Mining company responsible for coal waste pollution in Royal National Park could be fined up to $1M

Chief executive of the NSW Environment Protection Authority Tony Chappel revealed this after he and Environment Minister James Griffin inspected Camp Gully Creek, a tributary of the Hacking River, which last week was found full of black sludge.

The "normally crystal clear water looked more like flowing tar", the National Parks Association said.

Mr Chappel said, "This kind of impact in a national park is completely unacceptable and quite devastating to see first-hand".

He said the EPA had issued prevention orders to Peabody's Metropolitan Colliery.

"In addition, there is now a serious criminal investigation under way where the court can impose very substantial penalties of up to $1 million in fines for a corporation and ongoing fines of $120,000 a day for ongoing damage," he said.

Minister Griffin was also "alarmed", and said the company needed to be aware "this is not OK".

"My expectation is that the investigation which is under way by the EPA, if it does find any breaches, we'll throw the book at this organisation," he said.

"If you are going to be a neighbour of one of Australia's most beautiful national parks, you had better be a good one."

Mr Griffin also confirmed the planned reintroduction of platypus into Royal National Park rivers and streams, which was to occur this year, had been pushed back to 2023.

He said the principal reason was the massive rainfall earlier in the year, which had impacted water quality, "but this [pollution] event equally has added pressure to that plan".

Mr Chapel said the coal waste cleanup would be complex.

"Expert ecologists are working with the EPA to validate the methodology the company wants to use to ensure that cleanup activity does not do any further harm to the environment," he said.

Mr Chapel said significant rainfall earlier in the year, which Peabody has used as an excuse for the discharge, were expected to worsen in the future due to changes in the climate.

"One of the things the EPA will be requiring all licensed businesses to do is to prepare a climate change mitigation and adaptation plan that not only looks at how they reduce their own emissions but how they increase their resilience, because best practice engineering standards which are in their licence conditions today we anticipate going forward will be not fit for purpose."

Mr Chapel said the company had been given an on-the-spot fine of $15,000 earlier in the year, "but what we have seen here today is a different type of impact, and its the subject of the investigation".

"We have seen a type of material that perhaps hasn't been evident in the past," he said.

"The material is particularly fine. Mining started here in 1890, so there are residual impacts, but much more coarse."

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre spokeswoman Catherine Reynolds said "This event is particularly shocking, but we saw similar coal sludge pollution last year, and in 2020".

"We put in a formal submission to NPWS in August last year," Dr Reynolds said. "Peabody were fined $15,000 earlier this year, but it's a pittance to a company that size.

"Camp Gully Creek now appears barren of the aquatic life, and we are concerned about the extent to which this coal sludge is bioaccumulating in the riparian zones downstream."

"The government must take action and ensure this terrible damage along the full length of Camp Gully Creek and the Hacking River is remediated."

'This company has shown they cannot be trusted to operate anywhere near the Royal National Park [nor] trusted to mine underneath Woronora Reservoir."

A Peabody spokeswoman said the company "sincerely regrets the recent incident and we stand ready to carry out comprehensive cleanup activities in the National Park once measures are approved by the EPA".

"Our own environmental team has already carried out remediation work in the immediate vicinity of the site and more work is planned in coming days," she said.

"We are also 100 per cent committed to completing construction works to improve water management that we began earlier this year after record rains in the region.

"From January to the end of July this year, the mine received almost 2500mm of rain, nearly double the expected annual rainfall in just seven months.

"Earlier this year, we commissioned a full review of onsite surface water management and began a comprehensive program of construction works to improve management of excess stormwater.

"Work already completed includes the redesign and replacement of drains to create additional pathways for excess stormwater to be captured on site and the desilting of sedimentation dams using dredges and excavators.

"Additional pumps have been installed and a new pipeline created to divert excess water to an alternate holding point during future heavy rain events.

"Further structural works are planned to increase holding capacity in the main water storage."

It is understood Peabody has submitted a two-page clean-up plan to the EPA for approval.

The first stage would remove sedimentation above the water line of the creek using shovels and bags and then the second stage would see the possible diversion of small sections of creek, waiting for water levels to drop in those sections, and then carrying out the same bag and shovel activity to remove coal sedimentation from the dry stream bed.