Australia and NZ to work together on ETS, medicines

Australia and New Zealand have agreed to work together to try to link the two countries emissions trading schemes.

Prime Minister John Key met with his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard on Monday afternoon, ahead of his speech to the Australian Parliament.

Ms Gillard is under domestic political pressure over her plan to introduce a price on carbon.

But she says both Governments recognise that linking global markets provides the most cost effective approach to reducing greenhouse gases.

John Key says it is up to Australia to decide its own emissions policy, but he believes New Zealand's ETS is working.

New, joint medicines agency

Mr Key also announced a new trans-Tasman agency to regulate medicines, medical devices and new medical interventions.

He says New Zealand's regulatory arrangements need to be updated, and this is a cost effective and comprehensive way of achieving that.

Mr Key says officials from both countries will begin work on a joint agency immediately.

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http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/78179/australia-and-nz-to-work-together-on-ets,-medicines

Whales stranded again

New Zealand residents rush to try and save pilots whales stranded at Puponga Point in Golden Bay

At least 14 whales from a pod of more than 80 beached on the New Zealand coast have died, with officials fearing others may be stranded elsewhere after freeing themselves on Saturday.

Department of Conservation staff were searching beaches west of the South Island tourist city of Nelson looking for survivors.

"We don't know whether they have managed to swim safely (out to) sea or whether they may have stranded somewhere else along the coast," department spokeswoman Trish Grant said.

Residents at Farewell Spit, 150 kilometres from Nelson, said the whales began beaching themselves early on Friday afternoon.

Conservation staff rushed to the area to keep the whales cool and hydrated in the afternoon sun but 14 had died before they refloated themselves on a midnight high tide.

"Some, even though they are refloated, do wash up dead later on because they've been through such an ordeal so they are considerably weakened by it," Grant said.

Whale strandings are not uncommon in the area and Grant said there were various theories as to why the animals beached themselves.

"It's something that has occurred reasonably often in Golden Bay with pilot whales, and just even the shape of the bay could mean they kind of get a bit caught with the spit coming round, so it could just be navigational error."

Pilot whales up to six metres long are the most common species of whale seen in New Zealand waters.

Last month, 24 died after stranding near Cape Reinga in the far north of the country.

In December 2009, more than 120 whales died in two separate beachings at Farewell Spit and Colville Bay in the North Island.

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http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=190260

Rescuers preparing for mine deaths

New Zealand police have admitted for the first time that they are preparing for loss of life in the mine explosion that has trapped 29 men underground.

The men, including two Australians, have been missing since an underground explosion at the Pike River mine, near Greymouth on the South Island, on Friday.

Rescuers have started drilling a 15cm-diameter hole into the mine, hoping it will allow them to take air samples and use a fibre optic cable to see conditions underground.

The drill has covered about 135 metres of the 160 metres it will need to travel to reach the level where the men are believed to be trapped.

The police officer in charge of the operation, Superintendent Gary Knowles, says it is still a search and rescue mission.

"We still remain optimistic. We are still keeping an open mind," he said.

"But we are planning for all outcomes and also as a part of this process we're planning for the possible loss of life as a possible result of what's occurred underground.

"We keep an open mind but we are planning for that."

Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall says the 162-metre hole should be completed today.

"We've got a number of opportunities once we can get the hole through to sample gas," he said.

"From that point we'll have an opportunity to put laser imaging gear down the hole which can be used to gather a large amount of data."

He says that camera will be able to give images showing any equipment or rocks in the area underground.

Mr Whittall says progress has slowed as the drill reaches harder rock.

"It may take several more hours to get through that final section," he said.

Robot testing

Mr Whittall says American experts are assisting with the use of seismic equipment that could help find the trapped men.

"They have suggested we use seismic gear to listen on top of the ground for any movement underground, and we will be, if possible, deploying that equipment," he said.

A remote-operated robot is also being prepared to be sent into the collapsed mine shaft to attempt to make contact with the men and assess any damage.

Mr Whittall corrected earlier reports that said experts were working to adapt the robot so it would not spark a fresh explosion in the mine shaft, which is believed to be full of toxic gases.

He says it will not be safe to use the robot in anything but fresh air, which has been detected as far as 1.8km into the 2.5km-long mine.

NZ defence force personnel have been putting the robot through its paces to see if it can drag fibre optic cable the length of the mine.

Today the men's names were released and read out at a briefing attended by the High Commissioners of both Britain and Australia, along with New Zealand's prime minister, John Key.

Mr Key has visited the mine for a second time and met with families of the missing miners.

He says it is important any rescue operation does not further endanger the miners.

"The risk is that by going into the mine they then destabilise the atmospheric environment and the introduction of more oxygen or different gases as a result of their activity leads to a second explosion," he said.

"We've seen that in previous mine rescues. So in an attempt to rescue the guys you could potentially end up killing them as well as the rescue people themselves. Now we can't take that risk."

Among those missing are two Australians, 49-year-old Willy Joynson and 25-year-old Joshua Ufer, both from Queensland.

Their relatives, along with other families have arrived in Greymouth to visit the mine where their loved ones are trapped.

Fear and tension in the community is rising as the operation to locate the men underground drags on.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/22/3073406.htm?section=justin

NZ's worst mining accidents: Gas, explosions kill dozens

New Zealand has seen its share of mine disasters, with 181 people killed since 1896. Today, 36 people are missing after an explosion at the Pike River coal mine.

The mine, about 46km northeast of Greymouth is on the opposite side of the Paparoa Ranges from the now-closed Strongman State Mine where 19 miners died in an explosion in January 1967.

In that disaster, 240 men were working in the mine at the time, but a wet patch 140m down the tunnel put out the fireball from the explosion.

Pike River takes its high-quality coking coal from the estimated 58 million tonnes in the Brunner coal measures - with another 29 million tonnes thought to be in the Paparoa seam 150m below .

The coal from the Brunner seam has a very low ash content, at 1 per cent compared to 8 per cent in premium Australian coking coals. It also has low phosphorous levels but moderate sulphur levels.

It was that coal that was being collected by the men when they were killed in the nation's worst industrial disaster - the Brunner mine deaths in which 65 men died in March 1896, killed by gas.

New Zealand's mine disasters include:

Kaitangata, February 1879: Candles cause explosion in an area known for methane (firedamp) killed 34 men and boys.

Brunner, March 1896: Incorrect blasting set off a gas explosion - probably methane - killing 65 men.

Huntly, Ralph's mine, September 1914: A miner's naked light ignited firedamp, killing 43 men.

Dobson mine, December 1926: An explosion killed nine men.

Huntly, Glen Afton mine, September 1939: Carbon monoxide asphyxiated 11 men.

Strongman mine, 11km northeast of Greymouth, January 1967: explosion killed 19 miners.

Black Reef Mine, near Greymouth, March 2006 - Robert McGowan, 39, drowned when he hit flooded mine workings.

According to a West Coast historian Brian Wood, who has written several books on mining, most of the nation's serious accidents have occurred in coal mines, which are different to hard-rock mines.

"You've had your quartz-mining areas in Thames, Waihi and Reefton, but there's not been a major entrapment of miners underground in any of those mines," he said.

In 1970, four workers died and others were trapped for two days when the Kaimai railway tunnel collapsed.

The shaft of the Waiuta goldmine, near Reefton, collapsed in 1951. There was nobody underground.

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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688752