Solid Energy has known for nearly a year there were no operational, technical or safety barriers to re-entering the Pike River mine's main entrance tunnel, it was claimed last night.
An Official Information Act (OIA) request revealed WorkSafe New Zealand and Mine Rescue's advice to Solid Energy was that it was technically feasible to re-enter the mine, TV3's Campbell Live programme said.
It is nearly four years since 29 men died in explosions in the mine on the West Coast.
A staged plan to re-enter the mine and explore the tunnel up to a rock fall about 2.3km in from the mine portal had been approved and the Government had committed $7.2 million to the effort.
Moving into the tunnel, or drift, was seen as the first step to recovering the remains of the miners.
The proposal to re-enter the mine had been beset by delays, the latest in August when Solid Energy announced ''potentially fatal risks'' still needed to be examined before attempting to enter the mine.
The OIA request revealed there were no safety or operational barriers to re-entry and that had been Worksafe and Mine Rescue's advice since October 2013.
Grey Mayor Tony Kokshoorn told the programme Solid Energy had let the West Coast community down and put victims' families on an emotional roller-coaster ride.
To hear the company had hidden behind health and safety claims while the former Labour Department had advised it was feasible and alright to go down was frustrating, he said.
''We had been led to believe there was a safety aspect to not entering the drift.''
All anyone wanted was for the company to go down the drift and eliminate any possibility there were bodies there, he said.
Solid Energy chief executive Dan Clifford was invited to appear on the programme but did not.
