Moolarben Coal was fined $105,000 by the Land and Environment Court on Friday for an incident dating back to June 2009.
The coal operation will foot a bill totalling $166,632 including legal and investigation costs and will publish details of the offence in the Sydney Morning Herald and Mudgee Guardian.
About three years ago the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) received reports of muddy water flowing into Bora Creek on Moolarben Coal land and subsequently entering the Golburn River.
The EPA investigated the Moolarben Coal land in response to these complaints and found the company had cleared vegetation and conducted earthworks on 53 hectares of the land but failed to implement appropriate erosion and sediment controls to prevent runoff entering nearby waterways.
Environment Protection Authority acting chief environmental regulator, Mark Gifford, said the fine reflected the mine’s lack of regard for the environment in this instance.
"Having the right environmental controls in place is essential in operations such as this,” he said.
“Had Moolarben had adequate sediment and erosion controls in place, this incident simply would not have happened.”
Lithgow Mercury
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