Morragh MineEssay Preview: Morragh MineReport this essayMORRAGH MINEShortly before the Morragh Mine blew up last June, an alarm went off in the surface control room, which warned of high methane levels underground. Twenty miners were killed in the explosion at the financially troubled mine. Since the mine did not know who was on shift at the time of the explosion, many wives of the miners received phone calls that morning asking if their husbands were at home. At the time of the explosion, the mine had been under an order from the provincial labour department to establish a safety plan to prevent coal-dust explosion. The cause of the disaster was later established to have been ignition of coal dust, which was caused by an explosion of accumulated methane.
Even before the two-year-old mine owned by the Calgary-based Westar Resources Inc. opened, it had been the subject of controversy. Morragh Mine cost $130 million to build and employed 210 people. Its main customer was Northern Hydro, a Crown corporation that had signed a contract to purchase 600,000 tons of the mines coal per year. The contract with Northern Hydro was a fifteen-year agreement to pay Morragh for set amounts of coal annually. Local politicians criticized federal and provincial governments for financing the mine to a total of almost $90 million in loan guarantees and interest subsidies. Many local miners and resource specialists also doubted its safety. The mine tapped the Craigleigh Seam, one of the ten major seams that make up the Manitou County coal field. Before the disaster about 400 people had died in
Morphese Mine
The following are a selection of some of the facts that inspired the CBC’s investigation into the Morragh decision.
On July 10, 2005, Morragh was the owner of Morragh Mine and its largest mine-in-town mine of 1.4 million tonnes of natural gas and 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. At the time it owned or operated Morragh mine, its total assets were $1.9 billion and a projected operating income in $8.5 billion.
[/page] (1:1) No mining company, or other company of any sort as defined in the Alberta Energy Safety Act of 2006, had issued or owned a licence for Morragh mine in the preceding two years. However, they had been the subject of inquiries and hearings from the Alberta Government and, at the time as of the June 2001 federal election, the government, the province and the environmental regulator did not file a formal investigation.
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[/page] (2:1) [page]The oil industry has always considered it the responsibility of other states and jurisdictions to reduce the cost, emissions and health risks of all Canadian products to produce safe, accessible, low-carbon petroleum products on a sustainable basis. However, until the 1990s, Canadian consumers were not subject to this responsibility under the CSA. This was the first step in establishing a national energy policy on natural gas that reflected the need for environmentally responsible exploration, development, export and production.
[/page] (2:2) The CSA, in 1991, established the regulatory agency, the Canadian Energy Safety Board or CSA in Ontario to provide a clear basis for evaluating the safety or environmental benefits of natural gas. In April 1992, the Board conducted a review of the CSA for its role and concluded that such review had been inadequate. On July 16, 1992, an independent CSA was constituted and the CSA provided the Alberta Government with detailed information on a range of natural gas safety concerns and a commitment to continue working with the provinces. On October 7, 1992, Canada passed legislation authorizing the first major international oil exploration or production program of the 21st century, the oil sands. The CSA now has nearly $6 billion of Canadian debt.
[/page] (2:3) [page]This regulatory body is composed of four independent bodies. First, the Association of Regional States, created by the federal and provincial government and chaired by the Alberta Energy Safety Board, has a mandate in accordance with the Alberta Energy Safety Act to monitor the safety or health of Canadian products for the foreseeable future. Second, one or more independent agencies are established independently of the federal government to conduct industry audits. Third, the Commission on Petroleum Safety of the provinces is incorporated to undertake independent analysis on safety or health issues. The first national regulator and the final decision of each independent agency must be taken by the provinces. [page]In the third national regulator, the province and the National Energy Board, together with three independent agencies from the federal, provincial and territorial governments, establish independent agency to support industry assessment decisions. [page]’In the fourth, the Natural Resources Board of B.C. and the University of Western BC, together