Thousands of hectares of industrial and agricultural land have been inundated by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java. (Photo: Alif Rizky, AFP)

New Mudflow Concerning Villagers in Indonesia's Madura After Oil Company Installs Pipe

A well spurting out water, mud and gas has formed in Bapelle village on Madura Island in an area that was being surveyed by oil company SPE Petroleum on Wednesday.

Personnel from the company had intended to put dynamite under the location, believed to contain valuable petroleum and gas. However, the plan was canceled when the well suddenly formed in the yard of a Bapelle village resident after employees of the oil company had installed a pipe connection there.

The flammable mixture of mud, water and gas has spewed out of the well continuously and had begun to flow and cover local residents’ rice fields near the exploration site.

“We are worried about the existence of the new mud flow since it is beginning to flood some of our rice fields,” said a local villager, Kurdi Sari.

SPE Petroleum have not yet issued a statement on the the mudflow.

A similar mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, has caused widespread devastation. It first began flowing from a crack near a Lapindo exploratory gas well on May 29, 2006. It formed a pool that soon expanded into a mud lake, swallowing houses, factories and schools. The company has blamed the eruption on the Yogyakarta earthquake, which wreaked destruction in Central Java just two days earlier. But many scientists have disputed that claim, pointing instead to what they say were faulty drilling practices.

Antara & JG

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