January 2016 Outcrop

Volume 65 No. 1 January 2016

OUTCROPNewsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

OUTCROP | January 2016 2 Vol. 65, No. 1 | www.rmag.org

20 1 6 Summ i t S pon so r s

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Vol. 65, No. 1 | www.rmag.org 3 OUTCROP | January 2016

Vol. 65, No. 1 | www.rmag.org 3 Outcrop | January 2016

OUTCROPThe Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage

fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.

910 16th Street Suite 1214 Denver, CO 80202 303-573-8621

PRESIDENTJohn Ladd

[email protected]

PRESIDENT-ELECTLarry Rasmussen

[email protected]

TREASURER-ELECTKaren Dean

[email protected]

2nd VICE PRESIDENTKelly Foley

[email protected]

1st VICE PRESIDENTJohn Roesink

[email protected]

SECRETARYSarah [email protected]

1st YEAR COUNSELORRob Diedrich

[email protected]

TREASURERTom Sperr

[email protected]

2nd YEAR COUNSELOR Jane Estes-Jackson

[email protected]

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORCarrie Veatch, MA

[email protected]

MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER

Hannah [email protected]

ACCOUNTANTCarol Dalton

[email protected]

MANAGING EDITORWill Duggins

[email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORSHolly Sell

[email protected]

Greg [email protected]

Cheryl [email protected]

Andre [email protected]

DESIGN/PRODUCTIONNate Silva

[email protected]

2016 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS RMAG STAFF

WEDNESDAY NOON LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

RMAG Office: 303-573-8621 | Fax: 303-476-2241 | [email protected] or www.rmag.org

The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Rates and sizes can be found on page 24. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 303-573-8621.

Ad copy, signed contract and payment must be received before advertising insertion. Contact the RMAG office for details.

DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following months publication.


The November meeting of the RMAG Board of Di-rectors took place on November 18, 2015 at 4 p.m. I was out of the country and unable to attend, so Presi-dent-Elect John Ladd took the meeting minutes in my absence. Treasurer Paul Lillis reported another solid month for RMAG financially. The November luncheon was well-attended, and speakers are lined up through February 2016. The Continuing Education Commit-tee is working on an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer for the spring of 2016. The DPA Playmakers Symposium has been set for March 24, 2016 at the Marriott. Mark your calendars! In other continuing education news, IHS will be offering free Petra and Kingdom training to unemployed and student RMAG members in January and February. The RMAG Source Rock Publication is moving along, and will most likely be published in the second quarter of 2016. Finally congratulations and welcome to the 2016 Board of Directors. My terrific colleague at the USGS, Sarah Hawkins, will be filling my shoes in the coming year!

RMAG 2015 NOVEMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

By Stephanie Gaswirth, Secretary

[email protected]

William W. Little, Ph.D. Senior Consulting Geologist

20 South 5000 West Rexburg, Idaho 83440-3613 Cell: 208/201-6266 [email protected]

Field Studies Geological Mapping Sequence Stratigraphy Sedimentary Petrology GIS Applications Training Courses

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Thomas E. Hoak, Ph.D.Consulting Geoscientist

Structural GeologySeismic InterpretationMagnetic and Gravity InterpretationBasin Analysis and RestorationRegional Desk StudiesIntegrated ExplorationProspect GenerationPresentation Graphics

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OUTCROPNewsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

FEATURES

16 Preview: 22nd Annual 3D Seismic Symposium

26 Lead Story: Deep in the heart of Butte, A Special Report, Part 2

ASSOCIATION NEWS

2 RMAG 2016 Summit Sponsors

23 3D Seismic Symposium

25 C. Elmo Brown Presented with 2015 Presidents Award

29 RMAG Mentorship Program

31, 33 RMAG/DAPL Geoland Ski Day

DEPARTMENTS

4 RMAG November 2015 Board of Directors Meeting

6 Presidents Letter

12 RMAG Luncheon programs: Speakers Pete Stark & Steve Trammel

13 In The Pipeline

14 RMAG Luncheon programs: Speaker Matt Silverman

24 Welcome new RMAG members!

24 Outcrop Advertising Rates

35 Advertiser Index

35 Calendar

COVER PHOTOView looking west from the top of Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Photo by Will Duggins.

