Widow of First Nickel Lockerby mine victim still waits for answers

Morning North4:39Widow of miner killed at Lockerby Mine still looking for answers

Romeena Kozoris is still trying to get answers about the death of her partner Norm Bisaillon at First Nickel's Lockerby Mine in Sudbury last May. She says she is frustrated beyond belief and is calling for action.

The widow of a worker killed in an accident at Sudbury’s Lockerby mine four months ago said she wants answers after being kept in the dark for too long.

Norm Bisaillon, 49, along with fellow contract worker Marc Methe, 34, worked for the Taurus Drilling Services.

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On May 6 there was an accident at the underground operations of First Nickel's Lockerby mine. Bisallion and Methe were killed after a fall of material preceded by seismic activity, according to the company.

Bissaillon was described as a dedicated and experienced underground miner with more than 20 years of experience. He had been training his son — who also wanted to be a miner — in the area the rocks fell just days before his death.

But the complete circumstance  around his death remain a mystery to Romeena Kozoriz, who said she has not been able to grieve for her husband properly while she still wonders what happened that day.

“I don’t know any more than I did the day it happened,” Kozoriz said. “Everything has been very slow. There’s no information available for us when we ask questions.”

Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle, who worked at INCO for 35 years and was part of the Steelworker’s union, said they will likely have to wait longer for those answers because mining fatality investigations are very confidential.

“It’s not normal for information to get out because they want to make sure they’ve done a proper investigation of what happened and what caused the accident to happen.”

All of that remains a struggle for Kozoriz who said that initially she found out about the death of her husband from the media and no one will help her learn more. 

“I’ve been asking questions to the people who are supposed to be providing information… I keep getting that I’ll know more when they know more.”

Gravelle said it was not likely more information would be released until a coroner's inquest is held — which could be months away.