North Goonyella an explosion waiting to happen: Fire expert

AN EXPLOSION could be brewing underground at North Goonyella Mine, a mines fire expert has warned.

EXCLUSIVE:

AN EXPLOSION could be brewing underground at North Goonyella Mine, a mines fire expert has warned. 

A spontaneous coal fire that's been burning for days, combined with the presence of methane seam gas, has led to a volatile situation.

The fire at the Bowen Basin mine, the workplace of 225 employees according to Peabody Energy, has the potential to rage for years if efforts to extinguish it fail, putting the long-term viability of North Goonyella at risk.

The situation at the mine, about 65km north of Moranbah and 160km west of Mackay, has progressively worsened over "the last few weeks", an expert in mine fires told the Daily Mercury yesterday.

University of Queensland Professor of Occupational Health and Safety in Mining David Cliff has been "working with the mine" in recent days.

Prof Cliff, who has been involved in about 35 mine fires during a career spanning nearly three decades, provided his take on the situation, which has not resulted in any reported injuries to workers.

"The incident is, they've had a spontaneous combustion event, which is when coal self-heats," he explained.

"Coal is an organic material and in the wrong conditions it will react with air and generate heat, get hotter and end up burning all by itself. An event like that has apparently occurred in one of the working sections of the mine.

"(Peabody) have attempted to control the event, but attempts at control underground, I believe, have failed and (they've) had to evacuate the mine.

"In combination with the fire risk, from spontaneous combustion, there is, because there is methane seam gas at the mine, a potential of an explosion at the mine."

"The mine's concern with the workforce safety is paramount."

Prof Cliff said the incident at North Goonyella Mine had been "progressing adversely for a few weeks".

(Peabody) has been trying to control it for a number of weeks. They've done a lot of activity to do that, but their activities turned out not to be successful in this instance," he said. "I think the control systems in place, while they may not be able to prevent the incident occurring or getting worse, are very much a case of protecting people.

"The likelihood of the explosion occurring while people were underground was very low - negligible. As soon as it became clear there was any potential for that, the workforce was evacuated."

Peabody was now working to try to control the underground fire, Prof Cliff said, but it was difficult due to limited access.

Evacuations undertaken to protect workers had made controlling the fire difficult.

"You've got to get whatever you're trying to use to control the fire to the scene of the fire, and that further complicates things," Prof Cliff said.

"Once you've evacuated to the surface you can only gain access to the fire and other things from the surface through bore holes, which take time to drill.

"They (mine fires) can burn for a very long time because the thermal mass of the coal will stay hot for quite a while unless you remove the heat. Most control measures simply remove the air, but don't remove the heat."

University of Queensland's Professor David Cliff. Picture: Contributed

While the situation at North Goonyella appears dire, Prof Cliff said it was often possible to recover large sections of mines in these cases, "even in the worst case situations".

"I think at this stage (Peabody) are exploring a number of options and until I get better information on some of them I won't know what the medium or long-term future of the mine is,' he said.

"I know they're planning a whole range of contingencies. One option, and it's just one option, is to seal the mine at its surface entries. The challenge there is to do it so it doesn't expose the workforce to harm.

"So large amounts of dirt and other material, pushed in from a safe position, is one option which could be used. There are quite a few people, a range of expertise involved, as I understand, at the present time."

When compared to other mining fires he has consulted on over the years, Prof Cliff said the North Goonyella situation was "one of the more serious incidents where no life has been lost".

He added Australia usually records about "one evacuation a year from such an event", which are "probably not as severe as this".

" ... it's more complicated here because of the seam gas situation," Prof Cliff said.

Responding to questions, Peabody Energy said safety was its first priority and access to the mine had been restricted through an exclusion zone.

"The company continues to work with the Queensland Mines Inspectorate and third party personnel to mobilise resources and manage next steps to address the situation," a company statement read.

"Our first focus is on the safety of all personnel involved. Our second focus is on managing the situation on the ground and that remains an ongoing effort.

