Draft Manual Available

Six years after being conceived, four years since the writing team began, and after one year on the desks of the legal team at the MOE, the much anticipated Best Management Practices Manual has been released for public comment.  This hefty tome checks in at 856 pages (plus legislation).  This document, Test Holes and Dewatering Wells: Requirements and Best Management Practices, sets out the MOE expectations when licenced well drillers are installing groundwater monitoring wells, including those for geotechnical and environmental site assessment purposes.  When advising drillers how they would like their wells constructed, consultants should be familiar with the MOE recommended best management practices.  Although the comment period for the draft is now closed, you can access the information by clicking MOE BMPs for Wells.

The Source

Safety is a key feature of the Fall 2011 edition of The Source, a publication of the Ontario Ground Water Association (OGWA).  Our feature article from a 2010 newsletter entitled Drilling Is Not Dangerous caught the attention of OGWA and was published in the magazine.  The article can be found in the safety section of our articles or in the magazine.  We applaud OGWA for encouraging safety within the groundwater industry.  More information about the Ontario Ground Water Association can be found by clicking OGWA.

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our colleague Dave Gunn of Geo-Environmental Drilling who will be taking over the presidency of OGWA.  Dave is well known in our industry as a proponent of safe drilling practices in environmental and geotechnical drilling.

Guidelines for Well Drawing

As you are likely aware, when monitoring wells are installed by Kodiak, a well record is filed with the Ministry of Environment (MOE).  Included with the record is a drawing showing the location of the installed wells.  We have provided below, some guidelines to help you prepare drawings that are consistent with the MOE requirements.

Requirements

• There must be two measurements for each well, including a measurement from the well to a known feature.
• Features for well measurements that the MOE considers acceptable include 1) edge of street, 2) property line, 3) rail line, 4) river bank, 5) Lot/concession.  The measurement can not be to another well.  Features for measurements should be permanent, with curved features being avoided.
• Orientation of the features used for measurements is important – they should each be perpendicular to each other (see our examples below).

Plan and Draw

• Include a north arrow.
• Include streets, property lines, well symbols, dimension lines, street names, well labels, property numbers.
• Dimensions should be in metres.
• Indicate which well has the tag.

Big Beaver Power Boost

When Kodiak brought Big Beaver drilling to southern Ontario in 1996, it was revolutionary in the field of limited access drilling.  A machine that was larger and more powerful than the Pionjar and smaller and more nimble than the truck and track mounted machines commonly being used.  We brought the capability of doing SPTs with small equipment and introduced the concept of running a drill that was physically separate from a power unit, allowing for drilling indoors without fumes.  Since that time, other modifications have been made, including the introduction of “Shorty”; a short tower that allows us to run the 140lb hammer with only 8ft of headroom.

Now, a significant improvement has been made to one of our units by increasing the output of the power source by over 30% (from 18hp to 24hp).  This increase has allowed us to change the rotation head to increase the torque  from ~500 ft lbs to ~800 ft lbs !  Although the penetration of the drill is still subject to the weight limitations of the machine, the increased rotation torque will allow us to rotate through more difficult formations.  We are constantly being pressured by our clients to push the limits with this machine – this will allow us to push even further in many instances.

MOE Guidance Document Released (Draft)

The MOE has released a draft version of a technical guidance document on soil vapour intrusion.  The MOE indicates “The Guidance is intended to provide the user with a basic understanding of soil vapour intrusion and the tools required to identify review and evaluate sites for vapour intrusion with respect to contaminated sites.”  The MOE had an info session on this topic on January 27.

Because Kodiak Drilling specializes in drilling indoors, we have installed a lot of vapour probes and have developed some unique methods and equipment for their installation.  We will continue to monitor the MOE proposed methods to ensure we are providing equipment and methods that are technically defensible and consistent with their requirements.
After revising the document based on feedback, the MOE plans to post the document on the EBR for public comment.

Kodiak Simplifies Well Records

If we are installing monitoring wells or piezometers at your drill site, we are required to submit water well record to the MOE promptly after completing the drilling.  Our drill crew will present your field personnel with a “Monitoring Well Information Package” at the beginning of the day.  Ideally, your field personnel can fill out the entire package, including the site specific information (including the site drawing) on the day of the drilling, and provide our crew with the forms at the end of the day.  If necessary, you can return the forms to us within a few days after the drilling. It should be noted that if more than one monitoring well is being installed, we can file one record (“cluster record”) for all wells, if we have the property owners permission; we will provide a form for you to obtain that permission. Having your staff complete this will allow our drill crew to focus on the drilling tasks and complete the field work in a more timely manner.

If you have any questions regarding the forms, please contact our offices.  A pdf copy of the package can be found by clicking here.