Ports corp says Burnett River dredging follows environmental guidelines

Original story by Frances Adcock, ABC News

Nesting Loggerhead Turtle. Photo: Home of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle

The Gladstone Ports Corporation says 340,000 cubic metres of dredged ‘spoil’ from the Bundaberg Port in southern Queensland has been deposited offshore.

The corporation has been dredging the Burnett River since April to clear silt and debris after January’s floods and allow sugar ships out of the port.

Environmentalists are concerned the dredging could harm endangered loggerhead turtles that nest near Bundaberg.

However, port manager Jason Pascoe says strict environmental guidelines have been adhered to.

“We do daily inspections of the dredge area from the land and sea and we have a fairly significant process in place in the event that there is a turtle identified in the dredge area,” he said.