a combination of cultural stewardship and scientific expertise was key to ensuring the wild sandalwood industry was sustainable.

The small bottle is held between thumb and forefinger
A ranger holds a small bottle of sandalwood oil from Yilka country.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

Mr Vincent also said Dutjanh, who was half-owned by Aboriginal Australians and invested about 30 per cent of earnings back into communities, and Yilka had clear commitments towards social sustainability.

But he said the industry needed to do more in that space.

“Purchasing the wood through groups like Yilka is economically and socially sustainable because we have our benefit sharing,” Mr Vincent said.

“[But] we’re a very rare case in the industry.”

She stands in hi-vis and points at the tree
Ranger Jessica Sullivan with a sandalwood tree on Yilka country.(Supplied: Bridie Hardy)

The WA government recently appointed an Aboriginal Sandalwood Advisory Group to help increase First Nations’ involvement in the industry.

It said it increased the wild sandalwood quota available for Aboriginal people seeking a license last year while reducing the FPC’s quota.

It also said social sustainability was among the criteria that wild harvest sandalwood quantities would be reviewed again by 2026.

‘You can walk in freedom’

Ranger Lyall Westlake said he felt at peace on country.

He has curly hair and a face mask tucked under his beard
Lyall Westlake says he loves working on country.(ABC NewsEmily Smith)

“The land is really perfect,” he said, standing under rain clouds on the Great Central Road.

“You can smell the breeze. Smell the wind.”

He said it was different from in town where there were more cars and people.

“You don’t know who is coming and going,” he said.

“But here you can walk in freedom.”

Fellow ranger Gwenetta Westlake said she loved working with her younger sibling, Chelsea.

Two women stand next to each other smiling on a bare, flat patch of land
Gwenetta and Chelsea Westlake love their work as rangers.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

“She always chases me, wherever I go because she’s my baby sister,” she said.

The Cosmo Newberry residents are among the 45 rangers HM has on the books to manage the sandalwood operation, as well as cool burns and care for cultural sites.

A ranger is pictured from behind, as flames leap into the shot
Rangers conduct cool burns on Yilka country.(ABC News: Madison Snow)

HM said the work provided alternative jobs to the local mining industry and was a better fit culturally for many of those involved.

He said a well-managed industry could pave the road to a better future for many residents.

“Looking after country is the most important thing for us,” he said.

“If we don’t, we don’t exist.”

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Categories
US

Port of New York and New Jersey battles a shipping container pile-up

Port of New York and New Jersey battles a shipping container pile-up

The Port of New York and New Jersey announced new tariffs on Tuesday related to empty containers and export volume in its battle to decrease container congestion. Both loaded and empty containers that are considered long-dwelling will be subject to a quarterly “container imbalance fee.” The tariff will be effective as of September 1, pending the mandatory federal 30-day notice.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest port on the East Coast and the third-largest in the nation. Products that were recently processed through customs in July range from BMW motorcycles and dresses for David’s Bridal out of China, parts for Plug Power, a gas cooker for Tractor Supply, and a “12 Days of Beauty Box” for Target.

But just like other ports, the Port of New York and New Jersey has processed record volumes of import containers during the pandemic and has seen these import containers wait longer at the terminals. These containers have clogged land capacity and slowed down port productivity. As a result, more vessels wait at anchor.

Under the new tariff, ocean carriers who do not move empty containers out of the port will be charged $100 per container. The port’s new container export levels mandate that export volumes must equal or exceed 110% of an ocean carrier’s incoming container volume during the same period. If that benchmark is not met, the ocean carrier will be assessed a fee of $100 per container for failing to hit this benchmark. Both loaded and empty containers are included in the import container count. Rail volume is excluded.

Record cargo volume, excess containers

Surrounding land is also being used by the port to make room for the excess containers. The port created temporary storage for both empty containers and long-dwelling import containers in a 12-acre lot within the Port Newark and the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal. The port is also in negotiations and researching additional areas that could be used for storage space.

“As we continue to manage record cargo volume and work with our tenants and port stakeholders for the removal of empty containers in a timely manner, we call on all industry stakeholders to find sustainable, long-term solutions to an industrywide problem affecting many US ports ,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.

