39 JANUARY 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Environmental Monitoring by Thomas Kwader, Ph.D., P.G. Owner, Qwater Well Developer and WorldWide Drilling Resource® Hydrogeologist Well Drilling and Lightning - A Dangerous Combination Lightning is a very common phenomenon which causes millions of dollars in damage and many injuries and deaths each year. Lightning can travel from cloud to cloud or ground to cloud. A lightning strike can travel many miles through the air, hit the ground, then travel laterally through fences, power lines, and pipes into homes and offices, destroying electrical circuits and electrical equipment, as well as damaging the structure itself. Just this week, my wife and I were enjoying dinner and observed a bolt of lightning with an instantaneous crack of loud thunder which struck a sycamore tree about 50 feet away, exploding pieces 100 feet in all directions. (Not too good for digestion!) Well drilling rigs are particularly susceptible to being a target for lightning strikes due to the strong grounding effect created by the steel drill rod and tall derrick extending into the sky. Lightning is the number one weather-related killer, accounting for more than 24,000 deaths per year and another 24,000 injuries. I highly recommend purchasing and using a mobile phone app which detects lightning strikes up to 50 miles away. Drilling “Health and Safety Plans” should require an alarm be set to alert the crew when there is a lightning strike within five miles of the rig, then all drilling operations should cease. Move away from the rig and wait out the lightning in a safe place until the lightning threat has moved out of the area for at least 30 minutes after the last lightning bolt was detected, before resuming drilling activities. When a “bad” lightning storm is approaching, there is only so much a drilling operation can do to minimize the chances of being struck by lightning (lower the derrick, get inside a rubber-tired vehicle, or get inside a grounded building, etc.). Do all the right things by taking appropriate shelter. Tom Tom Kwader may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com ENV Shotgun Start - Come early for the , February 8, a e ournament - Mojave Golf T W dnesday t 12:30pm Golf Resort Raffle! TV Annual A Second Thank you, Ronnie! We enjoy working with all of you. Thank you for the photo. Madison Rönnkvist Drill Pipe, Inc. Alice, TX
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