ITS parent company made $14.7 billion net profit this year, its boss made nearly $9.5 million, but BHP Billiton’s Mount Arthur coal mine wasn’t even fined $3000 last month after dust billowed from its Muswellbrook site.
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It received a warning letter from the Department of Planning instead.
Hunter Valley Protection Group spokesman John Krey thinks he knows why.
‘‘A $3000 fine for a company the size of BHP? How could they fine them? The department would have been ridiculed because they certainly got ridiculed after fining Warkworth $3000 a few months ago,’’ Mr Krey said.
‘‘The message to the department is that the community is laughing at you. As for warning letters, it’s a case of ‘Put that one on the file’.’’
The department confirmed yesterday it had issued the warning letter to Mountt Arthur in September, after refusing on Monday to identify the mine.
It was the subject of numerous complaints from residents and Muswellbrook Shire Council after dust blew from the site. A department compliance officer visited the mine on the day and issued a formal warning because spoil was being dumped on its highest dump during windy conditions.
‘‘Mount Arthur generally has a good track record in managing dust and therefore, a warning was warranted in this instance and was likely to achieve the department’s aim to stop this reoccurring,’’ a department spokesman said.
But the Newcastle Herald was told yesterday that, while the warning letter had had some impact, and trucks were more likely to wait for water tankers to wet down the mine roads to reduce dust, there were still major concerns about night operations.
Those concerns were not confined to the Mount Arthur mine.
The Herald was told that workers at a number of mines were warned about falling profits and the need to maintain production despite increasing pressure about emissions because of air quality monitoring.
‘‘During the day they tend to be careful about emissions because people can see it, but as soon as dark comes we’re told to go flat out,’’ one mine worker said. ‘‘Of a night, every coalmine in our area does the same because they know people won’t see it, but the monitors are picking it up now which is why everyone’s worried. There’s no concern for residents, not at all.’’
Mount Arthur was one of two mines issued warning letters in September. The department confirmed it was reviewing the ‘‘appropriateness’’ of its enforcement regime, including the $3000 fine.
A Mount Arthur spokeswoman did not respond to questions about night work, the letter or the incident. Managing dust remained one of the most significant challenges for the industry, she said.
