A total of 18 boreholes have been drilled and 20 imaged during the Police investigation – eight drilled and 10 imaged during the first drilling programme in 2021/2022 and 10 drilled and imaged this year.
The remains of up to 12 of the 29 miners have been located
Pike River mine tragedy family members Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse have called on political leaders to agree to introduce a corporate manslaughter law following charges for Whakaari/White Island deaths being dropped.
“We’ve watched charges collapsing because of poor investigations and bad prosecutions of the Whakaari disaster and been heartbroken by how little has changed since Peter Whittall was allowed to walk away from the deaths of our men,” Osborne said.
“The status quo just doesn’t cut it. We need a law that criminalises actions of corporations that led to death and we need the police to be the investigators. We need a criminal corporate manslaughter law.
“There have been hundreds of avoidable workplace deaths and deaths from corporate misadventure since the Pike River mine exploded 13 years ago. But alongside that there’s been bugger-all accountability.
“Now with the failures of the Whakaari prosecutions, it’s clear things just haven’t changed.”
Pike River Mine family members Anna Osborne (left), and Sonya Rockhouse are among those still pushing for a criminal prosecution. Photo / NZME
Rockhouse, whose son Ben was killed at Pike and whose other son, Daniel, barely escaped with his life, says leaders need to make good on their promises.
“Over the years we have talked about this with prime ministers, ministers, party spokespeople and an almost endless number of others who have had the power to help make this change.
“And most of them have agreed with us. So why has this not been done yet? Are we waiting for hundreds more people to die? It’s a disgrace and it is and should be a huge source of national shame.
“It shouldn’t be hard to do. We’ve worked this matter through with King’s Counsel Nigel Hampton, and he supports the change and says it can be done in law. Why the hell are we waiting? Political leaders need to answer this question.”
The Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine tragedy found the “immediate cause of the first explosion was the ignition of a substantial volume of methane gas”, but could only speculate on what might have triggered ignition.
“The mine was new and the owner, Pike River Coal Ltd [Pike], had not completed the systems and infrastructure necessary to safely produce coal. Its health and safety systems were inadequate,” the commission’s report said.
WorkSafe laid charges against former Pike River boss Peter Whittall in 2013, but the case was dropped after a $3.4 million settlement was paid – a deal the Supreme Court later said was unlawful.
The money was split between the two survivors and the families of the 29 missing, a total of $110,000 for each man who had been down the mine that day.
Australian company VLI Drilling, which employed three of the men who died, also pleaded guilty to health and safety charges and was fined $46,800.
