§ 40. Mr. Matthewsasked the Minister of Power, in view of the uncertainty disclosed in the report on the Hapton Valley disaster, as to the cause of the explosion 91W in which 19 men lost their lives, what further steps have been taken to evaluate the extent to which water-tamping reduces the risk of methane ignition; and if he will publish statistics regarding methane ignition during shot-firing with and without water-tamping since 1959.
§ Mr. PeytonExperience of its use has not led either the Chief Inspector of Mines to advise my right hon. Friend, or the Board to advise their Divisions, that it should be used in preference to other methods of stemming. There is no suggestion in the Hapton Valley report that, even if the ignition was caused by the use of explosives, it was due to the type of stemming used. Shot-firing statistics do not cover methods of stemming.