Companies responsible for pollution breaches will have to report them immediately or face a $2 million dollar fine according to a new NSW government report into a Newcastle chemical spill.
The report found that a three day delay in notifying the public was unacceptable after the chemical hexavalanent chromium was expelled from Orica’s Kooragang Island plant on August 8, and drifted over the nearby suburb of Stockton.
The report also recommends the establishment of a new independent Environmental Protection Authority.
