Volunteer Evacuation Continues Near Douglas Well Blow Out

About 67 people remain evacuated from a neighborhood northeast of Douglas after a well blow out Tuesday.

The incident occurred at a Chesapeake Energy site around 4pm.

“They were casing the well yesterday when they had a flow control problem, or blowout. There were no injuries on the rig. They got everybody off the rig and the rig shut down and there was a lot of natural gas coming up out of the ground.”

Converse County Emergency Manager, Russ Dalgren says, while air quality levels remain normal, once the winds shifted late Tuesday, they chose to go door to door advising folks of the voluntary evacuation. Air quality monitoring continues and residents remain in local motels at the expense of the company.

Dalgren says that as of mid-day Wednesday he could still see gas coming from the ground.

Chesapeake is working to contain the incident that they describe as ‘well controlled’.

The cause is under investigation