The decrease in productivity can be seen in the increased travel time of vessels. The increased anchorage times can be tracked in the vessel transit time from China to the Port of New York and New Jersey.

“The Port of New York and New Jersey is facing record import volumes, leading to empty containers accumulating in and around the port complex that are now affecting the regional supply chain that is already under stress from various sources across the country,” said Bethann Rooney , director of the Port Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “We emphatically encourage ocean carriers to step up their efforts to evacuate empty containers quicker and at higher volumes to free up much needed capacity for arriving imports in order to keep commerce moving through the port and the region.”

European goods and German port stresses

East Coast ports like New York receive a lot of goods from Europe, where trade has been severely impacted by ongoing labor strife at both ports and rails. Exports bound for the United States are at least two months late.

Among the thousands of containers that were imported into the Port of New York and New Jersey in the month of July, according to a review of customs data using ImportGenius, there was wine from Spain, pasta, Prosecco and Giorgio Armani suits from Italy, and furniture from France.

Planet, a new contributor to the CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map, captured photos to show the impact of the rail strikes that have left a crush of containers at the rail terminals in Hamburg. Because of extensive cloud cover in July, the comparisons are between May 15, 2022 and June 11, 2022. The buildup of containers can clearly be seen. With the labor strife continuing, the number of containers has grown, according to logistics experts, and that is slowing down trade.

Hamburg rail terminal comparisons

Planet

“The rail situation in the Ports of Germany, especially in Hamburg, remains stressed and the congestion is increasing,” said Andreas Braun, Europe, Middle East, and Africa ocean product director of Crane Worldwide Logistics.

Rail operators constantly miss their normal delivery and pick up windows, and can still not deliver laden containers to the terminal earlier than seven days prior to loading. Due to the summer passenger schedule, container train operators have to give right of way to the increased amount of passenger trains, which additionally contributes to the delays.

“At least one week of delays is normal by now however, that can go up to two weeks and the constant threat that you miss the vessel,” Braun said.

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Business

Environmental watchdog investigating ‘elevated’ lead levels in ducks from Victorian wetlands

Very big close-up of a duck's head.

Wedge-tailed eagles and other protected species are at risk of being paralyzed by lead poisoning in Victoria, according to wildlife advocates, with illegal lead ammunition still being used to shoot ducks.

Freedom of Information documents reveal humans are also at risk, with lead levels in ducks “well above” food safety standards at four Victorian duck-hunting waterways.

Secret email correspondence shows the state’s environmental watchdog has been aware of “elevated” lead levels in ducks from several wetlands used for hunting since 2018, but it has not made the public danger or issued any warnings.

The CSIRO states even tiny traces of lead are harmful to humans and animals, because the substance is so toxic.

An email titled “Lead in duck — heads up” from the EPA to Victoria’s Chief Environmental Scientist reports on testing samples from 2018 which revealed high lead levels in ducks from Serpentines Creek in western Victoria, Richardson’s Lagoon in northern Victoria and Heart Morass and Macleod Morass in Gippsland.

Emails show the ducks were retested in 2020 and found to contain lead levels that posed potential risks to human health.

There is a picture of a brown duck floating on some water.
Emails from the Environmental Protection Agency say the elevated lead levels in Victoria’s ducks could be harmful to humans.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

“The new results came on this Monday and confirmed high levels of lead in duck tissues. Again, well above the FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand,” the 2020 email said.

The EPA was told by the Chief Environmental Scientist the results warranted further investigation to evaluate “potential risks to the environment and human health” and recommended it take place before the start of the 2021 season.

That testing is still underground.

Lead ammunition still in use despite two decades on ban list

The use of lead bullets for duck hunting is illegal in Victoria and has been since 2001 with the Game Management Authority stating, “lead is a toxic substance that can harm humans, wildlife and the environment”.

Illegal lead ammunition was being used in Victoria as recently as last month — six hunters received penalties for possession of toxic shot on Victorian wetlands during the 2022 season.

Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting project manager Sue Williams said four recreational duck and quail shooting seasons had been allowed to proceed since the lead levels in ducks were first identified.

“It is simply unfathomable that the government has not issued any public warnings about the lead levels found in ducks across our state,” she said.

