Decision due on Pike River re-entry
The families of some of the men killed in the Pike River mine disaster will be at Parliament today to hear whether authorities will re-enter the mine’s drift.
Andrew Little, the Minister Responsible for Pike River ReEntry, 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 will need more funding.
The three options for re-entry 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 evidence of what caused the methane explosion.
Family Reference Group members Anna Osborne and Bernie Monk were travelling to the capital yesterday for the announcement.
They would be told the decision first, before phoning the rest of the families with the news.
Monk, whose son Michael died in the mine, believed that would happen last night.
‘‘This is going to make or break what we’ve been working on with the coalition Government,’’ he said. ‘‘This Government has delivered all it has promised to us.’’