The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has deployed a geothermal inspector team to investigate the alleged gas poisoning that affected the residents of Sibanggor Julu Village, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra. Until now, the Ministry of ESDM has not confirmed the source or type of gas that caused poisoning to some local residents around the operations of PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP).
“The source of the gas smelled by the community has not been determined in terms of type and source, whether it comes from the well location or elsewhere. Therefore, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry immediately deployed a Geothermal Inspector Team,” Head of the Communication, Public Information Service, and Cooperation Bureau (KLIK) at ESDM, Agus Cahyono Adi, said on Friday, February 23, 2024.
ESDM has instructed SMGP, which operates in the area, to temporarily halt all activities at Wellpad V starting on Friday. The alleged gas poisoning incident affecting hundreds of people in Sibanggor Julu Village, Mandailing Natal Regency, is suspected to be related to the activaties of SMP V-01 well owned by SMGP. SMP V-01 well is the first well in Wellpad V, a newly developed wellpad by PT SMGP. The distance between Wellpad V and the nearest residential area in Sibanggor Julu Village is about 700 meters.
From the reports received, the well operating activities on Thursday, February 22, 2024 were carried out according to standard operating procedures (SOP) and had involved village security officials to guard critical locations. Prior to the incident, familizarization of the well activities had also been held for the community.
Last week incident at SMGP plant was not the first of such incidents. According to Business.com records, the first incident occurred on January 25, 2021, when PT SMGP conducted the opening of the SMP-T02 well in the SMGP Plant Unit II project. The incident resulted in the death of five local residents and 54 others hospitalized. At that time, ESDM concluded that the geothermal accident at the Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power Plant project was due to operational malfunctions by PT SMGP.
Then, on March 6, 2022, a total of 58 residents around SMGP’s operating area complained of health problems during the AAE-05 well testing operation. However, results from the investigation by Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) at ESDM proved that there was no correlation between the residents’ complaints and the well testing operation.
Furthermore, on April 24, 2022, there was a blowout followed by the release of H2S gas during the drilling of the T-12 geothermal well at the SMGP Plant project. It was reported that 19 community residents and 2 drilling crew members were exposed to H2S gas from the blowout, but there were no casualties.
Suspicion of H2S gas exposure resurfaced during the flow testing activities of the T-11 well on September 27, 2022, in preparation for the commercial operation date (COD) of SMGP Plant Unit 3. It was reported that 79 community residents were hospitalized due to health complaints, such as experiencing shortness of breath and vomiting.
Previously, the Indonesian House of Representatives Commission VII urged the Ministry of ESDM to revoke the drilling service permit of PT Halliburton Drilling Systems Indonesia following repeated incidents of H2S gas blowouts from projects operated by PT SMGP over the past few years. Deputy Chair of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives Maman Abdurrahman assessed in August 2022 that several incidents that occurred in several domestic geothermal working areas were caused by cooperation between operators and service providers that tended to cut drilling costs. As a result, various aspects related to the quality of equipment and safety were neglected.
Maman gave an example that the contractor responsible for drilling at PT Halliburton Drilling Systems Indonesia did not use a diverter according to proper drilling practices. As a consequence, drilling activities in several geothermal working areas carried out by Halliburton were not optimal.
