A coalminer’s guilty plea has received praise from conservationists after more than two thousand tonnes of coal material was spilled into the Blue Mountains National Park by the company. 421 tonnes of coal fines slurry and 1910 tonnes of coarse reject material were disposed of in the uncontrolled release in 2015.
Clarence Colliery was prosecuted by the NSW Environment Protection Authority for negligently allowing coalmine waste to pollute the world heritage-listed site in July 2015 and a sentencing hearing is under way this week in the Land and Environment Court.
a second charge by the Office of Environment and Heritage over damage to the Blue Mountains National Park will also be answered to.
The company could be fined up to $2 million.
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