"We will assess ongoing financial impacts and implications as time goes by and provide an update when we have more information to do so.

"Peabody appreciates the ongoing work of the team at North Goonyella, the Inspectorate, independent technical experts, union representatives and other people engaged in the process."

The thick black smoke at North Goonyella Mine. Picture: Contributed

George J Schuller Jr, the president of Peabody Australia, said "the workforce has been tremendous in trying to do everything they can to make sure the mine is safe".

"We have a wide exclusion zone in place and we've been keeping in constant contact with industry health safety representatives and site safety representatives," he said.

"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts we've seen an escalation in gas levels and heating and what we have right now is likely a mine fire. We've been in constant contact with the Queensland Mines Safety Inspectorate and third party experts from day one.

"Peabody takes its environmental and social responsibility very seriously. We've been in contact with the Isaac Regional Council and local landholders to ensure they're aware of the situation."

It's thought millions of dollars worth of equipment at the mine could be at risk.

Peabody has stated the situation at the mine began on September 1 during a scheduled longwall move when elevated gas levels became apparent. Those elevated gas levels were caused by oxidation of some coal during the move.

Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Anthony Lynham confirmed he was aware of the situation. "The health and safety of our mine workers is paramount," he said.

"I am advised that Peabody has removed all persons from the vicinity of surface entries to the mine and that an exclusion zone has been set within the mine lease area to ensure the safety of all persons.

"The Mines Inspectorate continues to work closely with the mine operator."

North Goonyella Mine is located in the Isaac Regional Council local government area. Isaac Local Disaster Management Group co-ordinator Scott Greensill said the group was on "alert status" and monitoring developments.

When asked if there was any concerns black smoke seen billowing from the mine could negatively affect Isaac residents, he said: "There was a mild odour last night (Thursday) and (it) lasted a very short period of time", resulting in "minimal impact".

Picture: Cas Garvey

'No one expected it to get this bad'

'THE place is on fire, mate. It's simple as that".

With those words an underground operator who's worked at North Goonyella Mine for years summed up the devastation of "seeing your place of employment burning".

The worker, who asked not to be named due to fear of employment repercussions, said he and hundreds of other employees now on leave were anxiously waiting to see how the situation at the mine played out.

"It's its own beast at the moment," he said.

"It only truly caught fire (Thursday), where they can't deny it's a fire now.

"I'm a bit shell-shocked really. "I've worked there a considerable amount of years, other guys have been there 20 years.

"It's been their life.

"You can't really put into words the feelings. Well, I can't right now. You've worked at it for so long and so hard, shed blood, sweat and tears.

"You live and breathe the bloody black stuff.

"No one sort of expected it to get this bad. But there's always that possibility. It's happened at other mines and they always tend to get it under control.

"Knowing the immense amount of gas and combustible coal ... fuelling it ... you sort of think how does it happen in this day and age?"

The worker doubts he will ever be able to return to his work at the mine or the crew he was proud to be a part of.

"Straight away, you sort of think 'I'll be out of a job, what am I going to do'. The emotions start flowing, really," he said.

"I can't stop thinking about the workers under me. The casual fellas'.

"One day you have a job and the next the bloody mine blows up.

"You get told things, but it doesn't really comfort you.

"There's not a person from out there at the mine who doesn't want to see this get under control. But there's nothing you can physically do as a general worker to help the situation."

The worker believes Peabody Energy has managed the situation at the mine the best way it can in difficult circumstances, and said he felt workers were being kept relatively well informed.

Peabody has stated North Goonyella Mine employees "continue to be paid" and a "small team remains on site outside of exclusion zones to carry out duties as required".

The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) declined to comment until more is known about the future of the mine.

The Daily Mercury hasattempted to reach out to more workers at North Goonyella Mine, but they were hesitant to comment, fearing they could lose their jobs if they spoke out.

"We're told 'don't talk to the media, don't talk to the media' but I think people have a right to know, " the operator said.

Originally published as North Goonyella an explosion waiting to happen: Fire expert