A new plan has been developed for capping a ghost oil well under homes on the Balboa Peninsula after city officials announced the original solution wasn’t working.
The project that was hoped to be completed before Christmas is taking longer than expected. Crews have successfully drilled down 500 feet and located the pipe, but because of the near-vertical angle, they haven’t been able to pierce through, officials said.
So they went back to the drawingboard.
While the goal remains the same — pour cement into the old cast-iron pipe that stretches 1,000 feet underground to the well — the method of getting into the pipe has changed.
A new pipe is going to be installed parallel to and right next to the old pipe at a depth of 850 feet, officials said in their latest updates to the community. “The contractor will then punch holes and perforations from the twin pipe into the old oil pipe. Cement will then be squeezed into both pipes to create a seal and barrier to cut off the oil source.”
A state crew working to cap an old oil well under the Balboa Peninsula has created a new plan to insert a new steel pipe next to the old cast-iron pipe and use it to feed cement into the old pipe, thus capping it. (Graphic courtesy of the city of Newport Beach) Show Caption1 of 1A state crew working to cap an old oil well under the Balboa Peninsula has created a new plan to insert a new steel pipe next to the old cast-iron pipe and use it to feed cement into the old pipe, thus capping it. (Graphic courtesy of the city of Newport Beach) ExpandThe reason this should work, Mark Vukojevic, Newport Beach’s utilities director, said, is that it gives the crews a rigid pipe to work from in the sandy soil.
“Now, when you put in the new pipe, we’ll have a strong, angled location to get into and work from,” he said.
The project is being managed by the California Geologic Energy Management Division, which oversees orphaned oil wells in the state.
On Tuesday, the pipe will be inserted by the contractors hired by the state, and on Wednesday, crews will cement it in, Vukojevic said.
Vukojevic said he hopes to pause the work for 36 hours to give nearby residents a reprieve over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The project site has created quite a disturbance in the Balboa Peninsula neighborhood, where several families have voluntarily left while the work is ongoing. A 110-foot-tall oil rig and platform have been squeezed in between homes.
The oil well first showed signs of activity in August, when residents of a home on Marcus Avenue reported oil seeping from their foundation. Then, in late October, the city’s fire and utilities departments evacuated seven homes for two days when high levels of methane and hydrogen sulfide were detected leaking from the well.
The immediately affected home remains vacant, as does a second one, which officials said likely also sits on oil.
After the pause for the holiday, work is set to resume on Friday and holes will be punched into the old pipe, Vukojevic said, adding the crews are prepared for the rainstorm that is expected.
“We’ve got several pallets of sandbags,” he said, “and extra pumps to divert the water and be ready for the rain tomorrow.”
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