Cleanup continues near Quinton

QUINTON — The site cleanup of the natural gas drilling rig that exploded near Quinton is advancing, with soil farming mostly complete and the majority of the apparatus removed from the wellhead area, according to the latest updates from state regulators.

Diesel “leached” into a creek during the soil farming operation, according to a Jan. 24 entry in the Corporation Commission’s updated incident complaint investigation report. The Corporation Commission recommended removal of all contaminants and testing of soil samples from the creek bed to determine the extent of the pollution.

“Build a secondary berm and add agricultural lime to solidify diesel in area,” the Corporation Commission report recommended, noting it will continue to monitor the cleanup.

Soil farming is the practice of applying drilling fluids or produced wastes to land for the purposes of disposal.

Five workers were killed Jan. 22 when an uncontrolled release of gas from the well ignited in a fiery explosion, injuring one other as 17 escaped the blast. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission are investigating the matter.

The updated Corporation Commission report notes that soil farming operations are mostly complete as of Feb. 12. The rig has been moved out of the way of the blowout preventer.

A workertriedto close the blowout preventer — the last line of defense against uncontrolled releases of gas — but was unsuccessful before fleeing. The report states that OSHA released the rig to be scrapped, with a third-party company hired to document and preserve each piece for all involved parties and investigators.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board on Jan. 31 released an update on its investigation. The update noted that the rig’s crew had recently pulled drill pipe and tools from out of the well in preparation to change drill bits before the escape of gas and explosion.