City of Newcastle has been fined $110,000 and ordered to pay $60,000 in costs after pleading guilty to water pollution at Summerhill Waste Management Facility.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority prosecuted the council for two offences after heavy rainfall resulted in leachate contaminated water overflowing into nearby Wentworth Creek between March 23 and April 7 2021.
Leachate is the liquid that flows through waste landfills at facilities such as Summerhill.
EPA Director Operations David Gathercole said the two offences related to the pollution of a waterway and the proper management of equipment.
"Specialised dams which capture leachate at the Summerhill facility were already overfilled and with heavy rain the dams then overflowed into a drainage channel connected to Wentworth Creek," Mr Gathercole said.
"Additionally, leachate was also discharged from a particular valve on-site which had not been fully closed."
Mr Gathercole said the waterways impacted are home to aquatic life and are important recreational areas for the Newcastle community.
"This is not the first time the EPA has acted against the Council following an incident at SWMF.
The council was convicted of a similar offence in 2019.
"The protection and restoration of waterways is important in our communities and astute water management practices at local waste facilities is integral to this goal," Mr Gathercole said.
"This latest fine should serve as a reminder to all operators of waste management facilities to continually monitor leachate dams to minimise the risk of overflow events and ensure that appropriate environmental controls are in place."
The court also ordered Newcastle City Council to pay the EPA's legal and investigation costs totalling more than $60,000 and publish details of the conviction in the Newcastle Herald and on its social media accounts.
A City of Newcastle spokeswoman said the council proactively reported the pollution incident to the EPA in accordance with its EPA licence, cooperated with the EPA's requests throughout the investigation and will comply with the Court Orders.
"City of Newcastle is committed to reducing the risk of pollution incidents at Summerhill, having invested $16.1 million in environmental improvement programs to manage leachate and stormwater since 2021. A further $3 million has been allocated to environmental improvement programs in 2023/24," she said.
The EPA encourages the community to report potential water pollution incidents to the Environment Line on 131 555.
