The Gas And Mud Burst Holes At The Islamic Boarding School Pekanbaru Can Not Be Closed

PEKANBARU - The team from the Riau Energy and Mineral Resources Agency, the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities, and The Company EMP Bentul Ltd. has not been able to close the gas flow hole mixed with mud in the Al-Ihsan Islamic Boarding School (Ponpes) complex, Pekanbaru City.

Riau Energy and Mineral Resources Agency Head Indra Agus Lukman said the team was monitoring the condition before taking technical action to close the hole.

According to him, if the hole was closed in hurried, it was feared that the bursts would move to another place.

"We will see in the next two to three days. If the bursts get smaller and conditions allow the team will start inserting tools and closing them", he said as quoted by Antara, Monday, February 8.

"We plan to cover it with cast blocks", he continued.

Indra confirmed that the gas bursts in the Al-Ihsan Islamic Boarding School complex were no longer dangerous.

The material that comes out of the blowhole is now more mud and sand.

The burst hole was getting bigger and the mud that was gushing out almost reached the roof of the dormitory at the Islamic boarding school. However, the intensity of the spray has decreased compared to before.

"It is estimated that the diameter of the wellbore has reached six meters. When viewed from above it looks small because it is covered in mud which is almost two meters high", said Indra.

According to him, the gas gushing from the well in the Islamic boarding school is swamp gas which is often found in the Riau region.

"Swamp gas can be found at 100 meters, but nitrogen gas used for the industry is found at more than 200 meters. Swamp gas cannot be managed because usually within three days it stops gushing", he said.

An incident of gas mixed with mud occurred when the management of the Al-Ihsan Islamic Boarding School employed well diggers to find water sources in the pesantren complex.

The boarding school is located in Tenayan Raya District. In the sub-district area, residents have to drill tens of meters to 100 meters of land to get a water source.

On Thursday, February 4 at around 14.00 WIB, when the excavation of the well at the Al Ihsan Islamic Boarding School complex reached a depth of 119 meters, gas gushed up to a height of 15 meters from the well.

As a result of the gas bursts mixed with mud from the well hole, the Al-Ihsan Islamic Boarding School complex is now covered in mud, sand, and gray dust.

The building of the female student dormitory, teachers' room, canteen, classrooms and hall at the pesantren was damaged by lumps of hardened mud that flew onto the roof and made a hole in the roof.

Dozens of students from Al-Ihsan Islamic Boarding School had to be evacuated due to the eruption of natural gas mixed with mud.