“The fact ducks were found to have toxic lead levels in 20 per cent of wetlands surveyed suggests the danger is frighteningly widespread, given duck shooting is allowed in thousands of public areas.”

duck hunting
Lead ammunition is still in use by Victorian duck hunters despite being illegal.(ABC News: Jane Cowan)

The EPA said the sampling and analysis on ducks in 2018 was undertaken to assess the presence of PFAS in ducks in various Victorian waterways and additional sampling and analysis was done in 2020 for the presence of trace metals.

“The results were inconclusive — lead levels in liver samples were lower than in breast samples, which is contrary to what would be expected,” Chief Environmental Scientist Mark Taylor said.

“EPA will conduct further sampling and analysis to better understand if there are any risks to human health from lead in ducks.”

In June 2021, then-Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was asked in state parliament whether lead levels above food safety guidelines had been found in ducks at the Heart Morass and Macleod Morass wetlands.

In a written response in August 2021, the Minister stated her department was not aware of any “publicly” available scientific studies to determine lead levels in ducks at the wetlands, despite the EPA having the results of tests completed in 2018.

The Victorian government approved a full-length three-month duck hunting season in March this year but has been under pressure from across the political divide to follow WA, NSW and QLD and ban the sport altogether.

“There is no excuse for duck hunters to still be using to use toxic lead shot and hunters caught doing so will be fined, have their equipment seized, may have their licenses canceled and face prosecution,” a government spokesperson said.

Lead poisoning can lead to ‘horrifically slow death’ for birds

Lethal amounts of lead have been found in protected species in Victoria, according to Jordan Hampton from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences.

“Concerningly, the birds of prey with by far the highest levels of lead exposure detected in Australia, have been wedge-tailed eagles from Victoria,” he said.

“If the shot animal is left where it lies, lead fragments become a threat to any scavenging wildlife.

“Lead doesn’t go away, lead ammunition fired today will be in our environment for decades to come.”

Wildlife Victoria CEO Lisa Palma said lead poisoning was an insidious way for ducks, swans and wedge-tailed eagles to die.

“They suffer a horrifically slow death, both if they are wounded or feed on carcasses with lead in them,” she said.

“They present with neurological and paralysis symptoms, are sluggish, unable to eat and slowly die of starvation.”

Duck hunting group says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for rulebreakers

Victorian Duck Hunters Association secretary Kev Gommers said he was shocked to learn lead ammunition was still being used by hunters, more than two decades after it was banned.

“We do not condone this at all, I don’t know anyone who would be stupid enough to still use lead,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for anyone who breaks these rules in our organisation, it goes against what we stand for.”

A brown duck with a blue head swims in the water.
Ducks and other wildlife can become fatally ill if exposed to lead fragments from ammunition.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

Dr Hampton, who is also a vet, said more needed to be done to protect the environment, animals and humans, with lead ammunition still legal for quail hunting, commercial harvesting and aerial-based shooting.

“There is a simple and immediate solution — we need to ban all lead ammunition — not just for ducks,” Dr Hampton said.

“This did not harm the automobile industry when unleaded fuel was introduced.”

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Categories
Australia

Water promised to the Murray-Darling Basin won’t be delivered, despite PM doubling down on commitment

An aerial photo of water flowing through the gates at Lake Menindee, April 2021

Almost a Sydney Harbour’s worth of water committed to Australia’s largest river system can’t be delivered by a 2024 deadline, a new report has been found, despite a promise from the now-Prime Minister his government would deliver the water.

It could cost taxpayers almost $11 billion to deliver 450 gigalitres (GL) of water for the environment across the Murray-Darling system, according to the latest statutory review required under the Water Act.

“Putting aside program and timing limitations, the estimated cost to recover the full 450 GL through efficiency measures is between $3.4 billion and $10.8 billion,” the second review of the Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) found.

“It is not possible to reach the 450 GL target through the current efficiency measures program … even if the WESA’s time and budget limits were removed.”

Less than $60 million of the $1.7 billion WESA fund for water-saving projects had been spent as of June last year.

WESA reviewers said not enough water had been recovered to date, and requirements for where water savings could be found were too limiting.

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Categories
Australia

Scientists discover cause of catastrophic mangrove destruction in Gulf of Carpentaria

Scientists discover cause of catastrophic mangrove destruction in Gulf of Carpentaria

In the summer of 2015-16, one of the most catastrophic mangrove diebacks ever recorded globally occurred in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Some 40 million mangroves died across more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline, releasing nearly 1 million tonnes of carbon — equivalent to 1,000 jumbo jets flying back from Sydney to Paris.

