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WWF says oil slick ‘massively contaminating’ fauna in the Timor Sea

Australian oil spill 'contaminating one of world's richest marine wildernesses' - The Guardian 23/10/09

Conservationists warned yesterday that one of Australia's worst off-shore oil spills was killing wildlife and "massively contaminating" one of the world's last great wildnernesses. Amid a fourth attempt to plug the 64-day-old leak at the Montara drilling rig, the slick – which has already spread over an area 10 times the size of London – continued to expand at the rate of 300 barrels of oil a day in an area of the Timor Sea famed for its marine reserves and coral.

A survey by the Worldwide Fund for Nature found dolphins, migratory sea birds, sea snakes and marine turtles were exposed to toxins. The slick has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of animals.

Since August 21 when there was an accident at the Montara offshore drilling rig's well head, around 403,000 litres of oil have been pumped into the Timor Sea. The rig is owned by the Thai oil company PTTEP.

Why am I reading about this a British publication, you may wonder. Because the Australian media seems not to be interested in this catastrophe. In fact, the aussie media is hardly reporting on it and seem mostly content to reprint AAP , Reuters or indeed the above article on the subject. What of the company that cant seem to plug the leak? They have been recently reward with new licences. This is an absolute outrage and warrants a full investigation of criminal negligence.

Lets all hope the fifth try at plugging the leak is successful.