Hutchinson ? State and city officials have given their approval to plug another 12 deep vent wells in Hutchinson drilled during the city’s natural gas crisis, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday.

Two years ago, the Yaggy gas storage field northwest of Hutchinson began leaking more than 143 million cubic feet of natural gas into the ground.

State geologists and investigators say the gas traveled seven miles from the Yaggy storage field to Hutchinson, erupting from old brine wells beneath the city.

An explosion in downtown Hutchinson on Jan. 17, 2001, demolished two businesses, and the next day another explosion destroyed a mobile home and killed its two occupants.

The wells, which will be plugged by ONEOK Inc., were initially drilled by the company to locate and vent natural gas underground. The wells will be filled with a cement mixture.

KDHE filled the first 30 vent wells in November, leaving 25 wells still unplugged at that time.