HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0825.005 2010-2012 Murashige, Laura
Cv/4M . 825
From: Hank Banquer[hbanquer @earthlink.net]
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 9:25 AM rt
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us '
Cc: Steve Burns
Subject: Bill 292, Draft 1 Testimony
To the County Council
As a member of the Big Island Energy Advisor Commission (EAC) and having spent 35 years in
the drilling industry I think this proposal to stop drilling at night is absurd.
Firstly drilling has gone on and continues to go on in densely settled areas with little
problem with noise. Some noise abatement practices can be adopted to reduce the noise but
in general 24 hour drilling is practiced everywhere including in down town Los Angeles
where it has gone on unnoticed for decades and in a state (California) where the
environmental laws are the strictest, infact are often the benchmark for many practicises
and even federal policies.
There are dangers, major delays and ultimately cost implications in doing this.
You just can not stop drilling, circulating or stop operating realistically for several
reasons.
1. Control of the well
2. Temperature build up.
There are 2 temperatures we deal with while drilling:
a. Static temperature
b. Circulating temperature
If the hole is left static for 12 hours then there are many issue that would need to be
dealt with that raise the cost, safety and/or viability of drilling.
3. Time lost and the time to drill the hole would not be 2 times longer but infact maybe
3-4 times longer 4 . Open hole (not cased hole) dynamic conditions which can result in
stuck pipe, redrilling or reaming of the open hole.
5. Having to trip (run the pipe in and out of the well bore) once every 12 hours would
leave little time to drill and just expose the well bore, crew and environment to more
risks.
6. Tripping the pipe into the casing where it is protected while drilling is stopped or
pulling the drill pipe out of the hole completely takes time and is particularly noisey as
you are handling the drill pipe in and out of the hole. This can be mitigated with certain
pipe handling equipment but it is still not "quiet"
7 . Engine noise can be mitigate many ways from sound proofing to using a diesel electric
rig where the engines run at a constant speed as opposed to changing RPM as the draw works
(large winch) pulls the pipe in or out.
8 . The bangs and clangs associated with drilling can be also mitigated with some basic
measures and training of the drill crew.
My question is there a db sound level and duration that has been set that is acceptable
for day and night?
Often the db levels are set at max. exposure time not peaks that might occur in industrial
situations.
Have we taken sound data and reviewed this 2 ways real time including sound spikes and
average sound level over a period of time ie: 12 hours or whatever is specified and the
defining of "night time" which makes me wonder what you consider night time (sun down to
sun up which changes throughout the year or average bed time to waking time?
I have drilled in the UK Midlands and we had to keep noise levels to acceptable levels not
for the farmers but not to disturb the cows! The measurement here was whether milk
production decreased if the cows heard noises that were not common, constant or
unexpected. Here simply making sound walls from baled hay stopped the noise and we went
about our business drilling and the cows made milk!
In my view really what this resolution is all about. It is an attempt to shut down the
development of Geothermal making a side attack. Basically the sponsors of this resolution
(bill) want to stop the drilling. They will try any approach or any method to do this.
I think Mr. Yagong and those supporting this resolution (bill) are very uninformed and
1 Comm. No. R;LC-_ S
Ref. To:
10 :i LU1
have not even done the basic research to establish the noise level or what could be done
by the drilling contractor to reduce any noise. Drilling is just a temporary situation and
I do not know how many private and public construction jobs I have had to put up with over
the last 50 plus years hearing jack hammers to banging of beams and diesel engines running
bothered me but we lived through it and enjoyed the benefits these construction projects
brought to us. We need to look at a what sometimes is a little inconvenience and maybe
even discomfort we as an island community need to consider the long term benefits to
ourselves and our fellow islanders.
Really are we going to let a short term inconvenience for some punish the rest of us on
the island? We need to start thinking what is best for our island not a few individuals
whose goal is to stop development of a local resource because they are slightly
temporarily inconvenienced.
I see the same people trying to stop the development of Geothermal by trying every tactic
they can. Is the council concerned about a small special interest group or the good of our
island and the people who live here.
Should any council member or individual in our community want to contact me regarding the
specifics of drilling or want to take advantage of my 35 years experience in the drilling,
energy exploration and production please feel free to.
Regards
H.Y. Banquer
Hank Banquer
Landline: 808-985-9266
Mobile: 808-990-5419
hbanquer @earthlink.net
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