The EPA has issued a Show Cause letter to Drayton Mine over the alleged seepage of highly saline water to a natural watercourse.
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The Authority has confirmed it issued the letter on Monday, February 16 and has given Drayton until the end of February to respond.
A Show Cause letter asks the recipient to provide an explanation for an alleged environmental breach, information about any mitigating circumstances, and why further enforcement action should not be taken.
Anglo Coal (Drayton Management) Pty Limited is the holder of Drayton’s Environment Protection Licence.
In response to questions by The Chronicle, the EPA has confirmed it carried out a routine inspection on September 11 last year at Drayton Mine which identified a possible seepage point from a dam that uses and re-uses water in the mining process.
The Authority also confirmed the EPA noticed water flowing over a V notch weir, downstream of the Access Road Dam and allegedly beyond the mine boundary during this inspection.
Drayton Mine was asked to supply the EPA with information detailing the source of saline water reporting to the V notch weir below the Access Road Dam; a full independent assessment of the integrity of the wall of Dam 2081; and raw water quality monitoring data for the past three years.
Drayton Mine states in its Annual Environmental Management Report the Access Road Dam (2081) is located on a tributary of Ramrod Creek and is a 13-metre high Significant Consequence Category Dam regulated by the NSW Dams Safety Committee.
The dam's storage capacity is approximately 740 to 750 megalitres.
After reviewing the material provided by Drayton Mine, the EPA advised The Chronicle in a written statement the water quality data indicates the Access Road Dam is saline and the weir is also receiving saline seepage from the base of the dam.
The statement went on to say the dam has been inspected for its structural integrity and no indications of any compromise to its structural integrity were found.
The EPA said it will consider Drayton’s response before deciding if regulatory action will be taken.
On January 30, The Chronicle asked Drayton Mine for details of the independent assessor it used to examine the structural integrity of the wall of Dam 2081.
Those details are yet to be supplied.
