This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The legal firm considering a class action against the Hazelwood coal mine operator GDF Suez has said the inquiry into the 45-day fire indicated the company had a case to answer.

Ronald Koo, the associate of class actions at Maurice Blackburn, said the inquiry’s report released on Tuesday “raises serious questions about GDF Suez’s conduct”.

“Our preliminary view is that they have a case to answer,” he said.

The Hazelwood mine fire inquiry criticised GDF Suez’s risk preparation for a fire in disused parts of the open-cut brown coal mine. It said the risks were foreseeable and that the company had taken a “minimal compliance” attitude towards its regulatory obligations.

In particular, it found that the company did not conduct a risk assessment of the worked-out areas of the mine, despite a recommendation to do so after a fire in 2008. It had concentrated on the working parts of the mine, neglecting the remediation of disused areas. The company had characterised the fire as a “perfect storm” of events and not foreseeable, a suggestion rejected by the inquiry.

On 9 February, ember attacks ignited fires in disused parts of the Hazelwood mine, 150km east of Melbourne. The fire burnt for six weeks, blanketing the nearby town of Morwell with ash, smoke and toxic fumes. The inquiry estimated the cost of the fire to the state government, the company and the community exceeded $100m.

Maurice Blackburn specialises in class action lawsuits, which are usually conducted on a no-win, no-fee basis. In July, survivors of Victoria’s 2009 Black Saturday bushfires secured a $500m payout in what was described as a the biggest class action lawsuit in Australian history.

The firm has recently invited residents and businesses affected by the fire to register their interest in pursuing a class action. A community meeting will be held in Morwell on 14 September to discuss the inquiry’s report and whether a lawsuit is feasible.

Questioned on ABC radio about whether GDF Suez would accept liability for the fire to avoid a protracted lawsuit, its spokesman, Jim Kouts, insisted the fire was an “unprecedented event” and the company would not accept fault and negotiate damages.

“We’ve accepted that [the report]. We’ve moved on, the board has affirmed the initiatives we’re taking, we’re working on the recommendations and that’s our responsibility,” he said.

“We were not in breach of regulation,” Kouts said. “The impression that people have is that somehow we were ticking the box … I don’t agree with that. We take these responsibilities seriously.”