Oil fire could be out soon
From The Oak Ridger
March 25, 2008
John Huotari
john.huotari@oakridger.com
OLIVER SPRINGS -- A raging fire at an oil well north of Oliver Springs could be extinguished soon, a federal worker said Monday.
"In two or three days, the well will be completely killed," said Chuck Eger, a petroleum geologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta. "That's the goal."
The fire has been burning since early Wednesday morning, when the oil well off Cove Lane exploded, critically injuring Jonathan Vann, a 21-year-old Morgan County man.
Led by Wild Well Control Inc., of Houston, efforts to battle the six-day-old blaze continued on Monday.
Workers stood up a two-story steel tube over the wellhead, channeling flames and heat skyward and allowing workers to get closer to the furious fire.
Crews had also cleared trees and brush from around the well and set up three water cannons capable of shooting 3,000 gallons of water a minute each, or about 9,000 gallons a minute total.
Today, Eger said, workers could use high-pressure pumps to try to inject dense bentonite drilling mud into the well, hoping to stop the flammable gas and fluids erupting from more than 3,000 feet below.
Eger said it is possible the mud won't work.
In the meantime, residents of the community affectionately called "The Cove" expressed frustration with local emergency response officials at a Monday afternoon meeting at Cove Road Primitive Baptist Church.
"We felt like our lives were put in danger for something that could have been avoided, and we want to know why," said Cindy Gallaher, whose family lives about a quarter-mile west of the well.
Many questioned why the roadway past the well had not been blocked after it began leaking around 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Several said it spewed a hazardous lime-green substance that coated their windshields as they drove by.
They wanted to know why no one had told them about the potential danger or given them the option of evacuating their homes before the explosion.
"No one ever came to my house," resident Mitch Powers said. "We were never told anything about the hazard."
For their part, Anderson County officials said they had tried to evacuate people Wednesday and had tried to control traffic on Cove Lane.
But they also said they are not oil-well experts and are relatively inexperienced in responding to oil well fires.
"This kind of training, we've not had," said Steve Payne, Anderson County Emergency Management director.
"As far as I know at that time, the oil company had not asked us to do anything," Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said.
Six days after the fire, some residents still can't return home.
"It's not safe for my asthmatic children," said Mandi Russell, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the fire.
The air in her family's home is OK, she said, but there is evidence of volatile organic compounds on the furniture, beds and pillows.
Perry Gaughan, EPA on-scene coordinator, said the local air quality is fine, but there is an elevated level of extractable petroleum hydrocarbons in a nearby waterway, a tributary of Indian Creek.
But the levels are not surprising, given a visible oil sheen, and are probably not a concern, Gaughan said.
Some families reported staying temporarily in area hotels, thanks to the American Red Cross.
Others said they are still without gas service, although electric and water utilities have been restored.
The EPA has been having regular public meetings at Cove Road Primitive Baptist Church.
Sherryl Carbonaro, EPA community involvement coordinator, said two public meetings are planned for today, one at 11 a.m. and one at 7 p.m.
John Huotari can be contacted at (865) 220-5533.
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