Mr BALDWIN - 1995-10-12
Soon after the fire at the Darwin River Dam Pumping Station, the minister announced that an inquiry would be conducted into the events surrounding the fire. Has there been any outcome from that inquiry?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question. I am pleased to advise the House that I have just received a very comprehensive and excellent report on the events surrounding that fire. At the outset, I compliment the architects of this investigation. Whilst it is critical in some areas, it is very comprehensive and gives the government a good line for the future in terms of policy and procedures that we have to examine in PAWA.
I would like to emphasise a point that is made in the report. I refer to the excellent efforts that were made by PAWA workers, on the 2 critical days following that emergency, in giving up their weekend and working very hard to provide emergency supplies to the Darwin area. It seems to me that an emergency of this kind brings out the very best in human nature. This event occurred at a time when industrial bans were in place. However, it shows what can be achieved when there is a clear focus and unity of purpose within an organisation. The actions of PAWA were absolutely superb and the investigation reveals that. I mention also the immediate action taken by Mr Keith Timms, the caretaker at Darwin River Dam. It was his action that enabled the high voltage connections of the immediate area to be localised and made safe. Because of that quick response, the fire brigade was able to act quickly to extinguish the fire.
It is most likely that the fire was caused by the development of a hot joint in a 1600 amp electrical connection to the incoming circuit-breaker. This led to arcing which would have ignited cobwebs and animal matter that had accumulated behind the switchboard. A routine maintenance check for hot spots had taken place in May this year. However, none was detected and the technology used is such that, during that maintenance check, the inspectors could not actually access and examine the area where arcing occurred. The result was a fire that caused major damage to the main 415 V switchboard in the pumping station. All important electrical cabling in the station, including the on-site stand-by diesel cabling, was destroyed. As an immediate consequence, all pumping of water for Darwin ceased. As I have mentioned, the response of PAWA workers was superb, particularly given that it was a Saturday morning. An immediate effort was directed to installing a temporary power supply. By arrangement with the Darwin River Dam staff, 2 large mobile generating sets were deployed to the area. As a result, one pump was operational by 5 pm and a second by 6.30 pm that same day.
Steps were taken to augment the water supply by pumping from Manton Dam, and voluntary community cooperation was sought to reduce water consumption. Subsequently, efforts were directed toward cleaning up the site ready for the rebuilding project and the re-establishment of mains power. A temporary supply was up and running by the afternoon of Wednesday 13 September. A reduction in water demand of about 20% was achieved
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throughout this period through voluntary restrictions and the media effort. I might mention that the ABC was unable really to participate in that media effort because, on the weekends, it operates essentially out of Sydney. It was very difficult to get anything on the ABC with that type of management arrangement. Channel 8 was cooperative and very responsive in putting reports to air. In respect of the ABC response, I hope it is not an indication of things to come.
There is a host of technical, procedural and policy recommendations in the report which will guide PAWA in terms of ensuring the robustness and flexibility of the system for the future. Certainly, a completely new switchboard with a fully-segregated arc containment arrangement will be purchased. The cost is envisaged at around $600 000. That type of costing was built into estimates for new work for the future. It is simply an item that has to be brought forward. As I said, there will be far more flexibility in the way water is stored and transferred throughout the Darwin area. If something of this kind occurs in the future, the water supply in the tanks will be at an optimum level. On this occasion, the Palmerston storage area was quite minimal at the time when the tanks went out. These procedures can be put in place and I will be having discussions with the CEO of PAWA over the next week to implement the recommendations in the report.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question. I am pleased to advise the House that I have just received a very comprehensive and excellent report on the events surrounding that fire. At the outset, I compliment the architects of this investigation. Whilst it is critical in some areas, it is very comprehensive and gives the government a good line for the future in terms of policy and procedures that we have to examine in PAWA.
I would like to emphasise a point that is made in the report. I refer to the excellent efforts that were made by PAWA workers, on the 2 critical days following that emergency, in giving up their weekend and working very hard to provide emergency supplies to the Darwin area. It seems to me that an emergency of this kind brings out the very best in human nature. This event occurred at a time when industrial bans were in place. However, it shows what can be achieved when there is a clear focus and unity of purpose within an organisation. The actions of PAWA were absolutely superb and the investigation reveals that. I mention also the immediate action taken by Mr Keith Timms, the caretaker at Darwin River Dam. It was his action that enabled the high voltage connections of the immediate area to be localised and made safe. Because of that quick response, the fire brigade was able to act quickly to extinguish the fire.
It is most likely that the fire was caused by the development of a hot joint in a 1600 amp electrical connection to the incoming circuit-breaker. This led to arcing which would have ignited cobwebs and animal matter that had accumulated behind the switchboard. A routine maintenance check for hot spots had taken place in May this year. However, none was detected and the technology used is such that, during that maintenance check, the inspectors could not actually access and examine the area where arcing occurred. The result was a fire that caused major damage to the main 415 V switchboard in the pumping station. All important electrical cabling in the station, including the on-site stand-by diesel cabling, was destroyed. As an immediate consequence, all pumping of water for Darwin ceased. As I have mentioned, the response of PAWA workers was superb, particularly given that it was a Saturday morning. An immediate effort was directed to installing a temporary power supply. By arrangement with the Darwin River Dam staff, 2 large mobile generating sets were deployed to the area. As a result, one pump was operational by 5 pm and a second by 6.30 pm that same day.
Steps were taken to augment the water supply by pumping from Manton Dam, and voluntary community cooperation was sought to reduce water consumption. Subsequently, efforts were directed toward cleaning up the site ready for the rebuilding project and the re-establishment of mains power. A temporary supply was up and running by the afternoon of Wednesday 13 September. A reduction in water demand of about 20% was achieved
Page 864
throughout this period through voluntary restrictions and the media effort. I might mention that the ABC was unable really to participate in that media effort because, on the weekends, it operates essentially out of Sydney. It was very difficult to get anything on the ABC with that type of management arrangement. Channel 8 was cooperative and very responsive in putting reports to air. In respect of the ABC response, I hope it is not an indication of things to come.
There is a host of technical, procedural and policy recommendations in the report which will guide PAWA in terms of ensuring the robustness and flexibility of the system for the future. Certainly, a completely new switchboard with a fully-segregated arc containment arrangement will be purchased. The cost is envisaged at around $600 000. That type of costing was built into estimates for new work for the future. It is simply an item that has to be brought forward. As I said, there will be far more flexibility in the way water is stored and transferred throughout the Darwin area. If something of this kind occurs in the future, the water supply in the tanks will be at an optimum level. On this occasion, the Palmerston storage area was quite minimal at the time when the tanks went out. These procedures can be put in place and I will be having discussions with the CEO of PAWA over the next week to implement the recommendations in the report.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016