In total the officers inspected four mines and two quarries in the Hunter region in November 2015 to ensure that they were meeting the conditions of their approval.

The Department has doubled the number of compliance officers in the field across NSW to monitor and enforce the conditions placed on state significant development such as mining, a department spokesperson said.

“Our Compliance Officers conduct spot checks without warning, regular inspections and audits as well as work with companies and communities to ensure that companies are sticking to the rules,” he said.

The Department can issue the highest on-the-spot fines in the country for breaches of conditions.

Companies can also be prosecuted in court for breaching conditions, with the most severe breaches attracting fines of up to $5 million.

Other mines inspected by the compliance officers within the Muswellbrook area were Bengalla coal mine and Drayton coal mine.

Warkworth coal mine in the Singleton area was also inspected.

The Department compliance officers also inspected industry and infrastructure projects. Last month they inspected the Maitland to Minimbah Third Track within the Cessnock City, Maitland City and Singleton areas.

The Department gave a presentation to the NSW Roads and Maritime Services at their annual environment forum on 30 November 2015.

“RMS is the applicant for various major infrastructure projects across the state, the spokesperson said.

“The forum provided an opportunity for the Department to promote its strengthened compliance, monitoring and complaints management processes.”