Alarm over failure to deal with Solomon Islands oil spill threat

Mining operations continue while more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil remain on board MV Solomon Trader, almost a month after it ran aground

The environmental damage from an oil spill in the Solomon Islands has been worsened by a bauxite mining company's continued loading operations near the site where a $30m bulk carrier went aground last month.

The Solomon Islands government has sought urgent help from Australia to deal with the environmental disaster because of frustrations at the slow progress in dealing with the spill.