Miner BHP Billiton has been given until the end of 2016 to halt most of the pollution discharged from one of its coal mines into the Georges River south-west of Sydney, a verdict that has split environmental groups.
The NSW Environmental Protection Authority altered the pollution licence for BHP’s West Cliff and North Cliff collieries, requiring the miner to cut the salinity and heavy metals released into Brennans Creek and the Georges River.
The EPA had found, using BHP’s data, that downstream discharges had caused a biodiversity loss of between 20 and 60 per cent for macroinvertebrate species, such as the caddisfly, stonefly and mayfly. ”This is a very good outcome,” said Dr Ian Wright, an associate lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, who conducted independent research into the river’s health.
”If there’s a problem with this licence, [BHP] will have to fix it.”
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