derm issues environmental protection order

This quote is verbatim from the Townsville Bulletin website from Saturday's paper.

"Miner told to protect water supply
TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN | December 24th, 2011
CHARTERS Towers gold miner Citigold has been ordered to cease processing after it failed to raise the wall of its tailings dam, putting at risk the water supply of landholders downstream on the Broughton River.
The Department of Environment and Resource Management issued an Environmental Protection Order on Thursday requiring the company cease processing at its Black Jack site.
Processing can only commence once the dam wall lift is completed and once DERM is satisfied there is adequate available storage capacity in the dam.
DERM issued an Environmental Protection Order in December 2010 directing Citigold to undertake actions to better prepare the site for the upcoming wet season, including reducing the risk of the dam leaking. The works were to be completed by November 1, 2011, which the company failed to do.
If the dam leaks, vast volumes of toxic chemicals could flow into the Broughton River, risking the contamination of many downstream landholders' water supply.
Citigold is in the process of implementing an emergency response plan, which will detail what actions are to be taken if the dam leaks, including notifying downstream landholders.
DERM environmental services director Rob Lawrence said representatives from the department inspected the site on Tuesday to monitor progress on works to raise the dam wall.
"DERM is closely monitoring the situation and (considered) what action (was) necessary to protect the environment and people's safety given that these works are not yet complete, as was required," he said.
"The Queensland Government takes preparation for the wet season very seriously and we have continuously issued warnings and worked with the mining industry to ensure they are well prepared."
As of yesterday, the company had not informed the market of the environmental order.
Citigold managing director Mark Lynch said he didn't want to comment on DERM's decision.
Mr Lynch had previously said the work on the wall's extension was part of the company's normal operations.
Laurie and Val Dimond, who own a property downstream on the Broughton River, said they were watching the situation closely.
"We get our drinking water from the river," Mrs Dimond said.
"All the landholders along the river depend on it for their irrigation."
"We were upstream from the Mt Leyshon mine but many landholders we know were affected," she said.
Mrs Dimond said they were yet to be notified by Citigold or DERM about the situation.
Citigold recently announced it was seeking a massive capital raising deal that would allow the company to expand the existing Imperial Mine and reactivate the City Mine site.
Shareholders at last month's AGM voted to issue 250,000 shares within 90 days."