Stephen Smith DNRME

I recall I engaged in a robust discussion with Mr Niehaus about corrective actions to manage the gas exceedances. We discussed the bleeder road and I suggested he consider putting the roadway on return.” Inspector Brennan Grosvenor Inquiry Statement. Never tendered at Grosvenor Inquiry. Inspector Brennan gave no evidence. Why not?

  • August 3, 2021

The bleeder shaft being intake and its negative effect on LW 104 spontaneous combustion likelihood and goaf fringe location received a lot of attention at the Grosvenor Inquiry. The reason the bleeder…

I said words to the effect We are issuing a Directive tonight to suspend operations. No-one is to access the underground workings.” I recall Glen Britton challenging me by asking, with words to the effect of  “On what Grounds? Who would make the decision? And where was the risk?  Inspector A and I responded that it was on the ground of an unacceptable level of risk. I said that we did not have any relevant data to interpret as yet and we did not know what had caused the ignition. At the conclusion of the conversation, Mr Britton laughed and walked away.

  • July 22, 2021

There is a large amount of material available to the Grosvenor Inquiry that has never been tendered as evidence and has not been made public. This includes the Statements from…

Dobson Methane S166 Directive Dec 2016 does not force Grosvenor to take action about controlling methane. All it does is tell the Mine to make sure workers are withdrawn to a place of safety when Methane >2.5 in each place used by a person for normal work or travel and it is immediately reported to the Inspectors.

  • July 10, 2021

I do not believe that the wording of Inspector Dobson's Directive is even appropriate for using a Section 166  Directive to reduce risk. What exactly was the intention of the…