The horizontal environmental well catalogue, which was created in 1993, provides a record of how the industry has evolved since the late 1980s.
Since the late 1980s, directional drilling has been successfully modified and applied to environmental problems. Government and industry technology developers worked diligently to develop new approaches to access the subsurface for environmental remediation activities. In 1993, a survey of horizontal environmental wells in the United States was conducted. That survey catalogued 105 wells that had been installed as of July 1993. The horizontal environmental well catalogue has been updated approximately every other year since that time. This catalogue includes 1,142 horizontal environmental wells that have been installed in the United States through the end of the year 2000. While certainly not a complete listing, this catalogue provides a record of how the industry has evolved since the late 1980s.
The catalogue contains information provided primarily by the drilling contractors who installed the wells. Information is provided on the drilling contractor, location, use, construction, geologic conditions and borehole specifications for the wells. Cost and performance data were solicited, but have been provided on very few projects.