Marine Environment At Risk In Tasmania

The Australian government approved Thursday plans for a controversial multi-billion-dollar pulp mill in Tasmania despite objections it could ruin one of the country's most pristine environments. Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the proposed two-billion-dollar (1.7-billion-US) mill would have to meet stringent environmental conditions, but activists said the approval was a "tragedy" for the Tasmanian environment. The tighter conditions included a lower level of dioxins that can be discharged into local waterways. "The conditions do not stop Tasmania's old-growth forests being logged to feed the mill, with the accompanying destruction of biodiversity," Lindsay Hesketh, a campaigner for the foundation, said in a statement. Hesketh said the mill would emit 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and dump toxic effluent into the Bass Strait marine environment. Green groups have threatened to campaign against Turnbull in his electorate in Sydney with an election due in Australia before the end of the year...