A coal mine company has avoided a charge of failing to report a pollution spill within a reasonable time after the NSW Land and Environment Court threw out the case last week.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority took action against the coal mine management after it waited a day to report a dirty water leak from a faulty pipe at its Broke complex in October 2011. The leak contaminated a nearby creek, which the company had to clean up at a cost of about $288,000.
The company pleaded not guilty and argued that it reported the incident as soon as staff had assessed the incident and decided it needed to be reported.
Justice Nicola Pain dismissed the charge and stated the EPA had failed to prove the offence – that the company knew the day the leak occurred that it warranted immediate reporting – beyond reasonable doubt.
The law had since been changed to state that an incident must be reported ‘immediately’ instead of ‘within a reasonable time’.
