Australia has approved the expansion of an existing coal port at Abbot Point near Bowen in north Queensland, reports BBConline Tuesday.
The expansion will involve dredging (opmudring af) one million cubic metres of spoil near the Great Barrier Reef which will then be dumped on land.
Conservationists have said the project will have a significant impact on the area's wildlife and surrounds.
Environmental group WWF said 61 hectares of seabed would be "ripped up", creating the dredge spoil. And that the spoil will be dumped on land next to wetlands that are home to more than 40,000 water birds.
In an original proposal for the port expansion, the dredge spoil was to be dumped at sea. However, in response to public pressure, that proposal was not approved.
An environmental ministry spokesperson said no dredge material would be placed in the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage Area or the Caley Valley Wetlands and that all dredge material would be placed onshore on existing industrial land.
In October, Australia's government gave approval for one of the world's biggest coal mines to be built by India's Adani Mining in Queensland.
After a court temporarily blocked the project due to environmental concerns, an approval was granted subject to 36 of the strictest conditions in Australian history, BBC notes.
