Efforts to stem water flooding ‘Tara Deep’ continue

As the battle to stem the flooding continues at Tara Mines this week, parent company Boliden has stressed that there is no danger to the structural integrity of the mine or of lead contamination in the water.

As the crisis enters its second week, attempts were being made to stem the flood with temporary packing.

Production was suspended at the at the zinc and lead facility last Wednesday when it started to flood following the drilling of a bore hole for a ventilation shaft.

In an email to staff yesterday, general manager Gunnar Nyström confirmed that there had been no significant reduction in the flooding and outlined the measures being taken today to try and stop the flood of water.

He assured workers: “Our mines rescue teams are providing support round the clock to the operation for activities in the mine.”

Following fears expressed for the future of the mine and the safety of water being pumped into local rivers, the company moved to reassure people that: “Boliden Tara Mines has the capacity within the operation to manage the increased water ingress without breaching any of our Industrial emission licence limits. The operational infrastructure is designed, built and operated to world class standards.”

A spokesperson said there was no risk that inflowing water would undermine the structural integrity of mine pillars nor backfilled zones within the mine.

He said there was a tremendous amount of work being carried out to protect both the mine and the surrounding community. “We are confident that it will be successful.”

He said the company was confident that the water leak will be contained in the coming days and is working “on a number of projects that will stem the flow and isolate ground water deep within the mine workings.”

“Boliden Tara Mines has sufficient surface treatment and storage capacity to deal with the additional groundwater. Water pumped to surface is treated before discharge to the Boyne under the strictest EPA licence conditions. Tara will continue to operate within its EPA licence conditions.

“If necessary, the tailings facility will be utilised to temporarily store excess water. There is more than adequate capacity to do so.

“Only treated water that meets the strict EPA licence criteria will be discharged to the Boyne.”

Meath County Council is engaging with Tara Mines and the relevant statutory agencies in response to this situation. The Chief Executive, Jackie Maguire has been briefed by senior management of Tara Mines and the Council has an ongoing dialogue with the Tara Mines team.

Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar visited Tara Mines on Friday to be briefed on the flooding problem.

Meanwhile, Minister Thomas Byrne has met with the CEO of Boliden, Mr Mikael Staffas at the Irish Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden this morning, while in the country for a meeting of the European Organisation for Security.

Speaking ahead of that meeting Minister Byrne said: “As a local TD in Meath I send my full support and solidarity with the hundreds of employees, contractors and subcontractors at Tara Mines during this difficult period of uncertainty. Tara Mines is critically important to the economic environment of county Meath. The entire county sends our best wishes of safety and success to the team involved in the work to stem the water flow in the Mines.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Peadar Tóibín claimed that information is emerging that the scale of the disaster below ground in Tara Mines is larger than people first expected.

“I understand that the body of water is enormous and that efforts are still being made to pack the hole to stop the flow. The most important issue is that staff are kept safe.

“But this difficulty poses a number of serious questions for Tara Mines and for Meath. Where is all the water going to be discharged to? Will it be discharged to the Boyne? If so will it be safe or will it have an effect on the river's ecosystem".

"We welcome that the management have given assurances over jobs and we would ask that as time goes by that they continue to give these assurances.”

Cllr Paul McCabe said the incident has resulted in a great deal of uncertainty and consternation among the many hundreds of staff employed either directly or indirectly at Tara Mines.

“I understand that a substantial body of water has been disrupted, resulting in the main tunnel to the new 'Tara Deep' ore deposit being flooded. It has been previously suggested that this 'Tara Deep' project could extend the life of Tara Mines for over 20 years. It appears, sadly, that this is now in serious jeopardy because of this extensive and unprecedented flooding.”

Speaking on Morning Ireland last week, Mr Nyström said he could not imagine there would be any lay-offs for workers and said that safety was a major priority.

“All risk assessments have been done. We have a solution and we have a plan and we hope to stop the flow within days,” he said.