THE Chinese-backed Austar underground coalmine near Cessnock has been fined more than $115,000 for a septic tank spill into nearby Bellbird Creek in July last year.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority took Austar to the Land and Environment Court, where the company pleaded guilty.
It was ordered to pay $75,000 toward an environmental rehabilitation project as well as more than $42,000 in legal costs.
EPA chief environmental regulator Mark Gifford said detergent, nutrients and faecal matter from the mine’s bath-house facilities washed into the creek from a 90-year-old septic system.
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