Adani fined $12,000 for Abbot Point coal terminal stormwater breach.

Indian mining giant Adani has been fined $12,000 for a stormwater breach at its Abbot Point coal terminal during Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

The Adani-owned Abbot Point Bulk Coal was granted a temporary licence to more than triple its “suspended solids” releases during the severe weather in March.

The coal export facility at Abbot Point. Photo: Supplied

But the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection claimed more than eight times that amount was released into the ocean near the north Queensland facility.

The fine did not relate to water released into the surrounding wetlands, which was still under investigation.

Activists released striking photos of the difference in the wetlands before and after the cyclone, claiming coal had turned the area black, but Adani said it had complied with the conditions of its licence.

The breach related to stormwater released on the other side of the facility, into the ocean.

At the time, a company spokesman said no spill had made its way into the sea and the Queensland Resources Council said “water absorbs light so it is usually black in the images”.

According to the Environment Department, the Temporary Emissions Licence allowed Abbot Point Bulk Coal to release stormwater with a suspended solid limit of 100mg per litre during the high rainfall.

But on April 6, the company informed the department it had breached the conditions with the release of stormwater containing 806mg/L of suspended solids, the department said.

“The company’s environmental authority and TEL contained strict conditions that should have been adhered to in ensuring the environment was protected, especially during extreme weather events,” a statement read.

“Temporary emissions licences and environmental authorities are not taken lightly by the department and there can be harsh penalties for companies that breach their approvals.”

Mackay Conservation Group co-ordinator Peter McCallum criticised the fine, saying it would encourage future harm rather than deter it.

“Adani is likely to make a business decision that it is cheaper to pollute the Caley Valley wetlands and the waters of the Great Barrier Reef than to put in place infrastructure that will ensure the sensitive environments at Abbot Point are never damaged again,” said the man, whose organisation released the before and after photos of the wetlands.

“Without sufficient penalties for breaching environmental conditions there’s little point in having them.”

An Adani spokesman said Abbot Point Bulk Coal “strongly” rejected allowing contaminated floodwaters into the nearby marine environment and said it was considering it options in regard to the fine.

“APB (is disappointed that Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has released details of the fine to media but did not detail the fine notices issued to other parties following Cyclone Debbie,” he said, in a statement.

The company has proposed a $3 billion expansion of the Abbot Point terminal to service its massive Carmichael mine plans in the Galilee Basin.

Activists also criticised the miner for photos of nearby Dingo Beach covered in a black substance they said was coal but was later found by the Environment Department to be 98-99 per cent naturally occurring minerals and magnetite, which is often found in beach sand.

The fine can be appealed until August 17.