CONTENTS


The time has long passed when new RMAG presidents simply had to choose one for-mal studio picture to use for all of their monthly columns in The Outcrop. Now we are expect-ed to use our creativity to come up with a series of photos taken in unique or unusual settings, whether it is in front of spectac-ular outcrops, in some exotic, foreign locale, or even a series of photos from our youth. Never one to shy away from meaning-less competition about incon-sequential things, I decided I should use the attached photo for my first column, and then in-stead of telling you where it was taken, ask you to try and figure out where in the world I might have been. Two hints: the object in my right hand is a GPS device and the theme for this column, if there is one, is that things are not always the way they seem.As I write this, oil prices have just dropped below $40

per barrel and todays front page of The Wall Street Journal is staring at me with the headline Low Prices Catch Up With U.S. Oil Patch. You might wonder why anyone would want to take over as head of a non-profit pro-fessional organization made up of and supported primarily by

people working in the oil busi-ness. The answer, of course is that when I agreed to run, busi-ness conditions were anything but like they are now. I remem-ber the day when Matt Silver-man called me to ask about it. It was the day of my daughters

PRESIDENTS LETTER

By John Ladd

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Things Are Not Always the Way They Seem


PRESIDENTS LETTER

Courses Include:

13TH ANNUAL

World-Class EducationConference

Upcoming Education Courses

www.aapg.org/career/training/

Education

HOUSTON, TEXASFEBRUARY 29-MARCH 4, 2016

World-Class EducationConference 2016February 29-March 4, 2016 - Houston, Texas

u Deepwater Reservoir Connectivityu Fluvial Sedimentology and Geomorphologyu Applied Seismic Geomorphology and Seismic Stratigraphy

Extracting Geologic Insights from 2D and 3D Seismic Data

u Carbonate Reservoir Geology: Understanding Depositional and Diagenetic Factors Controlling Porosity

u Carbonate Depositional Systemsu Applying Ideas of Carbonate Sedimentology, Stratigraphy

and Depositional Environments to Petroleum Exploration and Production

u Extracting Geology from Seismic Wiggles: Basic Seismic Interpretation for Non-Geophysicists

u Integrating Data from Nano- to Macro-Scale: Improving Characterizations of Unconventional Plays

u Essentials of Production Geologyu Shale Gas Geomechanicsu Applications of Stable Isotope Geochemistry in the

Petroleum Geosciencesu Log Analysis of Shaly Sand Reservoirsu Log Analysis of Hydrocarbon-Bearing Shale Reservoirs

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Registration and InformationCall AAPG toll free in the U.S. andCanada at 888.338.3387 or 918.560.9430F: 918.560.2678 E: [email protected] W: www.aapg.org/career/training/in-person/education-conference


Presidents Letter

wedding, in the first week of July two summers ago, just a couple of weeks after WTI hit what now seems like an almost mystical $107 a barrel. I was inclined to accept the offer. After all, what better time would there be to run RMAG? Companies were expanding in Denver, almost everyone I knew who wanted to be working had a job, sponsorship money and ad-vertising revenue were pouring into the organiza-tion. What possibly could go wrong? I told Matt that the wedding was in the North Cascade Mountains in Washington State and that afterwards my wife and I were going to go to Glacier National Park to un-wind for a few days before driving back to Denver. I would have to get permission from my employer first before agreeing to run, so I couldnt make a final decision for about 10 days, but I would probably ac-cept. The wedding went great, an outdoor ceremo-ny in an idyllic spot under bluebird skies and warm but not hot temperatures, and the reception contin-ued long into a lovely evening. By coincidence, the next day happened to be my daughters 30th birth-day, so we had agreed to stick around for a day and have a low key celebration. It was much hotter and

a strong wind picked up in the afternoon. I was glad the wedding had been the day before. The following morning, it was already hot when we were packing the car to leave. As we drove east out of the moun-tains and into the Columbia Basin, the blue sky sud-denly turned yellow-brown. We came around a bend in the valley and discovered that the hillside in front of us was on fire, the dry grass burning quickly in the heat and low humidity. We kept on driving and didnt think much more of it. We had a nice time at Gla-cier, with several great hikes, but the views were ob-scured by haze. I wasnt paying attention to the news but we heard from other visitors that there were for-est fires in the region, maybe in Canada, and the haze was from all the smoke they produced. It wasnt until we were listening to the radio while driving back to Denver that we heard that the main fire was on the east side of the Cascades. It had burned down one of the towns we had driven through to get to the wed-ding site and was threatening the main town in the valley where we had shopped for groceries. All roads in the area were closed, power was out and the val-ley was filled with smoke. What had seemed like an

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

As a diverse community of individuals working towards a worthy cause, we believe that your unique talents can bring us all forward. Volunteers are always needed and welcome!

If you would like to volunteer for any of our committees or events, please contact the RMAG office at (303) 573-8621 or [email protected]!


