20 APRIL 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Uncovering an Unregulated Water Source Adapted from Information by Michigan Department of Natural Resources In December 2022, an order was issued to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to shut down and permanently abandon the well of an unregulated water source used for drinking water at a roadside access point. The water source supplying the public through a makeshift spigot and hosing was at the site of Lake Mine, a former mining community located in Greenland Township in the Upper Peninsula. The supply was providing water to the public via a flowing well outlet along the Bill Nichols Rail-Trail in Ontonagon County, and was also being used year-round at two permanent residences. Efforts to identify and locate the source, presumed to be on state forest land, had been unsuccessful and, despite explicit signage directing people not to drink the water, the public continued to use water for consumption and other household purposes. Tom Seablom, western Upper Peninsula district manager for the DNR’s Forest Resources Division, said upon discovery of a water source that seemed to originate on state land, a series of rules and responsibility was triggered. “This is a very old, unregulated water system that has not been tested for all the required parameters, and appears to contain nearly a mile of water line beneath an old railroad grade with piping that is in questionable condition,” he explained. Evaluation at the time pointed to a historical mining borehole, creating a spring, which was tapped as a source. It appeared to lack any protections of a potable groundwater system, such as a water well casing. Because the source could not be located, the water could not be considered suitable for drinking. Efforts were hindered at the time due to winter weather. A search of historic maps and documents, as well as interviews with locals familiar with the area, was ongoing for several months in 2023. Then that summer, the three-inch-diameter water pipe was temporarily shut off to determine whether it fed the homes and the spigot. After about three hours, the water did stop flowing to the trailside water outlet and residences. The pipe was then followed west. A DNR crew found the wellhead a short distance off the trail, roughly a half-mile from the unregulated spigot. A backhoe was used to remove several feet of dirt and rocks to uncover the wellhead, which is located on land administered by the DNR’s Forest Resources Division. The buried pipe was surrounded by wooden boards to help stabilize the pipe casing. It is unknown how deep the vertical pipe went into the ground, but officials with EGLE said the water supply was likely an artesian flow drilled underground through native clay. “We found the wellhead, but we cannot support its continued use,” said Rob Wolfe, EGLE’s district environmental analyst in Ontonagon County. “We are looking for providing a viable option.” EGLE judged the condition of the aged pipe unacceptable for continued use. Additional concerns include the water system’s pipe depth of roughly a foot underground in many places. In the Upper Peninsula, water piping is usually placed at least seven feet belowground to prevent breakage from winter frost. Costs were also a significant concern for drilling a new well at the site of the wellhead. Excavating a seven-foot-deep trench the roughly half-mile from the wellhead nearer to the homes and trailside spigot would be cost prohibitive. Funding options were explored and landowners were contacted should easement issues be of concern. The main option now being explored is to drill a new well to service the homes and the trailside water outlet, but officials need to decide where. With no detailed maps of underground water sources available for the Lake Mine area, it may prove difficult to determine a good location to drill. EGLE granted a one-year extension to DNR and Greenland Township to source a drilling contractor for more information on local hydrology in hopes of finding a place to sink a well closer to the homes and spigot, and able to be developed as a safe drinking water source in accordance with regulations. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E-News Flash by WorldWide by WorldWide Drilling Resource®. This newsletter is filled with articles not included in our print issue. Based on readership, this was the most popular article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR The old piping was too fragile for continued use. If it broke, it most likely could not be repaired.
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