The Labor Party-led government is rushing to end the underground investigation into the Pike River coal mine. It aims to prevent the recovery of evidence that could lead to legal action against those responsible for the disaster that killed 29 workers in November 2010.
The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA), which has only explored the mine entrance drift or tunnel, intends to remove workers and equipment and begin sealing the mine this week.
Person from Pike River Coal Ltd. was prosecuted for gross violations of the company’s workplace safety laws, including severely inadequate ventilation, which allowed methane to reach explosive levels. A 2012 royal commission found the company putting production ahead of worker safety and ignoring numerous disaster warnings.
Pike River leaders, board members and senior staff have been protected by successive National Party and Labor Party governments, as well as the police and the judiciary. No official from the Ministry of Labor or the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) was held responsible, who allowed the workers to go underground despite knowing about it. the lack of an emergency exit at Pike River and several other dangers.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government promised in 2017 to re-enter the mine to recover evidence, search for human remains and conduct a proper criminal investigation. These promises are now being reneged on. Last month, Pike River Re-entry Minister Andrew Little rejected a plan by mining experts, submitted on behalf of 23 of the 29 families of the victims, for the recovery of crucial evidence in the mining work.
June 9, New Zealand Herald reported that plans to seal the mine were “on hold” after the Pike River Families Group (PRFG), representing 22 of the families, filed for judicial review of Little’s decision.
Last week, however, the families found out that the government had decided to proceed with the seal, before the case went to a judge. The PRRA, whose website falsely claims it “works in partnership with the families of Pike River,” did not consult the majority of families on the decision.
The PRRA did not publicly announce its plan, and it was not reported in the Herald or other media. The PRFG only found out after Alan Monk, whose brother Michael died in the mine, emailed PRRA Managing Director Dave Gawn on June 23 asking if it was planned. to seal the mine soon. Gawn replied the next day:
“We are starting the initial PBIS withdrawal process [the area of the drift known as Pit Bottom in Stone] back at the 170m bar today. We will start the erection of the 170m seal next week. We anticipate that work on the 30-meter seal will begin around mid-August. We plan to return the mine site to DOC [the Department of Conservation] End of november.
Carol Rose, whose son Stuart died in the mine, told the World Socialist Website she thought the 170-meter seal would be temporary and the 30-meter seal would be a more permanent barrier, “but I’m not sure.” Bernie Monk and Dean Dunbar, whose sons Michael and Joseph were killed, also said they were unsure whether the 170-yard seal could be easily removed.
Rose said the PRRA was withholding information “from families who do not want the sealing to continue.” Only six families support the sealing of the mine and one is neutral. So far, 48 people from the majority group of families have signed up to support the ongoing legal action against the seal. Even though a judge eventually ruled against the government, Rose was unsure whether he would unseal the mine. “That’s why we have to stop it,” she said.
Dunbar called on underground workers to stop work and refuse to install the seal: what you are doing goes against everything the majority of families want. You are about to bury our children, bury the evidence before this investigation is complete. Do you want to be part of it? ”
He said the government was sending the message that “if you come to New Zealand you run a high risk of losing your life on the job, and no one will be held responsible.” He urged workers to “stop sitting on the fence and be silent” and take a stand for justice and accountability.
Dunbar said the government was moving quickly and stealthily “because we are gaining ground. People are starting to be told the truth. The evidence is starting to get convincing, we are starting to release images of bodies. They are running out of time. We don’t have a campaign manager, we don’t have unlimited resources, but we have the truth on our side.
A petition launched by the PRFG, titled “Help prevent critical evidence from the Pike River mine from being locked away forever!” Now has over 6,150 signatures and hundreds of comments supporting their fight for truth and justice. The WSWS has published dozens of letters from New Zealand and international readers supporting the families and expressing outrage at the actions of the Ardern government.
Some families released an image of a body, taken by a lowered camera in the mine in early 2011, to counter false claims – promoted for years by the media and the previous National Party government – that all human remains had been destroyed. by fires. They also shared an image of a self-rescue device pictured underground on November 23, 2010, which suggests there were survivors of the first explosion four days earlier. The images are among thousands that have been disclosed to families.
The only reason given by the government for refusing to investigate the mining work is the cost involved. The families’ technical advisers, led by former chief mining inspector Tony Forster, estimate that it would take less than $ 8 million to get through two roof falls at the mine sites. This would allow investigators to examine the main fan, which is said to have been the ignition source of the first explosion (see: “What is the New Zealand government trying to bury in the Pike River mine?” ).
Monk told the WSWS that the government “keeps talking about money, but it’s not the families fault that it has come to this. The people who invested in the mine, I don’t see them coming to the table and helping us. Pike River Coal’s shareholders and major creditors, including NZ Oil & Gas and the Bank of New Zealand, have received tens of millions of dollars in insurance payments.
State-owned mining company Solid Energy bought the mine in 2012 and sold expensive machinery, which could have been used for re-entry. The then National Party government intended to seal and abandon the mine for good, but was forced to back down after family protests in 2016-2017 won broad working class support. Now the Labor government is trying to do what National could not.
The state cover-up is assisted by the corporate media, which report as little as possible, and the unions, which have maintained a conspiracy of silence on the families’ struggle for the truth. Little, who is overseeing the closure of the investigation, was the head of the EPMU when the mine exploded. His immediate response was to claim that Pike River had a good safety record and that there was “nothing unusual” about the mine. By supporting the sealing of the mine, unions continue to protect criminal enterprises whose actions have left 29 people dead.
The WSWS is calling on workers in New Zealand and abroad to support families’ demand for the government to reverse its decision to seal the mine. The underground investigation must continue in order to uncover the whole truth about the causes of the explosions and to hold those responsible to account. We urge readers to share this article widely, to break the media blackout, and to send statements supporting the fight for truth and justice for the 29 men who died in Pike River.
