North Goonyella Fire MRE 12th September 2018. “It was stated that the gas results seemed to confirm that there was a definite source of CO on the MG side of the TG Chute Road.” WHO BY?
MRE – North Goonyella – 12.09.2018.pdf
I have highlighted the most relevant sections of the MRE in my opinion.
There are 2 sections I want to mention first
- It was stated that the gas results seemed to confirm that there was a definite source of CO on the MG side of the TG Chute Road.
Who was it that made this statement? Management, Inspectors? WHO?
What evidence did they put forward in support?
What if any changes were made to plans to bring Spontaneous Combustion under Control?
2) We held a discussion about options going forward. The Mine is working on options should the inertisation alone not be able to control the situation.
The Inspectors raised that the Mine needs to establish what their criteria will be to make an assessment that the situation is under control and at this time the Mine would be able to make a decision as to whether the recovery of shields could be recommenced at an acceptable level of risk.
What are the options the Management are considering if Inertisation does not alone control the situation?
The Inspectors state the Management need to establish what criteria to use to state the Spontaneous Combustion is under control enough to start pulling chocks again.
The Obvious and Correct Answer is the same TARPS that mandated the Workers be withdrawn from the Mine in the first place.
Changing TARPS in the middle of an out of control Spontaneous Combustion Event is just a blanket NO.
Why did the Inspectors pose the matter in this way?
Today, 12 Sep 2018 I, Inspector Les Marlborough, and Inspector Paul Brown attended a meeting at North Goonyella Mine to discuss the status of the high CO in 9N TG. We were met by SSE Mr John Anger and Acting UMM Mr Mike Carter.
Meeting
Attending the meeting was;
Mr John Anger, SSE;
Mr Mike Carter, Underground Mine Manager (Acting);
Mr Nev Impson, Compliance Manager;
Mr Dennis Black, Ventilation Officer
Mr Charles Lilly, Peabody Senior Director of Engineering;
Ms Sneza Bajic, SIMTARS;
Mr David Pitt, Longwall Coordinator;
Mr Rick Sewell, GM South Project Manager; Mr Casey Moore, SSHR;
Mr Jeff Perks, HST Superintendent (Scribe).
In addition, the meeting was joined by video conference by;
Mr Darren Brady;
Mr Michael Brady;
Mr Martin Watkinson (SIMTARS); and Mr Marek Romanski UMM.
Meeting
Last 24 Hours;-
Continued monitoring gases and injection of inert gas as per plan;
0 Continued inspections and critical work underground as per the re-entry plan;
Conducted a Raytec heat survey around the Longwall — no anomalies found;
Established power to the LW face and set 10 Maingate Shields;
Water going down well with continued pumping;
- Established Floxal into MG 3 and 4 CT as planned;
- Established Floxal onto new borehole (Hole 2690) as planned;
Established foam onto Hole 2690 as planned;
Confirmed air quantity at Tube 29 (20.8 m/s);
Confirmed full Floxal flow into MG 3 and 4 CT at 9:00 PM- unable to confirm flow, plan to take electronic unit down on DS to measure pressure at the measuring set:
There was an issue with Floxal unit on hole 2690 which meant there was no Nitrogen injected from 23:40 until 2:00 AM. Also, there was no foam available from 23:40 until midnight.
Current Status;-
Gas readings for the previous 24 hours were provided and discussed
The CO in the TG Chute Road (tube 29). This was expected following the introduction of Floxal gas into the MG Seals. The CO level in the TG Chute Road reached 448 PPM during the night (evacuation trigger is 450 ppm). As a precaution only inspections were carried out and all planned essential works were suspended until the gas levels dropped.
Following the CO peak, the levels plateaued and started dropping. The CO level at 10 AM was 384 PPM. The results from Tube 28 reflected the results from Tube 29;
Graham’s Ratio (modified to take into account the Nitrogen being injected showed a peak and a significant reduction during the night;
Tube 24 was steady and inert with only minor fluctuations.
It was stated that the gas results seemed to confirm that there was a definite source of CO on the MG side of the TG Chute Road.
Plan for the next 24 Hours;-
- Continue Floxal injection as per current status;
- Continue inspections, monitoring and essential work as per the re-entry plan; e The Mine is mobilising a large Floxal unit from Narrabri in NSW. This unit is capable of producing 2200 1/s of ineff gas at 3% Oxygen. The plan is to use this unit to release the two Millennium units and to provide additional Nitrogen capacity if needed. The unit should be ready for use Saturday/Sunday.
We held a discussion about options going forward. The Mine is working on options should the inertisation alone not be able to control the situation.
The Inspectors raised that the Mine needs to establish what their criteria will be to make an assessment that the situation is under control and at this time the Mine would be able to make a decision as to whether the recovery of shields could be recommenced at an acceptable level of risk.
The Inspectors have previously advised the Mine that it needs to review the Sealing Management Plan in light of the changed conditions that now exist.
Copies of the current gas data spreadsheets, the Incident Action Plan and a plan showing the injection points being used and the quantities of inert gas being injected were provided.
I thanked the people for their time and explained that Inspector Marlborough would return to the Mine at 9:00 AM on Thursday 13 September, accompanied by Inspectors Richard Gouldstone and Keith Brennan to review progress and to discuss plans going forward.
