{"id":284849,"date":"2023-10-24T19:10:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T17:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=284849"},"modified":"2023-10-24T19:10:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T17:10:42","slug":"snowy-2-0-doomed-from-the-start-after-the-sinkhole-came-the-poison-gas-worst-major-project-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=284849","title":{"rendered":"Snowy 2.0, doomed from the start \u2014 after the sinkhole came the poison gas, \u201cworst major project in history\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no press release to notify the public when the attempt to stabilise the ground around Florence\u00a0caused toxic gas to fill the tunnel. The AWU says workers who refused to continue their shift that chilly July night were told that it was just water vapour. Only later was it identified as isocyanate, a hazardous chemical.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From JoNova<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
ABC News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just emblematic of your Clean Green Future<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Complexity and false hope is eating the crown of Australia\u2019s Net Zero transition \u2014 the Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro scheme. Things have gone from \u201cdebacle\u201d to Soviet Grade Industrial Fiasco. After Florence-the-tunnel-borer got stuck and created a sinkhole,<\/a> workers spent seven months trying to shore up the ground, playing God against the mountain \u2014 pumping in grout, cement and polyurethane foam. But the foam made a gas so toxic the tunnel had to be evacuated. To make things worse the workers were originally told the gas was water vapor but it turned out to be isocyanate. At every point the Snowy Hydro team hid the bad news and issued propaganda, and it\u2019s only taken the ABC a year to tell us the workers predicted the sinkhole, and three months to investigate the safety breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, that\u2019s better than the NSW regulator who knows all the other safety breaches but won\u2019t even share them, because it\u2019s so bad \u201d it may affect the contractor\u2019s reputation.<\/em>\u201d (Which it surely just did anyway.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is your low-carbon future. It was supposed to cost $2 billion but the bill is $12 billion. It was supposed to be finished, but it\u2019s barely begun. Florence the tunnel borer was meant to have dug a 15km long hole through the mountain, but it\u2019s only bored through 150 meters. It did about a weeks worth of progress before being stuck for 19 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They knew at the start things were doomed, but did it anyway. Workers drilled ahead and hit soft ground only 100m from the opening. Water gushed out, proving there would be mass mud within. But they filled the hole and went ahead anyway. They were supposed to have a slurry system in place, to cope with the mud, but it wasn\u2019t there. In just 8 weeks the borer was predictably bogged \u2014 wallowing in up to 4 feet of water. Drowning perhaps in fantasies of building a sacred weather talisman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do normal industrial projects, given normal scrutiny, go so wrong, for so long?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Launch day for Florence the tunnel boring machine.(Supplied: Snowy Hyrdo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sinkhole, toxic gas and the $2 billion mistake behind Snowy 2.0\u2019s blowout<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

ABC  Four Corners, By Angus Grigg, Lesley Robinson, Kamin Gock<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers had warned a sinkhole was likely. They had been telling the contractor the ground was too soft to continue the strategy of inching forward in the hope of hitting harder ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlorence was pulling out triple the amount of soil it should have been,\u201d one worker says. \u201cWe warned them it was going to cause a sinkhole, but they did not listen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy investor Simon Holmes \u00e0 Court says Snowy has \u201cmisled the public on a number of occasions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey got the cost wrong, the ground conditions, the time, the schedule, and I think the way they levelled with the public, they\u2019ve got that wrong too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve given us reason to believe that things are on track. When we later found out that they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who does the NSW state government serve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four Corners asked the NSW regulator how many safety breaches there have been at Snowy 2.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It refused to provide the numbers, saying it may affect the contractor\u2019s reputation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t that the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florence cost $150 million but Bogged-Florence has cost the nation $2 billion (or more). For the last 19 months, count them, nineteen, the borer has barely moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone should made a children\u2019s book out of this so even preschoolers learn how stupid money can be magnified to do damage far beyond the initial expense.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end all this work and money is for one week of electricity and no one said \u201cwait a minute\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowy 2.0 was sold as being key to a low-carbon future \u2014 capable of powering 3 million homes for an entire week.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this, for the same price as three coal plants that could power homes for 50 years\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Water around the tunnel boring machine Florence after it hit soft ground.(Supplied)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project management so bad it\u2019s unprecedented \u2014  \u201cthe worst so far\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If Snowy 2.0 had been a coal mine endangering workers, would the ABC have waited months to look into it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the only times where I\u2019ve actually had a proper emergency, where the tunnel had to be evacuated,\u201d [Tony Callinan, NSW branch secretary for the Australian Workers\u2019 Union (AWU).]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen many major projects and unfortunately, this job\u2019s one of the worst \u2026 sorry, it is the worst by far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this the start of the ABC throwing the Snow 2.0 scheme under the bus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four Corners\u2019 full investigation Tunnel Vision from 8:30 on ABC TV and ABC iview<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing it has produced for the environment is a sinkhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
ABC News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d never know Australia was a top mining nation, eh?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog Feb 2023: Australia\u2019s Biggest Renewable Energy Project, Snowy 2.0, grinds to a halt, with a stuck bore<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

H\/t Raven<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Snowy Hydro has never disclosed July’s gas safety breach.(Supplied)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was no press release to notify the public when the attempt to stabilise the ground around Florence\u00a0caused toxic gas to fill the tunnel. The AWU says workers who refused to continue their shift that chilly July night were told that it was just water vapour. Only later was it identified as isocyanate, a hazardous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":284865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"There was no press release to notify the public when the attempt to stabilise the ground around Florence\u00a0caused toxic gas to fill the tunnel. The AWU says workers who refused to continue their shift that chilly July night were told that it was just water 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