Grove well site declared a danger zone

Mar 06, 2009 News

– Geology and Mines to send ‘mystery gas’ samples overseas

By Michael Jordan
Engineers from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) fear that the still-unidentified gas that caused a partly-drilled water well to erupt on Tuesday could pose a risk to nearby residents, and the site has been declared a danger zone.

They have also ordered the contractor who was installing the well, illegally, on the premises at 52 Third Street, Grove New Scheme, East Bank Demerara, to cordon the area off.
A GGMC official told Kaieteur News yesterday that there is concern that the gas may be highly flammable, and warned that persons should not smoke or set fires in close proximity to the site.
“The thing (gas) has come up under high pressure. The first thing to do is to cordon off the area as if there is a fire. It is a safety issue,” he said.
The official also disclosed that GGMC engineers took samples from the well, and these will be sent overseas in an effort to identify the mystery gas.

He estimated that it may take a month before the results are known. According to the official, GGMC has investigated previous eruptions but none of this magnitude.
When Kaieteur News visited the area yesterday, the contractor had already placed lengths of red ribbon around the site and had posted a sign warning residents to keep off.

Although the eruption has subsided, the water and silt within the well shaft were still bubbling.
On Tuesday the partly-completed well spewed a fountain of mud more than 40 feet into the air. By the time the eruption had subsided, a nearby roadway was blocked with a mound of silt.
Houses several metres away were also coated with mud, while the yard in which the well was being drilled was inundated with several feet of muddy water.
A shallow-well engineer who was at the scene yesterday estimated that the well had spewed about ten truckloads of silt.

Another engineer confirmed that the foundation of the property had been considerably weakened, and that a section of the building on it had sunk.
As a precaution, the property owner has reportedly moved the family’s furniture and other valuables from the house. The contractor, who was installing the well at a cost of $3.2M, said that his crew had drilled some 120 feet when gases that were trapped below the surface sent mud spewing into the air.

According to the engineer, he will have to wait until the turbulence subsides completely before refilling the shaft.
Officials from the Hydrometeorological Service have since stated that no approval had been issued to the owner of Lot 52 Third Street, Grove Housing Scheme to drill the well.

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