Community triggers EPA action on coal mine river pollution

![CDATA[In 2012 the upper Georges River was polluted due to coal mine wastewater inflows from the Westcliff Colliery. A local community group launched legal action against the mine. Evidence for the court case showed pollution involved elevated salinity and a suite of metals (zinc, nickel, copper and aluminium) at concentrations higher than recommended in the ANZECC guidelines. The pollution plume extended at least 22 km downstream. Macroinvertebrate samples confirmed that the river ecology was adversely affected by the coal mine wastes. The EPA license that authorised the waste discharge did not provide limits for any of the key pollutants (in 2012). Through the media the NSW Environment Minister intervened in the case and demanded action from the EPA to stop the pollution. In 2013 the EPA issued the mine with a revised license. It provided discharge limits for pollutants present in the wastes discharged from the mine, including salinity and numerous metals. Water samples collected in 2018 show that the water quality of the wastewater discharge has partially improved as a result of the new EPA license. However, low river flows have reduced dilution and increased the magnitude of the downstream plume for some pollutants in the Georges River.]]