Will Letter The Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources, West Java Provincial Government Asks For Guidelines For Handling Gas Semburan In Bogor

The location of the gas burst in Pasirlaja Village, Sukaraja, Bogor Regency, West Java, Thursday (12/10/2023). (ANTARA/M Fikri Setiawan)

The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) of West Java Province (Jabar) handled gas bursts from the excavation hole in Pasirlaja Village, Sukaraja, Bogor Regency.

The burst was caused by residents digging wells up to a depth of about 130 meters.

"We have to look first from the existing data. Starting from the chronology, the drilling process, because it will all be related," said Head of Energy and Electricity at the West Java Province ESDM ESDM Branch Office (KCD) Region II Bogor Hariman Sutisna in Bogor, Thursday, October 12, confiscated by Antara.

When the data has been collected, he said, the West Java Department of Energy and Mineral Resources then wrote to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to determine the next steps.

Hariman explained that until now his party has not been able to analyze the gas content that came out of the well in the boarding house area.

"We will coordinate the problem of the technical team (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources) when it comes here, what kind of evaluation will it be. Meanwhile, I want to know the data first," explained Hariman.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Sukaraja Police, Bogor Police, Kompol Birman Simanulang, revealed that the gas burst mixed with water with a height of about 50 meters had occurred since Wednesday, October 11, at a drilling well construction work in a boarding house.

Semburan gas tersebut semakin surut dan mulai benar-benar berhenti bermuat pada Kamis 12 Oktober siang.

Birman explained that the gas burst incident mixed with water occurred when drilling workers began to give up and started cleaning up equipment, suddenly the water mixed with gas burst out of the hole without stopping.

"Information from the boarding house owner, this is again being drilled to find an underground spring. It has been a month since drilling has been carried out. You can't get water, even though it's 130 meters," he said.

Birman confirmed that he had installed a police line around the location so that residents would not approach. In addition, the owner and occupants of the boarding house agreed to vacate the place temporarily until the situation was safe enough.

"This happens to also have a fence. So we close everything so there are no people passing by. Those who live here also understand. So safety is prioritized," said Birman.

According to him, all temporary boarding house residents were evacuated first, worried that the gas coming out of the well would contain poison. Because, until Wednesday night the gas bursts continued, although not as strong as in the afternoon.