skip to Main Content
AFR ARTICLE 2nd October 2018. Peabody Admits Smoke Really Did Mean Fire. Inquiry Needed

AFR ARTICLE 2nd October 2018. Peabody admits smoke really did mean fire. Inquiry Needed

https://www.afr.com/companies/peabody-admits-smoke-really-did-mean-fire-20181001-h163ha

Excerpt

Early warnings

Back on Tuesday September 18 The Australian Financial Review contacted Peabody seeking confirmation that mining at North Goonyella had been suspended because of high methane and carbon monoxide levels. We also sought comment on claims that miners had experienced problems with excessive heat as they worked to reposition their long wall mining equipment and that management had been slow and indecisive in its response to the problems.

We were told there had been issues but it was nothing like as serious as proposed and that a very active and capable management team was well into the process of successful mitigation of the heating and gas problems.

The strategy, signed off by the Mines Inspectorate, involved, among other things, the introduction of seven pumping units that were injecting nitrogen into the coal mine in an attempt to force gas from the mine and rob it of the oxygen that might promote a fire.

Peabody’s immediate response was to wonder about the motivation of the people that had delivered their concerns to the AFR.

We then informed Peabody that our information had come from working miners concerned about their immediate safety and their future jobs. We noted that in our long experience, the people that stride along the coal face rarely mislead or overstate issues of safety particularly.

Again, we were assured that matters were in hand, that the necessary internal and external expertise had been introduced to deal with issues that were nothing like as severe as our sources had indicated.

Over the two weeks since pretty much everything we had been warned would happen has happened. The nitrogen didn’t work because no one knew where to put it with the accuracy that would have made it effective, the mine is on fire, the leased long wall equipment is likely lost, the mine remains a dangerous place to be even though it is now inside an exclusion zone whose 3 kilometre extension has enveloped production infrastructure like the wash plant.

As a result Peabody and the regulator have been forced to agree on a new “multi-tiered plan” that includes the introduction of a “mobile GAG unit”. It is effectively a jet engine whose exhaust fumes are pumped down into the mine with the ambition of extinguishing the fire. The GAG injects inert gases at a rate 10 times greater than the nitrogen units.

At the same time the long wall panel that is on fire has been sealed by remotely operated bulldozers and other mine openings are being filled with temporary seals while an expandable, fire resistant material called Rocsil is pumped into the place.

Inquiry needed

While I am loath to force another public inquiry onto our royal commission crowded nation, there is no question in my mind that the state government needs to call a very public inquiry into events at North Goonyella.

In the weeks between first contact over North Goonyella’s gas and heating issues, we have heard criticism of Peabody’s operational management, of its external advisors and of the mining inspectorate, which has been described as “under-resourced”, “excessively bureaucratic” and “unable to attract proper numbers of quality inspectors”.

Queensland is a heartland of Australian coal mining and the official forecaster reckons coal will replace iron ore as our biggest export earner next year. Everyone in Australian coal – but most importantly, all of the hardy folk that actually mine the stuff – need to have a clear understanding of what caused this problem, to have confidence that the risks were managed effectively and to have the opportunity to learn from whatever mistakes may have been made.

To be clear, the only good news here is that established protocols were followed so that fatalities were avoided. This is an opportunity to publicly refresh the standards.

Peabody for one says it is going to seize that opportunity. It will review every aspect of what happened and it intends to share the lessons with its coal mining peers.

This Post Has 0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *