PERMFILE54123

• Permit No: M1999002
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 6/18/1999
• Doc Name: OBJECTORS EXHIBITS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Severe dowrhole b~ were occasionally visible from the s~ce. The challenge at these wells
w•as to get milling or other cleanout tools past the bend without penetrating the casing and leaving the
wellbore. If this could not be accomplished, and the bend was otherwise impassable, tool size and
length would be reduced in a final attempt to attain greater depth of access for per{oraring tools and
cement tubing. At least one well w•as perforated and cemented below the orieinal cleanout depth using
this technique (Yarosz, 1995).
Other noteworthy events.-Yarosz (] 994, 1996) reports a number of additional noteworthy occurrences
during the Tully Valley plugging project. Some of these are briefly described in tie following
paragraphs.
Foreign substances in wells.--As stated by Yarosz (1995), "[i]t is a commonly held suspicion that
open w•ellbores, particularly those in rural, isolated locations, provide a,~~active ways for those so
inclined to cheaply dispose of liquid waste." Significant quantities of contaminates were encountered
in only two of the ]67 wells plugged in Tully Valley. Those contaminates were creosote and diesel oil.
The creosote w•as found inside casing, beneath a wooden plug at about 285 feet in z well that had
been drilled in 196 and abandoned in 1957. The dark greenish, intensely odorous liquid w•as circulated
out of the well and stored in three lined pits on location until removed by vacuum trucks and properly
disposed. Sludge that remained once the liquid w•as pumped from the pits w•as consolidated with cement
on-site and then also removed for proper disposal.
The diesel oil was also encountered inside casing, above 300 feet, in a well that had been drilled
in 1962 and abandoned in 1964. An estimated 500 gallons of oil were circulated out of the wel! and
removed from the site for proper disposal. A vacuum truck later removed 3,200 gallons of oil-
contaminated water from the lined pit.
Other substances found in very minor quantities included oil from ruptured submersible pumps
that had been abandoned dowrhole, and a foaming agent suspected to be a nitrate compound formed by
decaying wood in the well. Analyses of the pump oil showed it to contain non-hazardous quantities of
PCB's. The foaming agent w•as found only ai one well.
Locarinp a century-old explorotorv weI/.--Historic records had described an exploratory well
drilled by Solvay Process Company in 1888, prior to the discovery of rock salt in the valley. Based
on the old reports, including Luther (1896), it was believed that the well had been drilled to 400 feet in
;1 unconsolidated sediments and that no pipe had been placed in the hole. An unsuccessful attempt was
,,JJ made to locate the well using a metal detector in the lzte 1980's or early 1990's. Although the state had
relieved A!liedSigna] of any responsibility to locate and plug the well, known as the "Solvay Road well,"
the company did so anywa}• in 1995, using a recently discovered nineteenth-century field notebook to
pmpomt the well location. There w•as no surface expression of the well at Ltie surveyed location, but a
metal detector scan }'fielded positive readings. Ei_4t-inch casing was found at z depth o,` 13 feet, and
the well w•as open to 279 feet. After ascertaining that there would be no negative impact on a residential
water well located 100 feet away, .411iedSignal filled the well with cement.
Plugging success mid benefits.-Eighty percent of tie wells plugged in Tull}• Va]le}• are plugged at least
25 feet below bedrock. Twenty-five percent are plugged to the top of the salt cavern. .411 167 wells
which could be located and safely accessed are plugged at the surface. The benefits are listed below.
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