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Or first episode of the series ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED: Your Stories

'The East Levee Bank Tree Incident'

As told by remote site emergency response specialist Jeff Simpkins, on one of the largest, most remote mining operations in the world.

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Two mine workers are in a runway mine explosives truck. The truck has gone through & over the windrow before ploughing into an
older windrow. Everything has concertinaed. The diesel trucks fuel tanks have been torn off, fuel is spilling out, the trucks
batteries have been torn off and are hanging by the battery cables themselves. Four tonnes of unused Ammonium Nitrate has
now been spilt into the mix.

Kel Bendeich recalls his account of the rescue, as the Mine Emergency Response Superintendent. In this episode, he interviews
Lindsay Richardson who was the Mine Manager of the time. 

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This mine was very remote.  In the 1980's, there was no road to the site.

A road would be constructed in the following decade.

A majority of construction workers would travel to the site by company speed boat. An airport was being built; this would allow many to fly in from the outside world.

The jungles of Borneo are legendary, this mine site is surrounded by an ancient forest, home to the Orangutan, the Clouded Leopard, the Sun Bear, in fact 222 mammals in total, 44 of which are not found anywhere else on Earth.  There are 420 different birds including the Hornbill, 37 are not found anywhere else.  

Did I mention Crocodile? Borneo is home to the giant saltwater crocodile, the biggest reptile on earth at around six meters long, fully grown.  

The operation constructed two new towns, adjacent to the old village of Sangatta. Thousands were employed during construction, today the population is 125,000. 

In the 1990's Kel Bendeich was the Superintendent Emergency Services for the mine. Kel had 33 full-time Emergency Response personnel, manning two emergency stations 25 kilometres apart.  The role of the emergency response team included the ever growing village and river of Sangatta.

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It is wet season in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory Australia. Two young travellers have been trapped for 26 hours on the top of their campervan as a rising river and crocodiles threaten to take them under. The authorities are some 900km away. An Emergency Response Team from the mine is closer. Can the ERT reach them in time…and if they do…how do they get them to safety…​

Kel Bendeich recalls his account of the rescue, as the mine emergency response coordinator, and interviews Johnny Waerea, the ERT Captain who won the Australian Bravery Award for his heroism.

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It is 1988. A light aircraft lays at the bottom of an unused and inaccessible pit at an open cut mine in the Hunter Valley, NSW Australia. There were four people on board. How long have they been there for? Why hadn’t the plane been reported missing? Mines Rescue workers will need get to the plane some 60 metres (200 feet) down to find survivors…but there is no road.

Kel Bendeich recalls his account of the rescue, as one of the Hunter Valley Mines Rescue personnel to respond, and interviews Barry ‘The Bear’ Schafferius who was the mine manager at the time.

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www.theertcoach.com.au
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