And drilling companies are likely to abandon many more wells due to bankruptcies, as oil prices struggle to recover from historic lows after the coronavirus pandemic crushed global fuel demand, according to bankruptcy lawyers, industry analysts and state regulators. The incident, while extreme, reflects a growing global problem: More than a century of oil and gas drilling has left behind millions of abandoned wells, many of which are leaching pollutants into the air and water. “I wouldn’t go through this again for $1 million,” said Hanson Rowe, who with his wife is suing the energy companies for compensation. Regulators determined the leak was a toxic blend of hydrogen sulfide, a common drilling byproduct, and the potent greenhouse gas methane.
During the 40-day operation, the Rowes retreated to a trailer on their property and lived with no running water to escape the gases and noise. Lawyers for both companies deny any responsibility for the leak.Ī year later, Kentucky’s Division of Oil and Gas declared the well an environmental emergency and hired Boots & Coots Inc - the Texas contractor that doused oil-well fires after the Gulf War - to plug it. But Carty went bust in 2008 and sold the site to a company that was later acquired by Blue Energy LLC.
#Escape the underground asrial ending free#
Carty Resources LLC had drilled the well near the Rowes’ home in 2006 - promising the family a 12.5% royalty and free natural gas, which they never got. Regulators responding to the leak couldn’t find an owner to fix it. The fumes made the retired couple feel nauseous, dizzy, and short of breath. In May 2012, Hanson and Michael Rowe noticed an overpowering smell, like rotten eggs, seeping from an abandoned gas well on their land in Kentucky. FILE PHOTO: Hanson Rowe, a landowner who blames a leaky gas well on his property for health problems, smells for the odor of gas emanating from an abandoned well on his property in Salyersville, Kentucky, U.S., February 28, 2020.