Recent news has pushed that question to the top of my mind. The tiny town of Magdalena, N.M., depends on one well, and that well failed. What do you do then?
The basics of drilling, like the basics of writing, don't change much. Drillers poke a hole in the ground, and useful things come out—water, energy or minerals. Likewise, writers put fingers to keyboard (or pen to paper) and, hopefully, useful things come out. Those basic mechanics remain relatively constant, and have since people have sunk wells in the ground or attempted to write the next great novel.
The United States and the state of Arkansas filed an enforcement action last week against ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and Mobil Pipe Line Company in federal district court in Little Rock. The complaint concerns the March rupture in the companies’ Pegasus Pipeline in Mayflower, Ark.
Atlas Copco recently announced the release of a reverse circulation kit for the company’s DM45/50 mid-range blasthole drill. The company says the kit adds a new dimension of in-pit grade control.
Nearly three years later, you have to know what to look for. It takes a hard look at the flood plains over the banks of the Kalamazoo River to see the effects of an incident that covered the southwest Michigan area with oil.
My awareness of water-related issues has gone up ten-fold since I joined The Driller in November. I think a lot about water, how we consume it, how we get it and how precarious it can be as a resource. So, I jumped at the chance to explore these issues in the field with the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources (IJNR).
A recent story in The New York Times got me thinking again about water scarcity, and how it's already driving the debate in some areas of the United States.
