Jakarta – Stopping and clearing up a massive mud flow at an Indonesian gas well will cost at least $180 million and the final bill may well rise higher, the company operating the well said Thursday.

The mud flow started after an accident deep in a drilling shaft on the island of Java four months ago. It now covers more than 1,100 acres, has swallowed scores of homes and displaced 10,000 people.

Gas exploration company Lapindo Brantas is containing the mud with an expanding network of dams and pumping some of it to the sea. It is also digging relief wells alongside the mud torrent and plans to pour concrete down them to cap the flow. Most experts say this will not work.

"With the flow continuing, the complexity of the event and the dynamic nature of the ongoing work, it is not possible to accurately estimate a total rectification cost at this time," the company said in a statement.

Both Lapindo and its partners in the venture have said they are insured against losses incurred due to the disaster.

The mud is believed to come from a reservoir more than 3 1/2 miles underground that has been pressurized by tectonic activity or by the accumulation of hydrocarbon gases.

Police are planning to charge the company with negligence over the disaster.