By Bob Fowler
The Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)
OLIVER SPRINGS, Tenn. — An oil and natural gas well fire that raged for days was snuffed out Tuesday morning, but repeated efforts throughout the day to stopper the wellhead failed, prompting another area evacuation late in the afternoon.
Water cannons continued to pump pond water onto the scene, but a “fog or mist” of natural gas mixed with oil continued to spew over the Cove Road area, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said.
“It looks like they can’t get a cap on it,"White said of the wellhead, which he said continues to emit a faint roar of natural gas and oil.
“They’ve attempted three or four things, but it’s not worked.”
White said the order to evacuate was made about 4 p.m. Tuesday, and five deputies went door-to-door,urging residents to again pack up quickly and leave.
There are about 25 homes beyond the wellhead on Cove Road, located some two miles north of Oliver Springs.
The entire area within a quarter-mile of the wellhead was cordoned off, and only workers were being allowed in, the sheriff said.
“It’s a little bit gassy down there,” White said of the scene.
Perry Gaughan of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the fire was out, “but it’s not real stable right now.”
WorkerslateMondayinstalledaspecialpipe overthewellhead,funnelingflamesupthrough it. Crews then directed water cannons at the top and base of that pipe, said the EPA’s Sherryl Carbonaro.
Those efforts extinguished the fire about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Crews then tried to pump water treated with special chemicals into the well to contain the gas and oil leak, but that didn’t work. “We’re not getting a lot of information from Wild Well (Control Inc.),” Gaughan said of the Houston-based company that’s had a crew on scene since last Wednesday to put out the fire and cap the well. Drillers on March 18 struck a huge pocket of natural gas, and initial efforts to cap it with a blowout preventer went awry. The well exploded into an orange ball of flames about 6:40 a.m. March 19, prompting the initial evacuation of nearby residents.
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