Vic: Government investigates ways of deepening Port Phillip Bay

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2001
Vic: Government investigates ways of deepening Port Phillip Bay

MELBOURNE, Aug 24 AAP - Conservation and marine groups are concerned at investigations
by a Victorian government body into deepening Port Phillip Bay - which could pose serious
environmental risks.

The Victorian Channels Authority is conducting feasibility studies into deepening the
entrance to the bay, known as The Rip, by up to 2.5m to allow larger ships to enter, The
Age reports today.

It says the authority was considering using explosives or dredging to deepen the bay entrance.

But conservation and marine groups are concerned with both methods, saying dolphin
and seal colonies in a proposed marine park could be at risk.

Dolphin Research Institute director Jeff Weir told the newspaper explosives to remove
sandstone in The Rip would endanger marine animals within a few hundred metres of the
blast.

"It's most definitely a concern because there's certainly a potential risk to marine
animals unless it's handled with a great deal of care," he said.

While the authority has not ruled out using explosives, it told The Age it would use
"dipper dredging", involving a machine similar to a back-hoe, to dig out sandstone and
then deepen the bay.

A preliminary report will be handed to the government in October, The Age says.

KEYWORD: BAY

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