"Very troubling to lose the mine"
A shot from a drone over the eruption that started on March 16, 2024. mbl.is/Hörður Kristleifsson
Lava now flows into Melhólsnáma, which lies at Hagafell north of Grindavík.
The mine has been used to build the defense walls in the area. However, lava flow into the mine should not affect plans to increase the height of the defense walls.
Fannar Jónasson, mayor of Grindavík, keeps an eye on the situation in the area and says that he can’t help but wait and see what happens. The lava flow is moving towards the defense walls.
He has also observed Melhólsnáma and says that it is an old mine for getting building material that was supposed to be closed, but because there was a lot of construction going on in the area building the defense walls, it was re-opened.
It has therefore been very useful in recent months.
It doesn’t affect the plan to raise the defense walls
Ari Guðmundsson, engineer at Verkís, says that lava flows into the mine do not affect the plan to raise the defense walls in the protection zones that are being undertaken.
“It was assumed that we would get materials from elsewhere, but it’s very troubling to lose the mine because we’ve needed it for further development in the area, road construction, and other things,” he says.
Guðmundsson adds that material is being retrieved from the channels that contractors have created along the defense walls. Work on the project has not begun.
“We are still working on getting material and working on work roads to be able to start on raising the defense walls.”
The work will continue through the night. The weather has been bad in the area, but it shouldn’t, however, affect the work,” Guðmundsson concludes.