PTTC Presents: Workshops to Improve Your Skills

Basic Well Log Interpretation Tuesday Thursday, January 12-14, 2016, 8:30 am 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom A Fee: $750, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Dan Krygowski, The Discovery Group, Denver, CO

The course assumes no logging knowledge, and seeks to establish an understanding of basic petrophysical measurements and interpretation techniques which can be applied to routine tasks, and upon which more complex and advanced information and techniques can be built.

The course: Offers a "hands-on" approach to basic openhole well log analysis and interpretation. Focuses on the traditional interpretation targets of lithology, porosity, and fluid saturation. Introduces a variety of interpretation techniques in the context of the availability of newer, more

extensive, data Is organized by the targets, or goals of the measurements, rather than by the physics of the

measurements. The course strives to provide a strong and coherent foundation for the understanding of other, specialized interpretation techniques involving well log data, which are not covered here.

Course topics include: An overview of petrophysical well log data acquisition Description of correlation/lithology, porosity, and resistivity logs Determination of lithology, porosity, and fluid saturation from logs Interpretive techniques using logs individually and in combination Interpretation exercises to reinforce the interpretation methods discussed

Equipment Needed: Calculator with exponent functions, straight-edge, pencil or pen. Topics for each of the log measurements follow the same sequence and information:

Measurement goals Physics of the measurement, including the volume of investigation Operational parameters; conditions under which the measurement is best made Measurement names; tool and curve names from different vendors Log example; usually in the context of other measurements Interpretation details; details of the measurement goals Secondary effects: the environments and assumptions which affect the measurement and its

interpretation Environmental corrections Quality control An exercise related to the primary interpretive goal

RQ Toolkit: Using Rock Data for Reservoir Quality Assessment Wednesday, January 26, 2016, 8:30 am 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom E Fee: $250, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Joann E. Welton, Houston TX By the end of the course, participants should have a basic understanding of the following: What are the primary controls on reservoir quality, including the importance of clay and its impact on both quality

(porosity, permeability and Sw) and log response Be able to select the appropriate analytical tools to address common RQ problems Be able to design a cost-effective RQ sampling plan and analytical program which can be used for a variety of purposes,

ranging from reservoir prediction modeling to qualitative RQ assessments Know how to request and QC, typical RQ vendor products Understand the importance of integrating RQ data with sequence stratigraphy and basin modeling etc. to enhance

reservoir prediction and identify anomalous porosity zones.

Class Descriptions and Register Online: www.pttcrockies.org For more information, contact Mary Carr, 303.273.3107, [email protected]


Presidents Letter

idyllic place just a few days ago was about to turn into something like hell on earth. Perhaps I should have taken this as an omen!

Of course I didnt, my boss was fine with me run-ning, and I told Matt I would run. Almost immedi-ately oil prices began to soften and continued to go down throughout the fall. The election was in No-vember and I was informed that I had won just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, the day, you probably remember, when the Saudi oil minister held a news conference to announce that his govern-ment was only concerned with protecting market share, not holding up prices and that they would not agree to any production cuts at the upcoming OPEC meeting. The same day, oil prices plummeted to al-most $40. I remember thinking, what have I got my-self into?Nothing much good has happened in the oil patch since then. Several companies have closed their Denver offices, many others have had lay-offs. It sort of feels like 1985 all over again, and for those who are old enough to have been around the

business back then, you know it was 1986 when things really got bad. You might think that as a result, the RMAG would be hurting financially. But remem-ber, things arent always the way they seem to be, and this time its for the better not the worse.

We are finishing up the year with financial re-serves that are probably greater than any time in the nearly 100 years that the organization has exist-ed and will show a healthy surplus for the year even though we ran 30 different events. How is that possible? Part of it is timing. Once ev-ery six years the AAPG Convention is held in Denver and RMAG acts as the host society. This means we get a share of the profits from the convention and the funds we have or will receive from AAPG will make up the bulk of this years surplus. But a major rea-son is that RMAG has become a much more efficient-ly run organization than it was a few years ago. We have cut out or reduced a lot of the expenses in our operations. When I was Treasurer in 2008, the bud-get was over $800 thousand, now it is only a little over $500 thousand with no reduction in services

