A gold mining company says it has fixed a problem which has caused it to be cited 15 times in five years for breaching resource consent conditions.
OceanaGold is being taken to the Environment Court by the West Coast Regional Council for allegedly polluting a Buller stream near its Reefton open case gold mine.
The company's Globe Progress mine operates in the Victoria Conservation Park in Reefton under an access agreement with the Department of Conservation.
In five years, OceaniaGold has received 15 infringement notices from the council for discharging sediment into local streams.
OceaniaGold says the discharges are due to heavy rain and carry only small amounts of fine soil into the creeks.
A spokesperson, Darren Klinck, says the company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to prevent the discharge and, as of late last year, has finally fixed the problem.
The company is to appear in the Environment Court on Monday. Environmental groups have welcomed the prosecution.
