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Families continue to feel the pain of gas-well blowout

"We're terrified to have this well here. Who can say it won't happen again?"

Liao Na, who lost her father and 4-year-old son to a sour gas leak

Like many women from this hardscrabble part of mountainous western China, Liao Na was working at a faraway factory when she learned that disaster, in the form of deadly toxins, had come to her hometown.

After a frantic two-day journey, she was ushered into a threadbare government office to hear heartbreaking news: Her father and 4-year-old son were dead -- along with more than 200 others -- because of an industrial accident the central government says could have been prevented.

"I can't even look at their pictures without breaking down," Liao said, tears streaming down her face. Neighbors stopped to ask about her surviving mother, but Liao just nodded and cried some more.

Gas leak

Wind and rain have dispersed the hydrogen sulfide gas that spewed from a natural gas well on Dec. 23, and 60,000 evacuated residents have returned to prepare for this week's Lunar New Year holiday. The well in the center of Xiaoyang is now plugged with cement.

Yet the emotional and physical toll runs deep for those who lost relatives, were injured or must care for ailing family members.

Villagers are angry, too, over what they consider a lack of concern for their safety and a botched emergency response -- even though China's handling of the catastrophe has been cast by the state press as a sign of a more responsive, more caring government.

Townspeople were given no warning of any possible threat or told what to do in case of an accident, Liao and others said.

"They didn't tell us a thing," she said.

The disaster hit as the crew at state-run PetroChina's Luojiazhai No. 16 well drilled for one of the natural gas pockets that dot Kai County, which belches forth one-third of China's gas. The lush region of mountain valleys is a nine-hour trip from the regional capital, Chongqing.

Farming community

Farming is the only other major industry, and the fertile soil is jammed with turnips, potatoes and other winter crops. Villagers leave in droves for city jobs, putting children in grandparents' care.

Gas wells tower over homes and roads. Company policy is to move nearby residents only if gas is found, according to a PetroChina engineer who spoke on condition he not be named.

Investigators blamed the disaster on a gas buildup caused by a negligent technician who failed to operate drilling tools properly.

A pressure regulator would have caught the problem, but it had been removed. Still, the gas could have been ignited and burned off before reaching homes, but no one did so.

"No one knew who was authorized to do it," the well engineer said.

It was finally set afire 18 hours later, sending huge flames shooting into the sky.

Six members of the drilling crew have been arrested and charged with criminal negligence.

Workers hesitated in reporting the accident, and a lack of breathing equipment kept rescuers away. The landscape abetted the killing, trapping gas in deep valleys and channeling it through stream beds to homes.

Villagers died in their sleep or were struck down while trying to flee -- 243 in all. More than 9,000 people were hurt, and scores remain hospitalized.

Farmer Li Zhengfu was at home when he smelled an acrid odor -- "kind of like when they fire bricks." Li, his wife and their three girls ran and walked 30km to another village where they took shelter at a school.

"There was nothing to see at first," said the 47-year-old Li.

Li said he has recovered from chest pains, but his 12-year-old daughter still has a sore throat and trouble breathing. The family has received some money for its dead pigs and chickens.

Human toll

Liao said her father, Wang Ziqi, 61, tried to rescue her son, Wang Weiwei, but the two were found dead on a stone path. Her mother still suffers from breathing problems.

Liao's husband, who was working in another eastern factory at the time, has suffered a nervous breakdown, becoming "like some sort of crazy man," Liao said.

Families have received about 140,000 yuan (US$17,000) for each death -- a huge sum in a community where a two-story cement house costs about 80,000 yuan (about US$10,000). Furniture, appliances, clothing, bedding and other goods have also been donated.

At least 57 million yuan (US$7 million) has been set aside for compensation, according to local bank officials.

In Xiaoyang, police keep a close watch on all who come and go, vigilant for unrest. Officers detained a foreign journalist Saturday and ordered him to leave.

Workers in hard hats and bright orange jumpsuits were hauling equipment over the well site, preparing to drill horizontally through the hillside below.

Some villagers were at work repairing homes damaged by flames that charred the slope behind the village, while others, like Liao, loiter beside the well, sharing stories of loss and grief.

"We're terrified to have this well here," said Liao, gazing over the scene. "Who can say it won't happen again?"
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