A
ground water engineering study at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
Tennessee required the services of Miller Drilling Co., Lawrenceburg, Tenn. For
this nearly half-million-dollar contract, Miller provided the necessary
air-rotary drilling techniques and support crews for drilling activities that
included subsurface drilling and the installation of 14 new ground water
monitoring wells, as well as drilling and the installation of two cored
boreholes with geophysical logging, flow-meter testing in support of the Bethel
Valley ground water engineering study.
Ground water is contaminated primarily with radionuclide and/or volatile
organic compounds. The underlying geological setting consists of dipping and
fractured inter-bedded limestone, siltstones and shale, with major rock units
of Rockdell, Benbolt and Witten formations of the Chickamauga Group. Westbay
monitoring devices were installed in the cored boreholes. The project required
an aggressive work schedule, complex drilling strategies, radiation work permit
(RWP) efforts and waste management of hazardous and radiological waste,
segregation/isolation of solid waste streams, and multiple staging
areas.
Miller Drilling Co. specializes in construction, environmental, mining and
water supply throughout the United States. For more than 60 years Miller’s goal
has been to provide quality drilling in a safe and timely manner. Established
in 1947, the firm has grown from a rural water well contractor into a
full-service environmental drilling contractor, offering services that include
Geoprobe, auger, air-rotary and sonic drilling capabilities.
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