Pike River options mulled

Experts have suggesting digging a new tunnel into the Pike River Mine to try to find out what caused the explosion that killed 29 men and potentially to recover their bodies.

Technical experts in ventilation and geotechnical engineering gathered in Greymouth to work out how to re-enter the West Coast mine where 29 men were killed in November 2010.

Former chief mines inspector Tony Forster, who has previously given technical advice to the families fighting for re-entry, attended yesterday’s workshop held by the Pike River Recovery Agency. . ‘‘What I’ve seen is a very robust process ... I’d be the first to tell the families the process was flawed and there were fatal risks involved in this project and it’s far from that,’’ he said.

There were now three options on the table, including forming a short drift to create a new way of escape.

‘‘This is an example of new thinking that has been brought to the table ... That’s a whole new viable option now in terms of a plan,’’ Forster said.

The second option was entering the tunnel with no second means of escape but with very high levels of safety controls in place, which was ‘‘standard mining practice’’.

The third option was to create a vertical bore hole, which was previously suggested as a second means of escape.

‘‘I’ve got some concerns regarding that because there are legal implications for that understandably after Pike River ... If we came up with an option of River before the end of the year.

Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died in the mine, said the victims’ families were part of the workshops.

‘‘The costings that have come through ... are nowhere near the costings that Solid Energy and other parties put in front of us,’’ he said.

He paid tribute to the family members who stood their ground and the new Government for bringing about the Pike River Recovery Agency.

‘‘I think we’re on the right road to set an example for the future of New Zealand.’’