MAAS Group Holdings Limited fined $210,000 for polluting Macquarie River

Two fishermen angling on a country river have kicked off an investigation which led to a company being fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for pollution. Here’s the latest.

Sand Quarries Australia, owned by MAAS Group Holdings Limited, was fined $210,000. Picture: iStock

A sand quarry in the state’s central west has been fined more than $200,000 after two fishermen spotted dirty water flowing down a riverbank.

Sand Quarries Australia, owned by MAAS Group Holdings Limited, was fined $210,000 before Dubbo Local Court last month after the court found sediment-laden water discharged into the river.

Jason Gordon, executive director operations of NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), thanked two fishermen who reported the pollution after a failure in the company’s sand processing water circuit.

“We started investigating this incident after two people fishing, noticed, and reported dirty water flowing down the bank into the water from the premises,” Mr Gordon said.

“The water from the quarry polluted the Macquarie River with high levels of sediment, causing significant erosion to the riverbank and potentially impacting on fish habitat.

Two fishermen reported the pollution which started the investigation. Picture: iStock

“The Macquarie River, Wambuul, is beautiful and holds significant environmental, cultural, economic, and recreational importance in the local region.

“It’s unacceptable Sand Quarries Australia failed to take steps to prevent the incident occurring, including their failure to do routine inspections on their site.”

The company was found guilty on June 25 of two water pollution offences and fined $210,000, and also ordered to pay EPA’s legal fees and cost of the investigation.

They were also required to remediate damage to the riverbank and take action to prevent future leaks, spills and pollution.

MAAS Group Holdings Limited was contacted for comment.