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- - - - - - -- - - ~ cr> 00 00 Salinity Updat APR 22 1981 Challenge at Meeker Dome CULU \'1,., TER CONSERV A nON BOARD The Mee..er Dome IS a local anticlinal uplift. localed on the nortn bank of me White River about 3 miles east of me town of Meeker In nortnwestern Colorado The dome IS the Site at several oil eJl.p1oratlon wells mat were drilled over the years and abandoned when no 011 was found The wells penetrated deep presSurized sail water aqUifers ana are believed 10 be Inadequately plugged thus serving as vertical condUits. allow- Ing the saline water 10 enter me UDper lormahons 01 the dome The drillers and promoters 01 tnese wells ha\le all laded from the scene leaving no responSible parties 10 properly close the weUs The Me€'''er Well. situated .1\ thesoulh IDe 01 the dome and fight beSide the White R!~er. was Identified as a Signifi- cant pOint source of salinIty to the COloradO RI~€'r system For many years II flowed about 3 cubiC feet of water per second containing about 19200 milligrams 01 tOla! d,ssolved SOlids per - --- - - --- us. Department of the Interior Water and Power Resources Service A quarterly report on the lorado River Water Ouality provement Program 11981 liter and contributed apprOl\lmalely 57.000 tons of salt to the fiver each year In 1968. an attempt was made to pluglnlS well by lne Water and Power Resources Ser~Lce In February 1969. two wells Just north Of the dome reportedly began to flOw saline waler They were plugged by pnvate Interests In October of that year Saline surlace seepage soon appeared In the vlClnlly of the three plugged wells and continues today Wllh variable amounts at salt being transmitted to the river Active planning investigations were initiated early In 1979 by Water and power. under CRWOIP by the organlla- tlon of a multidiSCiplinary planning team The team conSists of prl~ale cllllt>ns and represt>ntatlves 01 In- terested local. State. and Federal agen- cies. as ...ell as speCial Interest groups TechnIcal investigations are being con- ducted through a profeSSIOnal services contract With CH2M Hill. Inc and administered by Water and Power PrevIous investigatIOns Indicated thaI at the eight wells drilled on the dome Itself tOUl appeared 10 be adequately plugged The other fOUl, referred to as the Meeker Scott James. and Marland Wells are believed to be unplugged or inAdequately plugged and acting as condUllS allOWing saline ....ater trom subsurface geological formdhons to pollute surtace aqUifers and the White River A ~enflcahon program has been initiated 10 test and prove thiS hypotheSIS II Involves cleaning testing. and plugging It'Ie Marland Sectt and James Wells the .erlflcatlon program. an enViron- mental assessment ....as prepared vlronmental assessment was prepared and a monitOring program was Initiated Measurement installations were posltionea al Sl_ e.,Sllng seeps, and Sll\ snallo.... Observation wells werednlled to help auantlfy any changes In 110,^, or salin'ty brougnt about by the verification program