RECREATIONAL Fishing Alliance of NSW is reporting Big Island Mining Pty Limited (BIM), the operator of the Dargues Gold Mine near Braidwood has been ordered to pay $196,000 in fines and costs after polluting Spring and Majors Creeks, tributaries of the Deua River near Braidwood, on three occasions in 2013.
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The offences occurred in the first two weeks of work on the mine site.
BIM failed to install adequate sediment and erosion controls and following a period of rainfall, muddy water was allowed to discharge from the construction site into Spring and Majors Creeks.
Majors Creek is a water supply for rural properties and flows into Araluen Creek, then the Deua River. The Deua River provides 60 per cent of the water supply for the Eurobodalla.
The Land and Environment Court ordered BIM to pay $103,000 to the Upper Deua Catchment Landcare Group Inc to be used for riparian health works in and around Araluen Creek; to pay the EPA $93,000 in legal and investigation costs; and to publicise its conviction in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Braidwood Times, and Australian Mining Magazine.
Land and Environment Court Judge, Justice Nicola Pain, said that, ‘As the operator of a gold mine of this size the Defendant should have ensured it had sufficient expertise to confirm that its project approval was being complied with, including where a contractor selected for its particular skills was being employed. That obligation included the ability to ensure adequate implementation of controls on the ground.’
