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Constructing
the site for drilling a well can be either relatively simple
or extremely complex depending on the terrain. Most sites
we've examined were cut into the side of a hill. The cut material
is pushed over the side of the pad down the fill slope.
The
smallest recently drilled site that we've seen was about 125
feet wide by 300 feet long (measured by pacing so this isn't
accurate). We were told when our site was surveyed that the
clearing will be about 150 by 250 feet, though the survey
crew who came in afterwards said most sites are more like
100 by 200 feet. We've seen sites that are several times these
sizes.
The
actual pad must be level and the drill waste pit should, according
to the Manual, be placed on the cut slope, not the fill, side
of the pad. The pit is huge, about 10
by 70 by 6 deep feet according to the Manual. The average
well produces about 2444 cubic feet of cuttings; that's about
the same volume as the main living area in our new house addition.
According
to the Argonne National Laboratory's Drill Waste Management
web site, pits
should have their bottoms no closer than 5 feet from ground
water, including seasonally high groundwater. There are
no regulations about this in this state. New Mexico won't
allow a permanent pit where ground water is closer than 50
feet from the bottom of the pit.
We've
only seen one drill site with the rig set up. We'll show photos
we took with a critique.
The
critique will focus on several points. The site should have
sediment control as required in the Manual. The pit should
be fenced. And our understanding is that the Manual requires
temporary seeding between site construction and reclamation.
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Sedimentation
control devices include bales of straw, like here, or
silt fabric fences.
Bales
of straw should be keyed into the ground 4 inches and
have two pins holding them in place. Not like here where
the bale is wedged into a ditch without keying and with
only one pin.
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The
site is cut into a hillside and this is the cut slope.
The slope seems too vertical in angle.
No
temporary seeding on the site and no ditch to divert
runoff from the cut slope from the hillside above.
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This
is the fill slope below the pad. Runnels cut by water
are visible along the top edge. The red/blue material
is fencing around the pit which, unlike the Manual's
requirements, is on the fill side.
There
is a possibility that the weaker fill material will
give way, spilling the pit's contents down the hillside.
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Below
the fill slope are all the cut trees and vegetation from
the cleared site, stacked to form a barrier to the mud
washing off the pad and down the fill slope. |
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At
one end of the fill slope, between the access road and
the cut timber barrier, is a wide ditch. A couple of
straw bales are being used as sediment control. They
each have a single peg to hold them in place.
If
there were a heavy rain, a lot of mud would wash down
the hillside past the state road and into the river.
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The
pit is to the far left along with the mud pump. The red
structure is a wheeled office sitting next to the drill
rig. Pipe is stacked in the foreground. |
We
revisited the site 45 Days Later
Go
back to Constructing the
Road | Go on to Reclaiming
the Road
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