Hon Robin Chapple questions the Minister for the Environment and Heritage regarding KCGM's compliance with reporting requirements for the Fimiston I and II tailings dam licences. While KCGM breached licence conditions, the DEP will not prosecute.

AnsweredQoN 593Legislative Council
Asked
17 April 2002
Portfolio
the Environment and Heritage

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Fimiston I and II and tailings dam licences file number L137/88 operated by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd (KCGM) and all previous prosecutions undertaken by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the past 15 years -
(1) Is it correct that both the 2000 and 2001 licences have a condition on it which states ‘The Licensee shall provide a copy of the results of the above sampling programme to the Department of Environmental Protection’s Regional Office in Kalgoorlie. The reports shall be submitted to the DEP within 6 weeks of the end of each sampling period’?
(2) If not, will the Minister table a copy of the Licence conditions?
(3) Can the Minister provide the specific date on which the second quarter 2001 Quarterly Report for the Fimiston I and Fimiston II Tailings storage facility monitoring report in accordance with licence conditions was received by the DEP Regional Office in Kalgoorlie?
(4) If not, why not?
(5) Can the Minister provide the specific date on which the third quarter 2001 Quarterly Report for the Fimiston I and Fimiston II Tailings storage facility monitoring report in accordance with licence conditions was received by the DEP Regional Office in Kalgoorlie?
(6) Has KCGM breached its current or previous licence conditions in not providing a copy of the monitoring results for the third quarter 2001 Fimiston I and Fimiston II Tailings dams relating to the condition outlined in question (1) above within six weeks of the end of each sampling period?
(7) If not, why not?
(8) If yes to (6), will the Department prosecute KCGM for breaching its licence conditions?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
22 May 2002
Responded by
Minister for Housing and Works representing the Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Response time
35 days
(2) N/A. (3) 23 November 2001. (4) N/A (5) 7 December 2001. (6) Yes – KCGM has breached its licence condition. (7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(3) 23 November 2001. (4) N/A (5) 7 December 2001. (6) Yes – KCGM has breached its licence condition. (7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(4) N/A (5) 7 December 2001. (6) Yes – KCGM has breached its licence condition. (7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(5) 7 December 2001. (6) Yes – KCGM has breached its licence condition. (7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(6) Yes – KCGM has breached its licence condition. (7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(7) N/A (8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
(8) No. The Minister has been advised that any enforcement action is taken in the context of specific circumstances and in accordance with the DEP's Enforcement Policy. Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.
Enforcement includes a range of options, the most serious of which is prosecution. It is inappropriate for the DEP to prosecute minor or technical non-compliances that have no associated impact on the environment.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more