After six years of searching for answers, scientists have formally identified what is causing the mass destruction. They hope the discovery will help predict and possibly prevent future events.

Valuable mangroves ‘died of thirst’

Map showing areas affected by severe mangrove dieback in late 2015.
Areas affected by severe mangrove dieback in late 2015 (grey shaded) along the gulf. Aerial surveys (red lines) were undertaken in 2016.(Supplied: NC Duke)

Mangrove ecologist and senior research scientist at James Cook University (JCU) Norman Duke was behind the discovery.

Dr Duke found that unusually low sea levels caused by severe El Niño events meant mangrove trees “essentially died of thirst”.

“The key factor responsible for this catastrophe appears to have been the sudden 40-centimetre drop in sea level that lasted for about six months, coinciding with no rainfall, killing vast areas of mangroves,” he said.

Author assisting with data analysis and JCU researcher Adam Canning said the study’s evidence for sea-level drop being the cause was found in the discovery of an earlier mass dieback in 1982, observed in satellite imagery.

Mass die-off of mangroves off Karumba on Queensland's Gulf Country coast
Hundreds of kilometers of mangroves along the coast of Karumba have turned a ghostly white.(Supplied: James Cook University)

“The 1982 dieback also coincided with an unusually extreme drop in sea level during another very severe El Niño event. We know from satellite data that the mangroves took at least 15 years to recover from that dieback,” Dr Canning said.

“Now they are caught in a vicious collapse and recovery cycle because of repeated pressure from climate change — the question remains when or if they will recover.”

Economic impact

Mangroves are valuable coastal ecosystems providing buffer shorelines against rising sea levels, protection against erosion, abundant carbon sinks, shelter for animals, nursery habitats, and food for marine life.

The destruction of mangroves can lead to a loss of fisheries, increased flooding, increased coastal damage from cyclones, and increased salinity of coastal soils and water supplies.

Mangroves stripped of foliage along a small tidal channel near the Robinson River.
Mangroves stripped of foliage along a small tidal channel near the Robinson River.(Supplied: Dr Norman Duke)

In the gulf, the mangrove dieback threatens a $30 million fishing industry, Dr Duke said.

“The fishing industry relies on these mangroves, including for redleg banana prawns, mudcrabs and fin fish,” he said.

“When the El Niño of 2015-16 struck, redleg banana prawn fishers reported their lowest-ever catches.”

Dr Duke said it was unlikely the gulf’s mangroves would recover due to the growing intensity of El Nino events.

“Our research reveals the presence of a previously unrecognized ‘collapse-recovery cycle’ of mangroves along gulf shorelines,” he said.

Composite image of NT mangrove dieback
Images of different sections of foreshore taken months apart show the extent of mangrove dieback in the NT.(Supplied: NC Duke)
Before and after mangrove death
Before and after the loss of a section of mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria.(Supplied: Dr Norman Duke)

“The threat of future El Niño-driven sea level drops appears imminent, as evidence points to a link between climate change and severe El Niño and La Niña events.

“Indeed, El Niño and La Niña have become more deadly over the last 50 years, and the long-term damage they inflict is expected to escalate.

“Under these circumstances, the potential for the mangroves to recover is understandably low.

Protecting future ecosystems

Dr Duke said closer monitoring was key to preventing future mass diebacks. He said regular aerial surveys were a place to start.

“Tropical mangroves need much greater protection, and more effective maintenance with regular health checks from dedicated national shoreline monitoring,” he said.

Mangrove dieback in the Northern Territory
Mangroves have died along a 2,000km stretch of coastline in the Gulf of Carpentaria.(Supplied: NC Duke)

“Our aerial surveys of more than 10,000 kilometers of north Australian coastlines have made a start.

“We’ve recorded environmental conditions and drivers of shoreline change for north-western Australia, eastern Cape York Peninsula, Torres Strait Islands and, of course, the Gulf of Carpentaria.

“As the climate continues to change, it’s vital to keep a close eye on our changing shoreline wetlands and to ensure we’re better prepared next time another El Niño disaster strikes.”

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