Blaze burned for 45 days in 2014
SYDNEY (Reuters) — An Australian unit of energy firm GDF Suez was charged in court on Friday with failing to provide a safe workplace and ensure public safety over a fire that burned for 45 days at an open-cut pit in 2014.
The fire at the Hazelwood coal mine covered the nearby town of Morwell in Victoria state in smoke and ash for days and became the subject of a government inquiry, after a university study showed a spike in deaths in the Morwell area during the blaze.
The inquiry is expected to deliver its final findings to the Victorian government in March.
GDF Suez Australian Energy and the Victorian Workcover Authority, which brought the charges on behalf of workers, both declined to comment on Thursday.
GDF Suez has previously said in a statement that it intended to "vigorously defend" the charges and that the mine fire was an "unprecedented event".
The case in the La Trobe Valley Magistrates Court was adjourned until July 7.