THE BOOK CLIFFS, UTAH: A CASE STUDY IN COASTAL SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

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Presidents Letter

or events. This has been achieved through a variety of means. First, in 2009, we moved the office a block down 16th Street to a building with cheaper rent, then followed that in 2013 by switching to a small-er space in the same building. About the only thing we lost was the ability to hold meetings in the office, but the building has a large meeting room available to tenants that we use for board meetings. It works just fine, just as long as you dont look at the chairs too closely. Then there are publications which were switched to digital from hard copy, first special publications, and then The Outcrop, followed by The Mountain Geol-ogist. I know, we have heard a lot of complaints from members about how they miss getting a paper copy of The Outcrop in the mail every month, but printing is like medical care and college tuition, it keeps go-ing up faster than the inflation rate, and at some point we had to stop. Advertising used to offset the cost of printing and mailing the Outcrop, now it is a source of profit that we can use to subsidize continuing educa-tion events. Even The Mountain Geologist often breaks even or makes a small surplus, especially if some of the authors employers kick in some money to pay for expenses. Part of the benefit of forming the Corporate Advisory Board in 2014 was to discover ways that companies might help RMAG with in-kind donations, always easier to do during times of low oil prices. Most important was getting permission to use large meeting spaces at company offices to hold short courses and lectures, first at Newfield and now at Encana. Finally theres the lunch venue. Costs at the Marri-ott were going up so much that we felt we had to sub-sidize luncheons so as not to cut into attendance too much. We moved to Maggianos at the beginning of 2015, where costs were lower, and since most mem-bers like the food better the attendance has gone up. Now we actually make a small profit on the luncheons, assuming we reach a certain threshold of attendance, which we have almost every month. Last, but hardly least, are the ongoing efforts by Carrie Veatch, our Executive Director, and her staff to keep operational costs down and develop new sourc-es of revenue. They are doing a great job and deserve our thanks.

This is all good news for 2016. The board feels that it is important to run a full slate of events, even though this means we will be running a deficit. The amount is small compared to our savings and the events can be important resources for members who are between jobs, both to keep their skills up to date and to network. We also plan, at present, to continue to offer discounts to certain events for unemployed members. With luck, both RMAG and all of our mem-bers will weather this downturn without too much fi-nancial damage.Finally, about that photo. I assume anyone who looked at it figured out I was climbing a mountain somewhere. The climbing rope and helmets sort of gives that away. But how many of you figured that I was only about a mile away from the Equator? Yes, the photo was taken on the summit of Volcan Cayembe in Ecuador, elevation 18996 and latitude 0.0333N, the one place in the world where you can cross the equa-tor on snow and ice. As I said, thing arent always the way they seem to be.

December 201444Vol. 63, No. 12 44

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created a sensational buzz in the scientific community and elsewhere is testimonial to excellent research conducted by Dr. Siddoway, her students and her collaborators. The members of the OTR field trip, on the longest day of the year, were able to catch a bit of that magic. As a final act of closure, the skies opened up as we drove back to collect our cars at the Visitors Center. Dime-sized hail pelted the group and made continued discussion, and even goodbyes, impossible. What started as a nice day with great potential turned into a highly memorable learning experience with impact.

References : Myrow, P.M., Taylor, J.F., Miller, J.F., Ethington, R.L., Ripperdan,

R.L., and Allen, J., 2003, Fallen Arches: Dispelling Myths Concerning Cambrian and Ordovician Paleogeography of the Rocky Mountain Region: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 115, no. 6, p. 695713

Siddoway, C., Myrow, P., and Fitz-Daz, E., 2013, Strata, Structures, and Enduring Enigmas: A 125th Anniversary Appraisal of Colorado Springs Geology, in Abbott, L.D., and Hancock, G.S., eds., Classic Concepts and New Directions: Exploring 125 Years of GSA Discoveries in the Rocky Mountain Region: Geological Society of America Field Guide 33, p. 331356.

Siddoway, C, Shatford, S. and Contreras, A. A. 2013, ARMO Reactivation of Cambrian-Ordovician or Older Structures: Detrital Zircon Evidence from Structureless Sandstones of the Souther Front Range in Colorado Springs, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 45, No.7, p.887. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2013AM/webprogram/Paper226741.html

Siddoway, C. S. and G. E. Gehrels, 2014a, Basement-hosted sandstone injectites of Colorado: A Vestige of the Neoproterozoic Revealed Through Detrital Zircon Provenance Analysis, Lithosphere, doi:10.1130/L390.1

Siddoway, C. S. and G. E. Gehrels, 2014b, Cryogenian Sandstones in Colorado: A New Terrestrial Record for Laurentia (Rodinia) Revealed Through Detrital Zircon Provenance Analysis, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 46, No. 6, p.763, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/webprogram/Paper246788.html.

Sterne, E.J., 2006, Stacked, Evolved Triangle Zones along the Southeastern Flank of the Colorado Front Range: The Mountain Geologist, v. 43, p. 6592.

