A rare fossil site near the planned location of a billion dollar desalination plant has thrown Australia into a tizzy.

The media is in some disagreement about whether the fossils will actually have an impact on the construction:

Dinosaur bones won’t stop desal plant – The Age

Dinosaur bones may delay desal plant – Herald Sun

Dinosaur find dries Australia water project – Reuters

According to the Herald Sun the bones were first documented back in 1994 but had been a secret till last week. It was only then that it was realised that the department in charge of the desalination plant probably didn’t know the fossils lay in the path of the in- and out-flow pipes.

Local MP, and member of the recently defeated Liberal Party, Ken Smith wants a full assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed plant. “It’s like boring through the tombs of the ancient emperors in Egypt or drilling holes through the Terracotta Warriors in China after they had been discovered,” he told Reuters.

The local water minister hasn’t decided whether to carry out a full Environmental Effects Statement. “With a plant like this the, inlet and outlet pipe can be configured in a way they’d have no impact on the shelf and we can design the plant so that it takes these things into consideration,” said Tim Holding (ABC),

Here’s what the Australian press thinks:

The Age says the find will not stop the plant, quoting Holding.

The Herald Sun says the find “could lead to cost blowouts and delays”,

ABC says scientists have known about the fossils for years, and includes the baffling quote from one researcher working on the site, Dr Tom Rich: “I don’t see that there’s any problem because nobody’s going to build a tunnel that’s say within a metre of the tunnel.”

Rich’s quote makes slightly more sense if you know that he often tunnels to reach his fossils. He also features in a recent Nature feature that looks at the rivalries, controversies, vicious foxes, and dynamite that make up a polar dino-hunting trip to Alaska (subscription required).