1 | Page 2 |
3 |
4
[<<Previous]
Cal Bohme recalls the
meeting that was held around the 16th or 17th of
March wherein it was decided to try to shoot off the
drill pipe to enable more fluid to be pumped down.
K,C, "Casey'' Ball came over from Lloydminster with
nitroglycerin. It was in a carrier, merely a
galvanized tube that looked very similar to a down
spout or drain pipe. The idea of the rubber plug was
to ensure that the drill pipe was clear so that the
nitro shots could be run to total depth. But the
first rubber wiper plug only got to 2,700 ft. The
next day they pumped in several more of these plugs
and chased them down to 5,290 ft. At that time the
measuring line stuck in the hole. March 19 was spent
trying to free this. Then the line cutter stuck.
Casey was then told he wouldn't be running his nitro
because of the fish in the hole. He packed up his
equipment with his torpedoes and disappeared down
the road.
Now that the wire and fish were inside the
drill pipe below 2,000 ft., a possible alternative
was to perforate the drill pipe using a McCullough
perforating gun small enough to go inside the drill
pipe. This was on its way from California on March
20. Unfortunately, it could only get down as far as
1,965ft. and it was fired there.
Heavy mud was then
pumped down to kill the well, but this only
disappeared into the D-3 where other mud and cement
plugs had gone. If the plugs had been calculated to
just balance the D-3 bottom hole pressure, it might
have been possible to plug off the annulus above the
D-3 without blocking the perforations at 1,965 ft.
in the drill pipe.
The craters developing around the
well bore had now created such a fire hazard that
the Atlantic No. 3 boilers had to be shut down.
Steam lines were then hooked up to the boilers at
the GP steam rig drilling Imperial Leduc No. 48.
(This rig was later skidded a short distance east to
West Relief.) Imperial Oil had already consented to
the use of both the rig and the well bore for the
struggle at Atlantic No. 3.
Paul Bedard tells the
story of Dave Gray helping him to test a tubing line
laid from Imperial Leduc No. 48 to Atlantic No. 3.
This line was intended to be used for water or mud.
Because it would be operating at high pressures,
Halliburton was to start up the pumps and Gray was
to gradually open up the well. When Gray cocked the
well open, the line began to snake and lift under
the pressure. Paul accused Dave of trying to kill
him!
There was a severe shortage of tubular goods.
In order to lay one of the lines from No. 48 to No.
3 for cement slurry and/or mud, 5 in. drill pipe was
brought up from the Valley. This turned out to be in
45ft. lengths and required "the biggest set of chain
tongs that were ever seen". Bill McKellar had them
brought out from town and it took two men just to
pick them up. Hugh Leiper and Jack Emslie thought
that they could speed up the process by hiring a
team of horses to pull the pipe into place.
Unfortunately, this scheme didn't work; the team
bolted and they were out all of $2! Back to hand-
hauling the drill pipe!
Several versions of
comic/tragic events have emerged over the years,
invariably embellished and invariably incorrect as
to the people involved and the times. As recently as
1985, Ralph Horley (more of him later) was contacted
by a person who said he had the real story of the
out-house. It was a tool push nicknamed "Sailor"
who had gone out to the privy for a smoke.
To set
the record straight on this event, here is what
really happened. By March 27, smoking was strictly
forbidden; those who really needed a drag were told
to go over to the No. 48 boiler house. Cliff Covey
was reluctant to ask his driller Bill Murray for
time off for a cigarette, partly because they didn't
get along too well. So he decided to sneak a smoke
in the privy, which by now was also bubbling gas and
oil. The results: an explosion, with Covey making a
hasty departure from the premises. A desperate
battle to put the fire out ensued. This was
successful by spreading large quantities of dry aquagel
"mud", some of the men carrying a 100 lb.
sack under each arm. The steam line was hooked up
and it also helped douse the flames. Hugh Leiper,
who helped put the fire out by swatting at it with
wet gunny sacks, states: "I don't know how we did
it".3 Two people vie for the "honour" of taking
Covey to Wetaskiwin: Dave Gray and Bill McKellar.
Another person said an ambulance was used!
Bedard recalls having a Halliburton Waukesha gasoline
engine-powered wagon on the No. 3 lease. This had an
added hazard in that the exhaust pipe pointed
directly downward and melted the frozen ground
beneath the wagon. The boys would move the truck
from spot to spot around the rig so as to try and
stay on frozen ground which did not crater. Shortly
after the Covey incident, Cody appeared, "How are
you doing?" Well we are moving the truck around to
avoid the gas." When he found out that Covey had
been scorched, he ordered Pettinger to shut the
Waukesha motor down immediately. "We'll winch you
out", Cody roared, despite the protests of Bedard
and Pettinger, who said they could drive the wagon
out. Pettinger went on: "You didn't know who you
were taking orders from". Cody would change his mind
and, as the well became harder to handle, he became
more difficult to get along with.
When the well blew
out, spraying oil over several farmers' lands, the
press coverage alerted the insurers to the potential
for heavy surface loss claims. The following
exchange of correspondence is particularly
informative.
[Next>>]
|