THE Menegazzo family's Stanbroke Pastoral Co is suing mining company Xstrata for nearly $2 million over claims a chemical spill from the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine caused contamination on one of its properties.
Stanbroke, one of Australia's largest family-owned landholders, claims an overflow last year from storage structures on the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine, 38km north east of Cloncurry, spilled pollutants into creeks running through adjacent paddocks.
A statement of claim lodged in the Brisbane Supreme Court Registry alleges the spill contained high levels of chemicals and heavy metals.
Stanbroke's owners claimed they were not immediately notified about the overflow, and that they had now lost substantial income from not being able to use the paddocks.
Xstrata acquired Ernest Henry in June 2003, through its acquisition of MIM Holdings Limited.
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