Gaia's messenguer.

The oiler accident, part 2.

Chapter 3.

Ron Olsen and Luis Molina hurriedly and inquisitively went up to the tower area, asking him with an accent of disgust, why he had sounded the well out-of-control alarm if there was no such thing; Mike had stayed organizing people, ready to control and vent the oil gas bubble, in case it reached the surface; Juan answered.

-The alarm went off because the pressure went to zero and so did the flow indicator in the line! The pumps were accelerated and circulation has been lost, that means that the walls have broken and the mud is being lost, therefore the well is going to be started with great force, due to a bottom pressure shock, which caused here is our desperate Canadian boss, who no matter how much I tried to explain to him that this could happen, he didn’t listen to me and now I need everyone at their checkpoints; I’m telling you, here it comes! I want you at your checkpoints, because the well is going to be started.

The crew personnel prepared to obey the driller, being stopped by a dry order from Ron.

-Do not go! And you, sir, cannot sound the alarm or activate the emergency until you are sure of the event or accident; And there is no such thing!

-I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not going to wait for the surface fluids to burst before closing the well! –And he shouted, turning to see his people. –You already know that if there is something I can’t stand, it is when someone doesn’t do their job; “Everyone at your posts,” I said!

Saying this he went to the remote closure system of the preventers, which were placed near the mouth of the well itself, operated from an auxiliary console on the drilling floor, and placing the lever in the closing position.

The upper spherical preventer began to make its closing movement, which took 17 seconds to complete.

And Ron, visibly annoyed and with an aggressive attitude, placed the lever in the open position, thus interrupting the closing movement.

Juan de Dios only turned away, dismayed by the attitude of his boss, and turned to see his assistants who did not know what to do, and were only waiting for the events.

At that, a tremendous and deafening sound burst into the place, followed by a terrifying and black column of crude oil and natural gas, coming from the well that burst furiously as if they were a dragon that threatened to cover everything, the driller without missing a beat. Second he resumed the closing controls, and returning the lever to its closing position, the enormous hydraulic valve restarted its slow closing movement, and at the same time activated the lower preventers, thus managing to close successfully in less time, while he searched with his eyes to his troubled, confused and now frightened assistants, shouting:

-Everyone to your positions! The well is out of control; Edgar, to the burner! Is turned off! The pressure is very high; Exhaust it through the burner!

And Edgar, who moved clumsily, because he had been surprised by a large amount of that oily mud, which had bathed him almost completely, all the personnel had moved to their checkpoints, recovering from the surprise; Seeing Edgar completely covered in oil and mud, Mike ordered him to go change his overalls.

And he, upset at being removed from his position, nodded and went to change his clothes, leaving Ron to replace him as he returned.

From the drilling floor, Juan de Dios watched with concern the high pressures recorded by the gauges; Ron, indecisive and scared, did not release the pressure in time and the lines began to shake, forcing them to quickly open the 4-inch diameter valve, which diverted the flows to the burner, the metal lines that led the flows from the manyfold to the burner vibrated, and they lashed out as they felt the crazy race of the fluids from the well, desperately seeking a way out, as if they were a trapped dragon struggling to escape, a tall and thin dark column emerged furiously from the tip of the burner, deafening the environment with its thunderous roar; Mike proceeded to activate the electronic remote ignition system, which worked successfully, forcing him to turn around hunched over when he felt the sudden wave of heat, which radiated that black column when it turned on; Juan, who was furthest away, also had to protect himself, seeing with concern that the spilled liquids on the floor were also on fire, and he activated the alarm, this time proceeding to sound 2 bugles of 5 seconds, thus warning of the fire emergency, the area was surrounded by a dense mesquite forest, and shouted in vain to close the burner, without being able to be heard due to the tremendous noise it made, that column of fire from the uncontrolled well called Caudaloso 2, the high column of the burner was not able to completely consume, everything the oil and gas that escaped from the bowels of the earth, some burning remains falling on the dry mesquite trees that surrounded the pear, setting them on fire, causing the start of a forest fire, which if not controlled could turn several thousand trees into ashes. hectares, causing a tremendous impact to the natural ecosystem of that area.

The driller, by company policy, in a situation like this had to remain in the control area, from the drilling floor he watched helplessly at the failed attempts of his assistants, to control that fire with industrial dry chemical powder extinguishers, which They were more than useless, due to the force of the wind that blew from the East, dispersing it before it could achieve its function, which was to exhaust the oxygen, thus proceeding to cut the fire cycle.

Once again determined, he left the tower area, heading to the enormous 5-ton Caterpillar forklift, which had opportunely enabled the bucket, which the operator used to move or accommodate large amounts of earth, he got on and, making its powerful engine roar, he headed straight. Immediately towards some piles of earth removed on one side of that area, and filling it with earth and debris, he went to the base of the burner, being protected from heat radiation by the air-conditioned cabin of the vehicle, thus managing to turn off the burner lines. that had been lit, seeing his effort useless because the fire was already advancing voraciously, devouring the mesquites that surrounded the facility, he moved the heavy vehicle away from the burner, when he got out he took a small fire-fighting axe, and addressing the operator of the vehicle who was already As he approached, he told him to bring more dirt and bring it closer to the burned area in the mesquite jungle.