The second plan to cap the leaking gas well in southwest China's Chongqing
Municipality was again suspended late Wednesday night, according to the
headquarters dealing with the accident.
Emergency workers started implementing the second plan to seal off Luojia No.
2 well in Gaoqiao Town of Kaixian County at around 6 p.m. Wednesday, but the
operation was suspended at 10 p.m. because unknown conditions had arisen from
deep down the well, said a source with the headquarters.
The situations are very complicated since there are leakages down the
over-2000-meter-deep well, from the pipeline and around the well, said experts
dealing with the accident.
The gas field in Gaoqiao is one of largest in the country, where the gas
pressures and sulphur content are among the highest.
The second plan had previously been postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday due
to the complicated situations around and down the leakage site. The first
attempt to shut down the well failed on Monday.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, arrived at
the site early Wednesday to oversee the operations. Wang Yang, secretary of the
Chongqing Municipal committee of Communist Party of China, and Mayor Wang Hongju
arrived at the site on Tuesday to direct the capping efforts.
Workers have been monitoring the air and water quality within one kilometer
of the leaking well, reporting the results hourly.
More than 10,000 residents living within one kilometer of the well have been
evacuated and over 4,000 students have been affected as classes were suspended
at six schools following the gas leak.
The leak was discovered at the well belonging to the China National Petroleum
Corporation's Sichuan Provincial Petroleum Administration Saturday morning. No
casualty has been reported.
The gas well is within the vicinity of the Luojia No. 16H Gas Well, where a
deadly gas blowout killed 243 people on December 23, 2003.
Following the 2003 gas blowout, Ma Fucai, former general manager of CNPC,
resigned; six people were jailed for dereliction of duty, including the head,
engineers and technicians of the ill-fated well.