Idemitsu's Boggabri Coal Mine unlawfully took water during NSW drought

Sally Hunter was forced to sell off more than a hundred cattle, move her teenage sons to new schools in Queensland, and watch the land around her shrivel up and die at the family's property about 20 kilometres from Boggabri.

"It was just apocalyptic in some ways," she said.

"It was just so brutal."

But while Ms Hunter was destocking and relocating, mining company Idemitsu at Boggabri Coal Mine was lapping up millions of litres of clean water which was meant to be diverted into the local creek system.

An investigation was launched by the Natural Resources Access Regulator [NRAR] into the mine - which has been in operation since 2006 - after a complaint was lodged by the Lock The Gate Alliance in September, 2021.

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The Alliance claimed the coal mining company had not built clean water diversion drains to divert run-off from undisturbed catchments - a requirement of its operating consent.

In the complaint document obtained by the Leader, the Alliance said Idemitsu had been stealing water from the Bluevale Water Source, and keeping clean water on site - which the company admitted to in an Independent Environmental Audit in 2017.

The Alliance urged the water authority to launch an investigation, and initiate compliance and enforcement actions against the company for any breaches.

Last month, nearly two years after the complaint was lodged, NRAR responded to the alliance stating an investigation found surface water was taken unlawfully from an unregulated river water source.

A senior investigator told the alliance the mining company did obtain a licence - granting them water access - in April, 2022, but unlawful water taking had occurred prior to that date.

But the investigator said the company had "offered an enforceable undertaking (EU)", which includes payments of money in recognition of the value of water; improvements to water metering; modelling and reporting; and a local community project, which had been accepted following negotiations. An EU is a legally binding agreement.

A spokesperson for NRAR told the Leader the company will need to pay more than $54,000 for the water; $15,000 to cover investigation costs; and contribute $10,000 to a community project.

"The agreement will give NRAR strong oversight of water management operations and ensure that the mine itself will have the data needed to stay within its water licence requirements," the spokesperson said.

Ms Hunter said given what her family had been through, she considered the "negotiated deal", rather than a prosecution, "inadequate" and a "wrist slap".

"It makes you very angry," she said.

"It seems these companies can just do what they like with no repercussions.

"Even during devastating times like the last drought."

She said it was especially disappointing given Whitehaven Coal had been fined $200,000 for unlawfully capturing a billion litres of water during the recent drought at its Maules Creek mine.

"The government lets this stuff slide time, and time, and time again," Ms Hunter said.

"It just creates more poor behaviour in the industry."

The NRAR spokesperson said the situation was different for a "range of reasons".

The spokesperson said Boggabri Coal Mine was able to apply for a licence and obtain water allocations for the relevant water source, unlike the Maules Creek Coal Mine.

The spokesperson said the mining operator had acted on "incomplete advice from an external water consultant", but was compliant within six months of the investigation.

"BCOPL [Boggabri Coal Mine]" promptly sought clarification from the consultant, and applied for and was granted a water access licence," they said.

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