TWO government ministers have responded to accusations their departments have placed the environment in danger and exposed the state to legal action over their handling of Queensland mine sites.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An Auditor-General's report into resource industries criticises the departments of Environment and Heritage Protection and Natural Resources and Mines.
The report comes as a federal inquiry questions how millions of tonnes of dredge spoil leaked from a bund wall in Gladstone Harbour in 2011-12, but had to be discovered by a visitor.
Questions continue to be asked over the lack of scrutiny of Queensland Nickel's tailings dam north of Townsville.
Auditor-General Andrew Greaves report, tabled in State Parliament on April 1, highlighted poor communication, few proactive inspections, inadequate monitoring and poor data collection.
His 2013-14 report delivers a damning finding on the actions of the departments.
Nine recommendations call for major improvements in both departments by June 2015.
The two departments still use different means of identifying projects and do not share information to indicate if mining companies are meeting their environmental conditions, the report finds.
Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the report - despite covering events in 2012 and 2013 - covered problems when the LNP came to office, not since. `
Despite Mr Greaves' findings, Mr Powell insisted his department did know which projects were not meeting their environmental conditions.
A spokesman for Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps said NRM only monitored health and safety at mine sites, not environmental issues.
