06:48 am, Friday 15 October, 2010

An exploratory drill has burst through an Airport Link work site, hitting two cars and causing heavy traffic around the area on Tuesday.

A 6 cm drill was working 25m under Lutwyche Rd when it broke through the road surface.

According to State Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, all exploratory drilling on the project have been suspended until further notice.

“This is obviously a real concern and I am demanding answers,” he said.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Investigations by the contractor and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are underway.

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07:18 am, Thursday 23 September, 2010

An environmental and engineering services company has been fined by the EPA Victoria over improper drilling waste disposal in May.

The company was fined $5,000 earlier this month after receiving complaints that it left drums of drilling waste in West Footscray.

It was discovered that a contractor for the company finished drilling works and left the waste in four 200-litre drums in a publicly visible area between Buckley Street and the Geelong Road for three days.

Concerned members of the community believed the drums had been abandoned and reported the incident to EPA.

The Maribyrnong City Council had then been informed of the presence of the drums, who promptly removed and disposed of the waste.

Chris Webb, EPA’s director of environmental services, leaving the waste in public for extended periods was not how the agency expected industrial waste to be managed.

“We expect to see greater importance placed on environmental risk management and in managing the expectations of the community, who in this instance were none the wiser as to what was in the drums,” he said.

The EPA had also issued a written warning to the drilling contractor.

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06:56 pm, Thursday 2 September, 2010

A drilling company has been fined by the SA Industrial Court over the death of a rigger in Cooper Basin in 2008.

The 36-year-old man was crushed to death on a Moomba rig after being pinned between equipment.

The court heard the rigger was using the wrong tools when the incident happened.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching safety laws. It was fined $140,000 and ordered to pay $10,000 each to the man’s mother and partner as compensation.

The workplace fatality is the first to be dealt with under tougher SA regulations, after the state government increased maximum penalties from $100,000 to $300,000.

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