Page 4 - My FlipBook

C H A P T E R 1
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

he skies over Southern California on January 28, 1969,
signaled a return to typical mild winter weather. Over the
T weekend, a record-breaking storm brought drenching rains
that scoured local streams and storm drains, washing piles of
debris into the sea, but Tuesday promised just a hint of moisture.
As lunchtime approached, Santa Barbara’s residents went about
their usual activities. But 6 miles (9.7 km) off the Pacific coast and
3,479 feet (1,060 m) under the waves, a drilling rig was about to
strike disaster.
At a quarter to eleven in the morning, the crew on Union
Oil’s Platform A began to pull a pipe from a newly drilled oil well
to change the drill bit. Suddenly, a 90-foot (27 m) geyser of mud,
oil, and natural gas gushed from the pipe. Heavy drilling mud—a
thick mixture of water, clay, and chemicals that workers pumped
into the shaft to lubricate the drilling equipment and stabilize the
well—had failed to compensate for the pressure difference between
the shaft and the pocket of oil and gas the well had just penetrated.
If the workers didn’t address the situation quickly, the entire well
could explode.

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