New information for Pike River families prompts call for re-entry team to go further

Friday, 19 March 2021

The Pike River Recovery Agency team has to tunnel through a Rocsil plug to get to the top of the drift. (Video first published February 2021).

The roof fall blocking entry to the main workings of the Pike River mine is not as big or impassable as some families previously thought.

They are calling on the Government to go further into the mine in light of what they say is new information about the extent of the roof fall and how close the reentry team were to the main ventilation fan.

The fan is considered a vital piece of evidence that may reveal the cause of the explosion that killed 29 men in 2010.

However, the Government is refusing to budge from its decision to stop at the end of the 2.3-kilometre access tunnel, or drift.

* New borehole into Pike River mine could investigate cause of explosion

The Pike River Recovery Agency reaches the roof fall 2.26km up the drift access tunnel.

* Coal tar or melted conveyor belt possible causes of 'unusual' carcinogenic substance at Pike River

The Pike River Recovery Agency was tasked by the Government to complete a $50 million re-entry of the mine’s access tunnel, which it achieved last month.

Agency chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson said it was technically possible to get past the roof fall. Obstacles included cost and whether funds would be made available.

The revelation came as police asked the Government to extend the agency’s mandate to include putting cameras down six boreholes to examine areas of interest in the mine workings.

The families and the public had always been told that there was a massive rockfall – up to 50 metres long – at the end of the access tunnel that would be too dangerous to pass through.

Bernie Monk lost his son Michael in the Pike River mine disaster in 2010.

Pattinson said from a technical and a mining perspective, he had not seen a roof fall that was impassable.

“Anything is possible, but it comes down to cost and where is the money going to come from,” he said.

“Everything I have seen, and we’ve only seen one end of it, is coal, but that doesn't mean it won't have rock or stone amongst it. I don’t call it a rockfall any more – it’s a roof fall [and] … the sides haven’t come in.”

Pike River widow Anna Osborne said she would “dearly love” for the agency to go beyond the roof fall.

“I really want my husband to be brought home with the other men that were lost. I do believe it can be done,” she said.

However, she had been told that full re-entry and recovery of the men's bodies could cost between $60m and $100m.

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

“I’m not going to ask the Government for $100m when there are health issues, educational issues and housing issues in this country.

“I feel like the agency has achieved its mandate and the Government has kept its promise to go into the drift and that was massive. I feel so grateful for that,” she said.

She hoped a successful prosecution could be brought with the evidence already uncovered.

Pike River father Bernie Monk said he wanted the agency to keep going to reach the main ventilation fan – a distance of only 30m.

“Why would the Government spend $50m to get this far and get this close to the truth to then walk away?” he said.

Monk and Dean Dunbar, with the support of some family members, had been investigating the disaster with the help of electrical engineer Richard Healey.

Healey said he had uncovered evidence that the royal commission into the disaster did not consider.

Healey was investigating whether the explosion was caused by a large volume of methane escaping from a collapse at the coal face and being ignited by electrical arching in the main ventilation fan.

According to the royal commission, having the main ventilation fan underground was a world first, but the risk was not properly assessed. Healey believed a piece of fan casing, which was recovered from the drift, caused the roof fall when it blew off and hit the top of the drift in the first explosion.

“We are talking about a homicide investigation into the deaths of 29 men. What price do you put on that,” Healey said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left, and Andrew Little, the Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry, right, console family members at the entrance to the Pike River coal mine.

Minister responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said there was still a limited understanding of the extent and condition of the roof fall. It was believed the roof fall is still 50m, he said.

“Late last year the Government said they would not support a manned re-entry of the mine workings. That is still the Government’s position.

“It is wrong to see the exercise as ‘just another 30’ – it is not. It is about clearing the rockfall under an area known to be highly unstable. The technical challenge is phenomenal.”

Meanwhile, police were doing detailed planning for additional boreholes at Pike River to help the criminal investigation, a spokesperson said.

An amendment to the re-entry plan was being drafted to extend the agency’s mandate to include borehole exploration beyond the rooffall. It would need to be approved by Little.

Little said he was keen to support the police’s investigation, including borehole exploration.

The agency had not requested more money for the work, but was “considering options to manage the budget pressures”.