A West Texas well that exploded has been sealed, cleanup will take months

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ODESSA — A Houston-based energy company has sealed a hemorrhaging well in West Texas 19 days after it exploded, sending a torrent of water and other chemicals dozens of feet into the air.

The company, Kinder Morgan, said that workers are no longer detecting emissions of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic and deadly gas.

The well is five miles west of Toyah, a town of 61 in Reeves County. It is about 100 miles southwest of Odessa.

The company plans to “permanently plug” the well. “Soon after that, any necessary environmental remediation work will be conducted,” Kinder Morgan said in a statement. “An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing.”

Kinder Morgan did not previously own the well. The blowout did not interfere with the company’s daily pipeline operations. The company did not explain why it was working with the state to immediately seal the well.

The Texas Railroad Commission would not confirm who owned the well, which was drilled in 1961 by El Paso Natural Gas Company. A spokesperson for the commission said Kinder Morgan was “managing well control.”

In Texas, there are 9,313 wells without an owner, according to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Often called orphaned wells, they are prone to leak or burst. At least eight have leaked or exploded in the Permian Basin, the largest oil-producing region in the state, since last October, according to Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who has followed and documented the phenomenon for years.

The state defines orphaned wells as unplugged wells that have been inactive for a minimum of 12 months with no owner.

Reeves County Emergency Management Coordinator Jerry Bullard said the well was shut as of Monday morning. Kinder Morgan used a blowout preventer, a device used to stop uncontrolled fluids from leaking over the well, Bullard said. He said that cleaning the surrounding environmental damage would take months. The county has notified the residents of nearby Toyah.

More than 11,000 feet deep, the well unexpectedly ruptured on Oct. 2. Firefighters rushed to the scene after the county received 911 calls but could not act. State inspectors arrived later that afternoon. For almost two weeks, the deluge rushed upward. The scent of rotten eggs, a smell associated with hydrogen sulfide, encompassed the town.

Kinder Morgan workers dug pits to pool the excess water more than a week later. The next step was trucking it off-site, but where they took the water was not immediately clear. The company also claimed the liquid that burst out of the well was so-called produced water, a brine laden with chemicals it picks up underground. Produced water is a byproduct of fracking for oil.

At least one resident, Elida Machuca, a former Toyah city council member, said she went to the hospital after she became dizzy from the smell. The doctor cleared her and asked her to return if her symptoms worsened. She has worn a disposable face mask to sleep.

Diana Tolet, who lives in the town center, said she and her husband, Wayne, turned on the air conditioner to dampen the stench.

Machuca and Tolet submitted complaints to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s environmental agency. An investigator told Machuca the sensors had not detected any pollutants in the air but that the agency was still investigating. One investigation has been closed, according to records from the agency.

In a statement, TCEQ said their Midland Region conducted air monitoring using handheld equipment that provided instantaneous readings in the field, responding to residential complaints.

“There were no detections,” said the agency’s spokesperson, Victoria Cann. “TCEQ will continue to respond to any complaints received.”

Tolet has not heard back. She said the investigators should sample the air quality at night when the stench is strongest. TCEQ has not confirmed when air sampling was done.

She and other residents were expected to meet Tuesday at city hall to learn how to navigate complaints filed to the TCEQ with the help of Oilfield Witness, an oil and gas watchdog group that tracks gas emissions using optical imaging.

“I want to know what it was, where either was and if we’re in danger. Everyone should know that,” Tolet said.

— Alejandra Martinez contributed.