Deep Well

Tybee Island began drilling a new deep well last year. The city currently draws its water from the 300 foot deep Floridan aquifer. The state of Georgia has mandated reductions in the amount of water Tybee can draw from that aquifer in 2025. The new well was intended to reach the Cretaceous aquifer at a depth of about 4,000 feet. Intended is used intentionally because at this point it seems unlikely the current project is going anywhere other than court.

In the middle of August as the drilling company approached completion of the well and was preparing to being testing the water problems were discovered. The 10 inch in diameter casing had collapsed about 3,000 feet below the surface. About 200 feet of the casing had collapsed leaving a hole only 2 inches in diameter. Georgia state officials assessed the cause of the collapse and considered possible solutions. They have been unable to determine the cause of the collapse. The drilling company Layne Christensen Company and the state have not been able to come to an agreement on the 4.2 million dollars spent on the well so far. The contractor has proposed side tracking and installing another casing. The state's only other option is to accept the well as is. Neither side is willing to change their position. Until the current well contract is resolved or terminated work cannot begin on a new well. The new well would have to be at least 50 feet from the existing well and close enough to the water to allow discharge while it is tested. If the current well cannot be salvaged the state has taken the position that the new well would be drilled at the company's expense. So at this point Tybee has a 4,000 foot deep worthless hole in the ground.

I have only one question. The well casing was required to be stainless steel. Where did that collapsed steel come from? There have been numerous instances in the past where steel purchased from China was not the quality claimed by the manufacturer. It seems to me that someone should be looking into that issue and determining if it had anything to do with the collapse of the casing.