THE owner of the Chain Valley Bay coalmine is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after pleading guilty yesterday to severely overloading coal trucks.
LakeCoal, which has its headquarters in Brisbane, will be sentenced later this month for 28 "severe" breaches of weight restrictions and three "substantial" breaches.
The maximum penalty for a severe breach (first offence) is $27,500 while the maximum penalty for successive breaches is $55,000.
There are further penalties depending on how overloaded each truck was.
Several Hunter truck companies and individuals that transported coal from the Ruttleys Road mine to Port Waratah Coal Services at Carrington have already been fined.
Toronto West company Ellisons Bulk Haulage was fined $72,500 in February for 20 breaches.
The Roads and Traffic Authority investigated the mine and several trucking companies during a three-day period in November 2007.
LakeCoal was initially charged with 75 breaches.
Most of the trucks that were severely in breach of mass requirements were overloaded by 10 to 13 tonnes, however one truck was overloaded by 14.35 tonnes, court documents stated.
Restrictions are in place to reduce road damage, but severe breaches threaten public safety, magistrate Sharon Holdsworth previously said.
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