THE Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s warning letter to Coal & Allied’s Hunter Valley Operations about the leaking of saline water into the Hunter River may not be the end of the matter. The Singleton Argus requested further information from the department about the decision to issue a warning letter for leaking 11.3ML of saline water into the Hunter River over a period of nine months. The department said that an Environment Protection Licence dealing with water discharge issues also applies to the mine and is overseen by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. A department of planning spokesperson said the course of action is consistent with the department’s compliance policy. Under the compliance policy a warning or advisory letter is sent for breaches of low or medium significance. The spokesperson told The Singleton Argus that the warning letter made it very clear to the mine that it takes such breaches seriously and that any future incidents of the nature would likely be met with the imposition of a stronger enforcement option. The non-compliance was brought to the department’s attention by the company as part of the reporting requirements in its consent conditions.