Subsidence monitoring at mine was only above ground
Subsidence-monitoring at the mine where an underground collapse destroyed a GAA grounds and a community centre was only taking place twice a year and only above ground.
Underground stability checks at the Drumgossatt gypsum mine, in Co Monaghan, had not taken place for 13 years prior to last September’s collapse.
The mine, where subsidence had been recorded previously, ceased producing gypsum in 1989, but continued to be used for storing water pumped from two current mines.
As a result of last September’s collapse, Magheracloone GAA club and the local community centre are homeless, a vital road has closed, and some residents are in rented accommodation.
Initial investigations concluded it was due to a large volume of water being diverted to Drumgossatt, after a second mine broke through to an underground reservoir that had to be pumped out quickly last June.
Over the next three months, the water destabilised support pillars.
Gyproc has apologised for the incident, which it is continuing to investigate, and says it is meeting with local people to resolve the difficulties.
But local representatives want an independent inquiry, which Minister Sean Canney has rejected.
Fianna Fail councillor Padraig McNally also called for further action. “The mine needs to be pumped-out completely and a full inspection carried out, so that we know exactly what state it’s in,” he said.
Gyproc says it monitored Drumgossatt according to the instructions of the Department of Communications, Climate Action, and the Environment. It would not say if it regarded this as sufficient.
“Gyproc prioritises safety in all its activity and conducts all monitoring in line with the requirements set by, and agreed with, the relevant licensing authority. Gyproc supports this active monitoring regime and it would be inappropriate of Gyproc to comment on questions regarding the efficacy of a monitoring regime that is set by our licencing authority.”
The department said the monitoring regime was implemented following consultants’ surveys in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
It added: “The trend from the subsidence-monitoring over the years indicated that conditions had stabilised.”
