A ground water engineering study at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee required the services of Miller Drilling Co., Lawrenceburg, Tenn. For this nearly half-million-dollar contract, Miller provided the necessary air-rotary drilling techniques and support crews for drilling activities that included subsurface drilling and the installation of 14 new ground water monitoring wells, as well as drilling and the installation of two cored boreholes with geophysical logging, flow-meter testing in support of the Bethel Valley ground water engineering study.

Ground water is contaminated primarily with radionuclide and/or volatile organic compounds. The underlying geological setting consists of dipping and fractured inter-bedded limestone, siltstones and shale, with major rock units of Rockdell, Benbolt and Witten formations of the Chickamauga Group. Westbay monitoring devices were installed in the cored boreholes. The project required an aggressive work schedule, complex drilling strategies, radiation work permit (RWP) efforts and waste management of hazardous and radiological waste, segregation/isolation of solid waste streams, and multiple staging areas.

Miller Drilling Co. specializes in construction, environmental, mining and water supply throughout the United States. For more than 60 years Miller’s goal has been to provide quality drilling in a safe and timely manner. Established in 1947, the firm has grown from a rural water well contractor into a full-service environmental drilling contractor, offering services that include Geoprobe, auger, air-rotary and sonic drilling capabilities. 
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