The third attempt to seal the leaking gas well in Southwest China's Chongqing
Municipality was launched on Thursday after the second attempt failed late on
Wednesday.
Experts dealing with the accident said they decided to fill a type of sticky
gel into the leaking layer, and then seal off the well with alumina cement.
There is one ton of the gel in stock at the site and three tons being
transported from the neighboring Sichuan Province.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, Jiang
Jiemin, vice president of the well's owner China National Petroleum Corporation
(CNPC), more than 50 experts, and over 800 workers are busy preparing for the
effort.
It is expected that the sealing will finish in the early hours of Friday
morning and the effects will be seen in three hours.
The second campaign to seal the Luojia No. 2 well in Gaoqiao Town of Kaixian
County stopped on Wednesday night as the 524-meter-long drilling machine broke
deep inside the well due to strong corrosive hydrogen sulphide, said Yang
Qingli, a CNPC official.
Bubbles can be seen in the river adjacent to the leaking gas well, and
burning sites are scattered in the riverbank and nearby hills. The leak can also
be spotted around some local households.
The local government has warned people on the lower reaches not to drink
water from the river. Gas workers are monitoring the river.
The well, with a depth of some 3,400 meters, began leaking around 7 a.m. on
Saturday during final tests which were being conducted to bring the
recently-completed well into production.
Some 15,000 local residents living around the leaking gas well have been
evacuated.
No injuries have been reported from the incident. Workers have
been burning off poisonous gas escaping from the well to prevent it
collecting.