Pike River mine board denies cutting corners - New Zealand Herald

The Pike River coal mine board has rebutted allegations that money woes compromised safety at the mine.

Chairman John Dow told the Herald last night that Pike River Coal had had adequate funding for all its activities, including safety.

"There has been no slackening in safety standards or safety standards associated with our production activities."

The market was "well aware" additional funding was being sought but that issue was not connected with safety, "which is our first priority".

Mr Dow said he was confident all safety precautions were in place in the mine at the time of the explosion.

Another theory - that the explosion could have been caused by a build-up of coal dust in a methane environment - was also rejected.

"The mine is naturally damp ... It's quite wet, the roof and the walls are naturally wet, so we don't have a lot of dust in the mine because of that."

There were also procedures to deal with the build-up of dust so he didn't think it was a "coal dust activity".

Meanwhile, Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn yesterday said he had heard of mine-safety fears before.

Mr Kokshoorn said he would support holding a commission of inquiry. "There's no question in my mind there's got to be an inquiry."

All roads led back to the gas levels, which was why the search and rescue mission hadn't begun.

Mr Kokshoorn was approached yesterday by Gerry Morris of Greymouth, who said he had heard some contractors didn't want to work in the mine because they believed it was unsafe.

Mr Morris, who used to work for Coal magazine, said: "I have heard regularly over the last two or three years that this mine is unsafe, there's far too much gas, there's going to be a disaster here one day."

He said that as a lay person, it was hard to understand how such an event could happen because the company was so stringent on safety.

"Now we've arrived at that day, haven't we, so you can see definitely a change of direction. I think there's a certain number of people that are pulling back at this point because the focus is on those 29 miners."

Andrew Little, secretary of the EPMU union that represents miners, said numerous safety procedures would have been in place, but there must have been a serious breakdown.

Pike River Coal had practices and policies, and the mine itself had sensors and monitors, to ensure gas build-ups did not occur, he said.

"Explosions happen when there is a build-up of gases, and that's one of the obvious questions: How did the gas build-up happen?"

Mr Little said the priority now was the rescue, but once it was over, some big questions had to be asked.

"We should consider that even with the best rules or practices in place, nothing should be discounted as a possibility."

- staff reporters

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Toxic Hungarian sludge spill reaches River Danube - Reuters

Locals cross a pontoon bridge next to a broken bridge in the flooded village of Kolontar, 150 km (93 miles) west of Budapest October 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Laszlo Balogh

By Marton Dunai

GYOR, Hungary | Thu Oct 7, 2010 5:30pm EDT

GYOR, Hungary (Reuters) - Toxic red sludge from a Hungarian alumina plant reached the Danube on Thursday and crews struggled to dilute it to protect the river from what the prime minister called an "unprecedented ecological catastrophe."

Experts said damage beyond the borders of Hungary was unlikely to be great but the threat had to be monitored closely.

Tibor Dobson, a spokesman for Hungarian disaster crews, told Reuters there were sporadic fish deaths in the Raba and the Mosoni-Danube rivers. He said all fish had died in the smaller Marcal River, which was hit by the spill first.

Crews were working to reduce the alkalinity of the spill, which poured out of the burst containment reservoir of an alumina plant on Monday and tore through local villages, killing four people and injuring over 150. Three are still missing.

The spill's alkaline content when it reached the Raba, the Mosoni-Danube and the Danube itself, was still around pH 9 -- above the normal, harmless level of between 6 and 8.

Fresh data from the water authority on national news agency MTI showed pH levels peaking at 9.65 in the Mosoni-Danube river at the city of Gyor. They were measured at 8.4 in the Danube.

Crews were pouring hundreds of tonnes of plaster and acetic acid into the rivers to neutralize the alkalinity.

In Gyor, a city in the northwest of Hungary where the Raba flows into the Mosoni-Danube, a Reuters reporter saw white froth on the river and many dead fish washed ashore.

Philip Weller, executive secretary to the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), a Vienna-based U.N. body, said most damage was local.

"It is clear that the consequences of this are greatest in the local area and that the implications on a trans-boundary level, we understand, will not be significant which doesn't mean they don't exist," he said.

"The Hungarian authorities took a number of measures to reduce the toxicity, they added substances to neutralize the material, they also constructed some underwater weirs to slow the mud and maintain it and contain it as much as possible in the Hungarian territory of the river system."

It also helps that the Danube is a large river with a very high volume of water, he added.

Gabor Figeczky, Hungarian branch director of the WWF environmental group said:

"Based on our current estimates, it (pollution) will remain contained in Hungary, and we also trust that it will reach Budapest with acceptable pH values."

Downstream from the disaster site, the Danube flows through or skirts Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian territory en route to the Black Sea.

Production should not be resumed until the company responsible has cleaned up every molecule of this spill. If the go out of business… too bad. Maybe it will be a lesson for other companies. One of the pictures showed people sweeping the mess down a street drain… which probably goes to the river. Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to collect it while it can be containerized.

hebintn Report As Abusive

So, the operators of the plant want to resume production? How fast have they been to try to minimize the damage and clean up the mess already caused? Have they done anything for the families of the people killed in th accident?

I ask these questions because in my country, the U.S., I’m certain any operator in a similar situation would be eager to get the money rolling back in — even while stalling on spending even a single dollar towards recovery, cleanup, restitution, etc.

MekhongKurt Report As Abusive

Water pollution like this is just part of a natural cycle, like AGW. There is no need to get all worried about it. Life is to be enjoyed and people are what really matters, not a bunch of red water. Have another beer.

Sure, Man might be contributing somewhat to water pollution but more research is needed to determine the actual cause. Nature has dealt with things like this for eons and metal does originate in the Earth, you know.

The most important thing is that we must continue to grow the economy forever on this finite planet and accept pollution as mere collateral damage. (Spoken like a good Republican.)

Jack956 Report As Abusive

Reminds me of what British Petroleum did to the Gulf of Mexico. Only question now is…how many Republicans will be getting down on their knees and apologizing to the company that did this to Hungary?

wilder5121 Report As Abusive

Nothing we haven’t already seen in the US. Remember the Tennessee Valley Authority’s dike that broke and released nearly a billion gallons of fly ash contaminated water? It wasn’t red, but a dark grey.

GRRR Report As Abusive

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