't Haantje (Coevorden)
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It is situated northwest of Emmen and is part of the municipality of Coevorden
Coevorden
Coevorden is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. During the municipal reorganisation in the province in 1998, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo.- Population centers :...
. It lies along the Oranjekanaal, between Noord-Sleen
Noord-Sleen
Noord-Sleen is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. It has an altitude of 11 meters and a population of about 460.-External links:*...
and Klijndijk.
't Haantje was founded in the latter half of the 19th century, when peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
labourers spontaneously settled there. On 1 December 1965, the village barely escaped a disaster. A French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
company working for the N.A.M. was drilling for gas, and started to lose control of the enormous gas pressure. During the afternoon, this resulted in a huge gas eruption. The ground around the hole caved in - swallowing all of the drilling equipment. The gas eruption was eventually stopped by a cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
injection from a new drilling hole. A small lake lake surrounded by a forest forms a permanent reminder of this event.