Lapindo Mud Flood Effect to Groundwater Contamination

in Tanggulangin District, Sidoarjo

Water is a very essential aspect in humans life, especially to fulfill domestic needs,
irrigation and transportations. Groundwater can be used as the source of clean water, it can
easily be found, clear and costless. Groundwater is the water found under ground in the
cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic
formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers. Groundwater contamination is a condition
when pollutants are released to the ground, whether naturally or manmade, and make their
way down into groundwater. The pollutants create a contaminant plume within an aquifer.
Lapindo mud flood is a phenomenon occurred in May 29th, 2006 ; at Siring Village,
Porong District, Sidoarjo City, that could be taken as an example of the groundwater
contamination. It all started after a bunch of hot mudflow squirted out from the borehole at
the bore site of Lapindo Brantas Incorporation. On May 28, 2006, Lapindo Brantas
Incorporation targeted gas by drilling a borehole named the “Banjar-Panji 1 exploration
well”. In the first stage of drilling the drill string first went through a thick clay seam,
volcanic debris and finally into permeable carbonate rocks. At this stage the borehole was
surrounded by a steel casing to help stabilize it. At 5:00 a.m. local time a second stage of
drilling began and the drill string went deeper, to about 2,834 m (9,298 ft), this time without
a protective casing, after which water, steam and a small amount of gas erupted at a location
about 200 m southwest of the well. The mud which squirted contain compound of fluid,
solids that consist of water and salt water, mud, gas, and hot steam with almost 100oC. This
hot mud squirted to the surface from a weak zone that could be a fault or fracture which
occurred because of the formation of new fracture or the reactivated old fracture.
The extra pressure formed fractures around the borehole that propagated 1-2km to
the surface and emerged at the surface. The most likely cause of these hydraulic fractures
was the unprotected drill string in the second stage of drilling, until today there were 12
villages from several district which have been drown by the lapindo mud flood, it also
contaminated the groundwater in the several area in those village. One district which has
been analyzed is Tangulangin district. Four villages in Tangulangin district have been
already held by dyke as a barrier, so then the groundwater could be analyzed. The result of
the observation done by BPLS shows that there are high chemical parameter contents, such
as BOD, COD, H2S, Chloride, phenol, total of dissolved and suspended solids. The groundwater
in the Tanggulangin village cannot be used to drink due to its quality (from the color, odor, flavor,
the COD, BOD, phenol and H2S content exceed the limit).