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Clarence Colliery’s latest conviction is a blunt reminder that weak environmental compliance can cost far more than routine prevention and maintenance.
What happened at the Clarence coal mine?
- Clarence Colliery Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Centennial Coal Company Pty Ltd) has been ordered to pay $815,000 in fines and penalties for five environmental offences linked to discharges of untreated mine water into the Wollangambe River near the Blue Mountains National Park.
- The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) prosecuted the company under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) after pollution incidents in December 2023 and April 2024 from its mine near Lithgow.
- The penalty includes a $543,500 fine, about $185,000 in EPA legal and investigation costs, and $86,500 towards rehabilitation works for Long Swamp near Lithgow.
The company must also publish notices of the offences in nominated newspapers, on Centennial Coal’s website and on LinkedIn extending the reputational damage well beyond the courtroom.
Centennial Coal’s long environmental compliance history
This isn’t an isolated incident.
An Environmental Scorecard released by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW reported that Centennial had breached its environmental licence more than 1,400 times across seven coal mine sites in the Greater Blue Mountains region over 23 years.
For regulators, communities and investors, this pattern reinforces concerns about the company’s environmental governance and risk management.
The five offences and why they matter
The Land and Environment Court found Clarence Colliery guilty of:
- Two offences for water pollution (discharges of turbid, contaminated water with elevated nickel and zinc into the Wollangambe River).
- One breach of its environment protection licence.
- One breach of a prevention notice.
- One failure to test its Pollution Incident Response Management Plan (PIRMP) for 269 days the first penalty in history for non-compliance with PIRMP testing requirements.
NSW EPA CEO Tony Chappel described the case as “a substantial penalty” and a clear warning that pollution carries real consequences for licence holders who cut corners.
5 environmental compliance lessons for mine operators
Every licence holder discharging to sensitive environments especially near World Heritage areas should take five key lessons from this case:
1. PIRMPs must be living documents
A Pollution Incident Response Management Plan is not a “set and forget” file.
Failing to test your PIRMP can now attract significant penalties, as Clarence discovered with the first-ever fine for non-compliance with testing requirements.
2. Licence conditions are minimum standards not aspirations
Environment protection licences under the POEO Act set legally binding limits and management conditions, including pollutant discharge limits and pollution reduction programs.
Repeated licence breaches will be treated as systemic failures, not one-off mistakes.
3. High-risk sites need robust water management systems
Clarence’s discharge contained elevated nickel and zinc, with the potential to cause serious environmental harm in the Wollangambe River, a declared wild river flowing through the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
Effective containment, treatment and monitoring controls are non-negotiable for mines in sensitive catchments.
4. Prevention notices are serious compliance tools
Ignoring or half-complying with a prevention notice significantly escalates enforcement risk.
In Clarence’s case, failure to comply with a prevention notice was one of the five offences contributing to the $815,000 penalty.
5. Long-term non-compliance destroys social licence
Centennial’s 1,400+ licence breaches across multiple sites have created a narrative of “years of reckless environmental destruction” in the Blue Mountains region.
That history undermines trust with regulators, local communities and decision-makers every time a new approval, licence variation or discharge proposal is considered.
Where to from here for environmental compliance?
If your operation holds an environment protection licence in NSW, this case should trigger a hard review of your environmental compliance systems, particularly around water management, PIRMP testing and response readiness.
You can read the NSW EPA’s full media release on the Clarence decision at https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/epamedia/260223-clarence-coal-mine-ordered-to-pay-815-000-following-wollangambe-river-pollution, and review your licence conditions against the POEO Act obligations and EPA guidance on environment protection licences at https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/Licensing-and-Regulation/Licensing/Environment-protection-licences/Licensing-under-POEO-Act-1997/variations.
For WHS and environmental management leaders, this is the moment to ensure your environmental compliance system is as robust as your safety system before you become the next headline.
- NSW EPA Media Release Clarence mine ordered to pay $815,000: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/epamedia/260223-clarence-coal-mine-ordered-to-pay-815-000-following-wollangambe-river-pollution
- Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act): https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/poteoa1997n156482.pdf
- NSW EPA Environment Protection Licences: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/Licensing-and-Regulation/Licensing/Environment-protection-licences/Licensing-under-POEO-Act-1997/variations
- Nature Conservation Council report on Centennial Coal breaches: https://www.nature.org.au/another_fine_to_add_to_centennial_coals_terrible_track_record