In light of current events, it pays to re-read this excerpt from Rebecca Macfie’s book on the Pike River disaster, originally published in the Christchurch Press.
Every day through the long hours of testimony, the same worn faces would be seen in the public gallery, determined to make sense of the loss of their husband, son, father, brother, uncle, friend. And every day they would hear dark new evidence revealing the immensity of Pike River Coal’s failings. Mining a coal seam known to be high in methane gas, the company had not installed a system fit for the purpose of monitoring its major hazard. Fixed sensors in the mine hadn’t been working for weeks before the explosion …
They heard how Pike’s electrical system departed from conventional mine design: the main fan – the principal source of clean air for the workers – was placed underground, where it could not be reached in the event of a disaster …
Despite early plans to pre-drain methane from the coal seam before mining began, this hadn’t happened …
Pike had forged ahead with the introduction of its hydro-mining system before establishing the second means of egress that was required in law …
The evidence laid before the Royal Commission showed that day after day Pike’s underground workers – miners and the many contractors who had no background and little training in coal mining – had walked into an environment that might have exploded any number of times …
For months, these men had reported incidents of excess methane, and many other health and safety problems. “In the 48 days before the explosion there had been 21 reports of methane levels reaching explosive volumes, and 27 reports of lesser, but potentially dangerous, volumes of the gas,” the commission noted. “The reports of excess methane continued up to the very morning of the tragedy. The warnings were not heeded.” …
Those whose duty it was to manage the risks of the operation had failed … And the regulator had allowed Pike to continue operating in breach of the law …
[The commission] could not determine the cause of the explosion: the forensic evidence remained locked away in the inhospitable bowels of the Paparoa mountains. Assisted by the findings of a team of investigators hired by the Department of Labour and police and led by Australian mine safety expert David Reece, it could only come up with possible scenarios.
… In the absence of hard evidence, the scenarios presented by the Royal Commission were just that. But whatever the cause of the explosion, one fact was obvious: it would not have occurred in an environment where the critical risks were properly controlled.
Six years on from the disaster, the families of the Pike River 29 still don’t have answers. They don’t have justice. They don’t even have their boys back. That’s why they’re occupying the road to the mine to stop the government and Solid Energy sealing it forever.
For updates on the occupation, follow Stand With Pike on Facebook.
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