Second Pike River mine explosion data 'not relevant', police say

Thursday, 27 June 2019

The Pike River re-entry crew steps into the mine drift. (Video first published on May 21, 2019)

A police u-turn on the existence of data that could reveal the cause of the crucial second Pike River explosion has been labelled 'absolutely diabolical'.

Bernie Monk and Dean Dunbar, who both lost sons when the West Coast mine exploded in 2010, have questioned why information from mine's 'black box' was never extracted from beyond the first mine explosion on November 19 that year. Two miners walked out after the first blast, but there was a second explosion five days later.

They say police previously denied the data existed, but police said on Thursday they did not believe it was relevant to the investigation.

Flames burn from a ventilation shaft above the Pike River mine after the November 2010 explosionthat killed 29 men.

The encrypted SCADA data is an electronic record of everything happening at the mine, with video footage, measurements of gas levels and electrical activity, and records of phone calls.

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Bernie Monk says he has about 80 per cent of the mine's SCADA data and is keen to compare it with what police say they have.

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Pike River Mine drift when the mine was first re-entered on May 21, 2019.

Monk said it could hold crucial information about the cause of the second explosion, which effectively ended all rescue hopes.

The police's effort were 'shoddy' and their response 'absolutely diabolical', he said.

Monk said an electrical expert was analysing about 80 per cent of the data relating to the second explosion. The data was leaked to the families.

He said it showed where the second explosion happened. Monk continued to believe the second explosion was triggered by a conveyor belt, despite a police investigation finding no evidence to support the claim.

'We strongly believe that the belt was started up at the portal, that's the theory we've got,' Monk said.

'We've got 80 per cent of that evidence, we just need 20 per cent to send it home.'

In a statement to Stuff on Thursday, a spokeswoman said police previously acknowledged with the Pike River families that SCADA data relevant to the first explosion had been accessed and examined by police.

'SCADA data from after the first explosion has not been available previously as it has not been extracted as it was not thought to be relevant to the investigation.

'The SCADA data from after the first explosion is in the process of being extracted and examined.'

Police were 'absolutely committed' to ensuring they did everything to provide answers to the Pike River families, the spokeswoman said.

Monk said the past nine years had been an 'ongoing saga', and he was determined not to let go now.

Engineer Richard Healey said on Thursday there was still more information to come.

'What's come out to date from the families isn't the tip of the iceberg, in fact it's not even a snowflake on the tip of the iceberg.

'We've got a mass of data, and that takes some time to analyse. Literally every day we're unlocking new pieces of information.'

Dunbar and Monk earlier said they first asked for the SCADA data on November 15 last year. On March 11 this year, police said it did not exist beyond November 19, 2010.

Police had since said they had three months of data up to December 2.