Pike River mine site handed over to DOC and recovery agency to close

Wednesday, 30 March 2022

Local documentary Recovery 29 follows the long and difficult path to try and recover the bodies of the men lost in the Pike River mine disaster. (video first published in October 2021)

More than 12 years since the Pike River mine disaster, the mine site will be handed over to the Department of Conservation.

The Pike River Recovery Agency will be disestablished and the mine will be managed by DOC as part of the Paparoa National Park.

The agency was set up in January 2018 to re-enter the mine drift with the hope of finding out why 29 men died in a series of explosions in November 2010 and to provide evidence for the police’s criminal investigation.

The Government originally budgeted $7.6m a year for three years, totalling $23m. It later topped up its budget to $36m, and then up to $51m.

**READ MORE:

Pike River Recovery Agency when it re-entered the Pike River mine in 2019.

* Families not surprised by discovery of remains in Pike River Mine as police inquiry continues

* Management 'deliberately ignored' gas build up in Pike River mine, investigation suggests

* Pike River re-entry to be finished in six months, agency boss says

* Pike River tragedy: memorial walking track wanted

Minister responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little presenting pounamu to Department of Conservation director-general Penny Nelson at Pike River.

Agency acting chief executive Michelle Wessing said the agency was completing its rehabilitation work at the mine site this week. From April 1 the site would be handed over to DOC, who had confirmed the rehabilitation was up to the required standard.

The agency will be disestablished on June 30 but its Greymouth office will close when its lease expires on April 29.

Wessing said the total unaudited operating expenditure was $48m.

Minister responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said it was the end of one stage of the “ongoing journey for justice for the families, rather than a moment of triumph or celebration”.

“The Government has achieved what it set out to do. That is to recover the drift, gather new evidence, and to allow police to resume their investigation,” he said.

The Paparoa Track runs from Punakaiki to Blackball through the Paparoa National Park.

DOC Pike River Mine transition project director Tom Hopkins said it was preparing for managing the site.

The work included monitoring the agency’s rehabilitation work, arranging for services to be switched over and putting contracts in place to monitor the mine atmosphere and the water discharging from the mine drift.

DOC had a two-stage plan for opening the Pike River valley to the public. Stage one was to open the Pike 29 Memorial Track and Pike River Road by Christmas 2022.

The 11.6km Pike 29 Memorial Track, will be part of New Zealand’s newest Great Walk the Paparoa Track which winds through the Paparoa National Park from Blackball to Punakaiki. It has been under construction since August 2017 but the contractor stopped work while the agency completed its operations.

The contractor had been back on site for a month and, all going well, would complete building the Pike29 Memorial Track in time for Christmas, Hopkins said.

The 55-kilometre West Coast trail, designed for trampers and mountain bikers, opened in 2019.

A memorial track will be built which links the Pike River mine site up to the Paparoa Track.

The Pike 29 Memorial Track will go past the mine portal and include an interpretation centre, where displays and memorabilia will tell the story of the mine, the disaster and the resulting changes to health and safety requirements.

Hopkins said detailed design of the interpretation facilities at the mine and work on the road and bridges to make sure they are fit for purpose for the public was under way.

Mountain biking on the Paparoa Track – the track has given a boost to the West Coast economy.

“We hope to be carrying out the physical work on the road and installing interpretation facilities, signage etc between September and December of this year,” he said.

Stage two of the plan was to have the memorial at the mine portal and the interpretation centre at the former administration area ready by April 2024.

Detailed design had just started and was expected to be finished by April 2023. However, design of some interpretation material would continue through to September 2023.

Construction, including the fitout of the interpretation centre, was expected to be done between July 2023 and April 2024.

“All these dates are our best estimate at this time and may be affected by weather and Covid-19 pandemic-related supply chain issues,” he said.

The budget was $3.8m.

Meanwhile, police detective superintendent Peter Read said 14 police staff were continuing its investigation.

Police decided in 2013 to leave the criminal investigation open until the scene could be examined.

Police have taken evidence from the mine drift and completed drilling 10 boreholes to look inside the mine workings. They previously announced images of six remains and another two possible bodies were taken from the borehole cameras.