WorldWide Drilling Resource

51 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2018 In Memoriam Clifford J. McAlpine With heartfelt sadness, the Minnesota Water Well Association shared the passing of Clifford J. McAlpine on February 19, 2018. He was co-owner of McAlpine’s Well Drilling in Dayton, Minnesota. After retiring, Clifford was the caretaker of St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery for 18 years, in ad- dition to being an active member of the parish and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was one of the organizers of the Dayton Softball League, playing up to the age of 55. Clifford was preceded in death by his wife Betty and is survived by his children Michael (Cheryl), Linda (Gregg), Tim (Lucy), Terry (Linda), Mary (Robert), LuAnne (Gary), Bill (Debbie), and Kim (Mike); 28 grand- children; and 44 great-grandchildren. He had a very long, fulfilling life. Stephen Douglas “Steve” McNeill (1952~2018) The WWDR Team was saddened to learn of the passing of Stephen Douglas “Steve” McNeill on March 1, 2018. Born in 1952 in Connersville, Indiana, Steve attended Eau Claire High School in Columbia, South Carolina, then went on to J. Sargeant Reynolds College in Richmond, Virginia. He began his career with Heater Well Company in 1968, then opened his own business, McNeill Well Drilling, Inc. in 1982, in Blythewood, South Carolina. He was a past president of the South Carolina Ground Water Association and was on the Board of Directors of the South Atlantic JUBILEE. He was a loving son, husband, father, and most importantly, Papa. Steve is survived by his father Percy (Jo); wife of 35 years Melissa; children Melody (Tommy), Reverend Stephen (Morgan), and April; six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Lest we forget... Van Norman Well Development Information Provided by WellJet ® The Van Norman Complex of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) is the nerve center of the region’s vital infrastructure. Located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in California, it is the site where the Los Angeles Aqueduct completes its 400-mile journey from the Owens Valley high in the Sierras. Up to 600 mil- lion gallons of water per day are treated in the Los Angeles Aqueduct Water Filtration Plant before flowing through faucets and spigots from Boyle Heights to Beverly Hills. In 2015, LADWP drilled a pair of exploratory deep artesian wells - Van Norman #1 (VN #1) and Van Norman #2 (VN #2). The wells are approximately 1400 feet deep, with 10-inch diameters. They were drilled in response to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Executive Directive No. 5, mandating the development of local supplies. LADWP is trying to find more sources of clean drinking water. The Van Norman wells are located within the San Fernando basin and not contaminated, which means they do not re- quire additional treatment. In 2017, after the wells had sat idle for more than a year, LADWP engineers designed the development protocol for both wells. The engineering consultant firm Kleinfelder was hired to oversee and analyze the development efforts, which would be executed by the drilling and rehabilitation team at Layne Christensen. Down hole video revealed areas of residual drilling mud plugging perforations in both wells. WellJet ® was brought in to use its patented high-pressure water-jetting technique to remove hardened mudcake from inside the well screens, and deliver energy out through the gravel pack to the near-wellbore formation. This helped break up all the harmful deposits which had accumulated during the lengthy idle period. One particular challenge for this project was maintaining control over discharge water during the rehabilitation process, which is always an issue with artesian wells. This was solved by installing a suction hose at the well access ports, and pumping off the overflow into a series of Baker settling tanks. WellJet began its work with VN #1. Jetting the entire perforated area of each well required three days. Following jetting, Layne continued the development process with several days of swabbing, airlifting, surging, and test pumping.