Decision on mine drift re-entry due
The families of some of the men killed in the Pike River mine disaster will be in Parliament today to hear whether authorities will re-enter the mine’s drift.
Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little will announce whether or not a plan to re-enter the West Coast mine’s access tunnel has been approved at 7.15am.
The Pike River Family Reference Group represents the majority of the families of the 29 men killed in the November
2010 disaster. The group has been involved in the re-entry plan by the Pike River Recovery Agency.
Little has had the plan for two weeks and has been getting help from independent adviser Rob Fyfe, who will also be at today’s announcement.
The agency put forward three options for a manned re-entry and has a budget of $23 million, although it has said it would need more. The three options for reentry are: using a single entry; building a new 250 metre-long tunnel, which would connect with the ‘‘Pit Bottom in Stone’’ area, for ventilation and a second escape route; and using a single entry but adding a new large borehole to provide a means of emergency escape.
Its aim is to recover any bodies that might be in the mine drift and gather any evidence of what might have caused the methane explosion.
Family Reference Group members Anna Osborne and Bernie Monk were travelling to Wellington yesterday for the announcement.
They would be told the decision first, before phoning the rest of the families with the news.
‘‘This is going to make or break what we’ve been working on with the coalition Government. This Government has delivered all it has promised to us. They promised us they would have another look, set up an agency, that the families would be working hand in hand with the agency,’’ Monk said.
He did not believe there were any ‘‘show stoppers’’ in the agency’s plan. ‘‘We have been at this crossroads before.’’
Osborne, whose husband Milton was killed at Pike River, said she was ‘‘optimistic for a positive outcome’’.
‘‘Three options were put forward and the experts have said all three can be done safely, but at this stage nothing has been confirmed,’’ she said.