Australia desalination plant on hold

MELBOURNE, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Dinosaur bones dating as far back as 115 million years are throwing a monkey wrench into construction of a water desalination plant in Australia.

Work on the $3 billion plant in Victoria was to begin next year but was put on hold after the revelation that bones, teeth and vertebrae of dinosaurs and ancient marine reptiles in a rock shelf near the plant site, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported Monday.

Dinosaur expert Lesley Kool said the internationally significant prehistoric discovery links Australia with the Antarctic. The find is in front of the planned site for the desalination plant at Powlett River.

"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 said.

A full report could cause delays and cost overruns for the plant, which was to supply Melbourne with fresh water by 2011.

The prehistoric bones were first documented by scientists in 1994, but it was only last week that experts realized government officials were probably unaware they lay in the most likely path for the inflow and outfall pipes for the plant.