WorldWide Drilling Resource

23 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® NOVEMBER 2016 Reaching out to Students in the Field Adapted from Information by Mount Sopris Instruments L a Mart nez, a Mount Sopr s Instruments geophys ca eng neer, recent y vo unteered to he p teach a f e d c ass of graduate env ronmenta students from the Co orado Schoo of M nes (CSM). As a past graduate of CSM s Geophys cs Department n 2007, teach ng th s c ass was an dea way to g ve back to the geophys cs commun ty. The f e d methods course s taught by Dr. Kam n S ngha who teaches her students to use natura gamma, temperature and f u d conduct v ty, and opt ca te ev ewer too s. L a was ab e to br ng the newest acoust c te ev ewer, the QL40-ABI-2G. The CSM campus s ocated near a ser es of hard rock boreho es a ong the footh s west of Go den, Co orado. The boreho es are open, water f ed, and genera y about 115 feet n depth. Throughout the day, Dr. S ngha, L a, and the students co ected data and d scussed boreho e ogg ng techn ques beg nn ng w th bas c app cat ons and mov ng nto more advanced top cs, such as te ev ewer centra zat on and how to set the acoust c echo w ndow t me. The co ected data w be processed and ana yzed us ngWe CAD software to answer quest ons about the oca geo ogy, fracture dens ty and or entat on, water qua ty, and groundwater f ow patterns. In the comng weeks, L a w return to CSM to he p teach the new Image & Structure Interpretat on (ISI) Workspace w th n We CAD. Th s work w g ve the students ns ght and exper ence nto how boreho e ogg ng techn ques can be app ed to profess ona env ronmenta projects they may encounter n the future. Australian State Bans Exploration of Unconventional Gas Adapted from a Media Release by the Victoria State Government In V ctor a, Austra a, a permanent ban on the exporat on and deveopment of a on- shore unconvent ona gas, ncudng hydrau c fractur ng and coa seam gas s underway. The permanent eg s at ve ban, to be ntroduced to Par ament ater th s year, was des gned to ease the concerns of farmers n the state who are worr ed about the env - ronmenta and hea th r sks assoc ated w th hydrau c fractur ng. It a so forms part of the government response to the 2015 Par amentary Inqu ry nto Onshore Unconvent ona Gas n V ctor a. The nqu ry rece ved more than 1600 subm ss ons, most y opposed to onshore unconvent ona gas, mak ng t c ear the Vctor an commun ty smp y doesn t support the process wh ch has been extreme y suc- cessfu n the Un ted States. Accord ng to Prem er Dan e Andrews, “V ctor ans have made t c ear that they don t support [hydrau c fractur ng] and that the hea th and env ronmenta r sks nvo ved outwe gh any potent a benef ts.” Exempt ons to the ban w rema n for other types of act v t es not covered by the current morator um, such as gas storage, carbon storage research, and access ng off- shore resources. Exp orat on and deve - opment for offshore gas w a so cont nue. The Labor Government w a so eg- s ate to extend the current morator um on the exp orat on and deve opment of conven- t ona onshore gas unt June 30, 2020, not- ng hydrau c fractur ng w rema n banned. The government w undertake the most extens ve sc ent f c, techn ca , and env ron- menta studes n Austra a on the r sks, ben- ef ts, and mpacts of onshore gas.