WorldWide Drilling Resource

12 MARCH 2017 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Tales from the Field by Jeremy C. Wire Geoconsultants, Inc. The Invisible Mud Pit A recent discussion of drilling site safety (a serious topic which should be reviewed more frequently than it usually is) recalls an incident which happened many years ago, involving a drilling mud pit or sump at a location. Now, mud pits are about nonexistent in our area, having been eliminated by portable mud systems used by most drilling contractors. The setting of this incident was in the southeastern Mojave Desert of California, near the Colorado River. At the time, there were several sites in the region being evaluated for nuclear power plants, and drilling of exploratory borings and monitoring wells was required to characterize geologic site conditions. Geophysical logs were specified in these studies, and in those days there were only a relatively few service companies which could log “slim holes”. A geotechnical engineering firm involved in one of these projects knew we had a logging unit used for our own work, and needing to log several holes, he persuaded me to undertake the roughly two-day drive to the jobsite. On the second day, it was late and getting dark on the main highway near the location of the first hole, and being tired, I decided not to detour and check out site conditions, but wait for more favorable light in the morning. In addition, a summer thunderstorm was underway, not an uncommon occurrence in this area, with high winds starting to blow sand and pieces of vegetation across the road. The next morning, I was at the site a little after sunrise, before the drill crew arrived. I was not paying too much attention to the ground, looking up at the rig mast to see how to hang the logging tool, when I suddenly tripped, and found myself waist deep in drilling mud! How could this have happened? Obviously, I had stumbled into the mud pit! Overnight, the wind had covered it with a sufficiently thick layer of sand and vegetation debris so the surface looked almost identical to the surrounding desert landscape. The pit surface was basically invisible in the early morning light, at least to me, since I was primarily looking up and not paying close attention to the ground. By now, the drill crew had arrived; they thought this was a very unusual and funny situation, and rightfully so, and although embarrassed by my stupidity, I had to agree. The heat of the day was rising, and the drilling mud was quickly drying, creating a mud sheath on the outside, and a mud cake on the inside of my pants. Very uncomfortable to say the least! A trip to the motel for a change of clothes while the crew made a trip to clean the hole, and we were back in business without much loss of rig time. This hole and two more were logged that week without further incident. The moral of this story? If you are working around a drilling location, occasionally you need to look down as well as up. There may be potential hazards on the ground which could result in a much more serious safety incident than the humorous one just related! Jeremy Jeremy Wire may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Stay in the black with Want your business to be seen here? Give us a call: (850) 547-0102 or e-mail us: wwdr@worldwidedrillingresource.com