COALMINING companies continue to breach their environmental pollution licences and the State Government is failing to crack down on them, according to the latest government figures made public yesterday by the Greens political party.
The figures show there were 3032 recorded incidents of companies failing to meet requirements in the seven years to the end of June last year and that only four resulted in companies being fined or prosecuted.
Of these, the Upper Hunter's 26 coalmines broke conditions on noise, vibrations, air and water pollution 1110 times.
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said she was concerned that many of the breaches were for company representatives failing to monitor pollution.
For example, the pollution licence register showed that four Hunter pits failed to monitor 34 open-cut coal blasts in the 12 months to the end of June last year, she said.
Ms Rhiannon called for an Environment Protection Authority office at Muswellbrook to be reopened to do 24-hour monitoring of dust, noise, vibrations, water and air quality.
An Environment and Climate Change Department spokeswoman said the vast majority of breaches were technical and would have little or no impact on people or the environment.
She said the Newcastle office was well located to serve the entire region.
She said the department investigated all "significant" breaches and took action such as requiring equipment upgrades, issuing penalty notices, imposing pollution reduction programs and prosecuting serious offences.
Ms Rhiannon said it was an unacceptable pattern of behaviour by coal companies making huge profits.
And the Government's lack of action and petty-cash system of fines for a handful of offenders was just sanctioning the behaviour, she said.
"People living in coal regions like the Upper Hunter are regularly subjected to a cocktail of dust, polluted tank water and ground water, soil contamination and unbearable noise levels from surrounding mines," Ms Rhiannon said.
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