On 8 June 2012 the Queensland Department of Environment launched a legal prosecution against Orica in the Gladstone Magistrates' Court. The company was charged with 279 counts of willfully contravening its approvals in relation to alleged cyanide leaks into Harbour. The government claimed that in January and February 2012, Orica discharged effluent water containing heightened levels of cyanide into Gladstone Harbour. "The charges are related to allegations that the company did not inform The Department of the Environment. The charges related to a breach of conditions rather than any environmental harm "per se"".