THE SITE WELL CATALOG: I. A MEANS FOR MANAGING BOREHOLE DATA FOR SEQUESTRATION SITE CHARACTERIZATION, SELECTION AND PERMITTING

As geologic carbon sequestration moves from the pilot/demonstration stage to full commercial deployment, site characterization, selection and permitting must evolve from a research endeavor to a process marked by standardized procedures and methodologies. Although not finalized, EPA’s sequestration rule requires 15 major types of information, e.g. area of review, geology and hydrogeology, well compilation, USDW information, baseline geochemistry, a corrective borehole action plan and a testing and monitoring plan. Meeting these requirements requires identifying the boreholes penetrating a site and compiling the relevant associated data. Boreholes provide three types of data important for site characterization, selection and permitting: information about the borehole itself (e.g. location, construction, status, cores, logs, etc.); data about subsurface units intersected, e.g. formations, mineralogy, porosity, permeability, etc.); and information about subsurface formation fluids, e.g. oil, gas, water, brine. This information is critical to constructing a site geologic and hydrologic model, performing site risk assessment, establishing geochemical baselines for subsequent monitoring and evaluating impacts to surface and subsurface fluids.

Given the crucial role boreholes play in site characterization, selection and permitting, a critical first step in site evaluation is compiling, vetting and managing a variety of borehole data. For most sites in the U.S., intersecting boreholes are likely to be numerous making cataloging borehole information a formidable data management problem. Yet, such an activity must be the starting point for evaluating a sequestration site. It assures data consistency and quality for subsequent modeling and permitting tasks while ensuring data consistency across different site projects. A well catalog serves multiple stakeholders, e.g. individuals (geologists, modelers, permit writers, regulators, site operators, investors) as well as organizations (state and federal governmental agencies, a variety of commercial firms). It ensures that all stakeholders have access to the same data set. A properly designed and populated well catalog ensures data integrity and facilitates communication between project team members as well as different organizations.