NSW men fined $15,000 for polluting water

Two NSW men have been fined $7500 each for dumping 120 litres of diesel-contaminated water in a marine park in the state's Hunter Region.

The men, a skipper and a deckhand, had mistakenly placed diesel into the water tanks of the vessel they were skippering to Sydney, in Port Stephens Marine Park last month.

They were advised by staff at the marina to have the tanks professionally cleaned, but instead dumped the contaminated water onto the jetty of the marina and into the land and waters of the marine park, NSW EPA said in a statement on Tuesday.

NSW EPA's manager of the Hunter Region, Adam Gilligan, said the pair showed "blatant disregard for human health and the environment".