Berezniki, Russia-Uralkali said Nov. 7 that the government plans to establish a commission to reinvestigate the causes of the accident that happened at Uralkali’s Mine-1 in 2006. The commission will investigate a broad list of matters. including company liability. Its investigation is to be concluded by the end of 2008. Uralkali said it is surprised by the decision to reopen the investigation. The company continues to believe that the initial technical investigation was conducted in full compliance with Russian law, and that its conclusions correctly reflected the causes of the Mine-1 flooding. Uralkali said it intends to fully cooperate with the new commission in its new investigation. The earlier investigation concluded that the main cause of the flooding was a “previously unknown anomaly of geological structure,” and that mining operations in the affected area were conducted by Uralkali in compliance with the regulations existing at that time. The circumstances preceding the flooding were classified as being “extraordinary and unavoidable events under prevailing conditions not dependent on the will of the parties involved.” The flooding has also been classified by the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry as an “unpredictable force majeure.”
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