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We
revisited the new well site shown on the Constructing
the Road and Constructing
the Site pages 45 days later. The earlier photographs
were taken at the end of November.
There
had been heavy rains (but not unusually heavy for the time
of year) in December. The existing sediment control structures
had been overwhelmed and were no longer being used for primary
drainage of the site.
The
road and pad had undergone extensive damage. A week after
the original photographs were taken we drove by the well site
and the drill rig was no longer there. Before reaching the
site, we drove for what seemed like a mile or more on an extremely
muddy state road. Piles of mud had been scraped off the road
and left between the road and the river.
We
were told by the man who lives just west of the well site
that 30 trucks hauling water and other materials were used
in the fracturing of the well and that after a rain the mud
washed down the road straight into the river. Because of a
complaint of his the company put in a cross drain (water bar)
part way up the road to help reduce some of the water flow.
The
cut slope had two slips which are acting to bring trees down
to the pad. It looked like the fill slope (where the mud pit
was) had slipped also. When we visited on January 12th, all
the water on the site was draining past an older well on the
flat below, down a bank, into a culvert that passed under
the state road and straight into the river. There was no sediment
control on the flat, on the bank or at the outlet end of the
culvert.
There
had never been continuous sediment control between the state
road and the river or between the state road and the site,
which would have been normally prudent. The cross drain should
not have been put in as an afterthought.
The
text for Constructing the
Site and Constructing
the Road had been written before we revisited the site.
We were correct in our critique but didn't have the knowledge
at that time to judge just how bad things could get.
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The
gravel on the lower end of the access road has almost
completely disappeared. A geotextile blanket should
have been used under the gravel.
The
gravel should have been replenished when a problem had
been first noticed.
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This
was the sole bale left acting as sediment control for
the original ditch. The access road's culvert is to
the left.
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This
bale further up the ditch is the one that had been stuffed
into the ditch in the photos
taken in November. It was held by only one pin and
has spun out of position. Two pins should have been
used.
The
ditch is noticeably wider now showing the extent of
erosion.
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The
two culverts, about halfway up the access road, almost
buried in mud. |
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The
cut slope had slipped in two spots bringing trees down
toward the pad.
A
ditch and/or berm should have been created above the
cut slope to divert water from draining onto the slope.
We have yet to note such a feature at the sites we've
visited.
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Molly
is standing near the new wellhead (47-079-01492). The
slip has covered a part of the pad.
This
is where the drill rig and the red office structure
had been on the pad in the earlier photographs.
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The
pit's fence is completely down and the north side (fill
slope side) of the pit is several feet lower than the
south side. If the north side gives way, waste from the
pit will flow downhill toward the river. |
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Another
view of the pit showing the extent of the fill slope's
slipping. |
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An
older well (47-039-00731 [sic]) is slightly left of center
on the lower flat. The water drains from the site just
to the right of that well, down a bank, under the road
and into the river without sediment control. |
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The
culvert under the access road (the state road is just
to the right). The culvert is about 90% blocked with
sediment.
The
site's drainage system is no longer used here.
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This
is the well access road which is a straight shot down
to the state road where our truck is parked. The river
is just on the other side of the state road.
The
cross drain is about halfway up the access road.
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This
photograph was taken at the outlet end of the culvert
under the road. Sediment was clearly visible as was a
brownish foam. |
Go
back to Constructing the
Site | Go on to Reclaiming
the Road
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