Continued from page 43



RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS

Speakers: Pete Stark & Steve Trammel January 6, 2016

Global oil markets continue to be significant-ly oversupplied and U.S. gas producers seek new markets to absorb surplus gas supplies. During first quarter 2015 there was room for hope that markets would rebalance by end of the year and that oil and gas prices would begin a gradual recovery. Unfortu-nately, multiple factors indicate that oversupplies and price pressure will remain well into 2016. Early November 2015 WTI oil price at around $44.00 per barrel and spot gas price around $2.30 per Mcf, both less than half their corresponding 2014 highs, may look good for several months ahead. As a result, a fundamental restructuring of the oil and gas indus-try is underway as companies reset operations to be profitable in a lower price environment.

Predicting when oil markets will rebalance is tricky with multiple global factors reduced demand growth, Saudi Arabias decision to defend its mar-ket share and pending revival of Irans production putting the onus on U.S. tight oil producers to reduce supplies. An IHS scenario indicates that an extend-ed period of $45 oil could drive sufficient reduction in U.S. tight oil production to rebalance the oil mar-ket in mid-2016. It may take longer as cost reduc-tions and performance enhancements introduced by producers have slowed the rate of projected U.S. oil production declines. Unfortunately, natural gas is not in position to come to the rescue. At this writ-ing, it looks like U.S. 2015 gas storage levels will set

The Petroleum Industry Resets Perspectives on the Road Ahead

Pete Stark, Senior Research Director and Advisor, IHS Steve Trammel, Research Director and Advisor, IHS


Philip H. Pete Stark is Senior Upstream Research Director and Advisor for IHS Energy in Englewood, Colorado. Prior to joining IHS in 1969, Stark was an exploration geologist for Mobil Oil. Dr. Stark has authored papers on E&P databases, hydrocarbon shows, horizontal drilling, US natural gas, global oil and gas resources, global E&P trends, giant fields and unconventional O&G. He co-authored special IHS studies of North American gas supplies, unconventional gas supplies, North American and

global tight oil and global reserves replacement. Pete has participated in the AAPG Resources Committee and AAPG-SPE and Hedberg resource research conferences. He has served on the AAPG Corporate Advisory Board and boards of the AAPG International Pavilion and PPDM. Previously, he was chairman of the Board of Visitors for the University of Wisconsin Department of Geology and Geophysics. Dr. Stark holds a BSc in geology from the University of Oklahoma and MSc and PhD degrees in geology

from the University of Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin Department of Geology and Geophysics honored Dr. Starks contributions to the university and profession with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Pete received a 2011 Honorary Member Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the 2011 IHS Chairmans Award and the 2015 COGA Lifetime Achievement Award. Pete also was named to the Denver and Houston Business Journals Whos Who in Energy publications.


a new all-time record of more than 4 Tcf on the cusp of a pos-sible mild winter influenced by a strong el nio pattern. If this outlook prevails, sub-$2.00 per Mcf gas prices could return during first half of 2016. All eyes will focus on the mighty Marcellus to understand future trends in gas supplies. What is the breakeven price for recent Marcellus wells that may pro-duce 2.2 to 2.8 Bcf per 1000 lat-eral ft. at a cost of $860M to $1 MM per 1000 lateral ft?Meanwhile, companies are taking meaningful actions to further reduce costs in response to the challenging 2016 outlook. Additional budget cuts, work-force reductions, rig cancella-tions, cost cutting initiatives, as-set rationalization, heightened emphasis on capital discipline

and standardization are all part of the industry reset. Hopefully, 2016 will not provide another deja vu all over again repeat of staying alive in 85. Both oil and gas prices are expected to resume positive trends during the last half of 2016.The long term outlook for oil and gas through 2040 also is positive. An IHS base case sce-nario projects that 2040 oil and gas consumption will be about 53.6% of total world energy consumption about the same as today but relative to a 25% increase in total energy con-sumption. Bountiful U.S. tight oil and shale gas resources will play an important role in meet-ing projected world energy de-mand. Trends will, of course, be impacted by fluctuations in the global economy and unpre-dictable turmoil in important

producing countries. The long term outlook also will be chal-lenged by increasing public clamor to dramatically reduce fossil fuels especially dirty oil and with only limited ac-commodation for natural gas as a transition fuel to renewable energy. Currently, there is no silver bullet in sight to levitate wind and solar to much more than 22% of global electric power generation (about 4% of total energy consumption) by 2040. But there is a huge gap in the public perception and realities about the magnitude of the undertaking to migrate to a cleaner energy future. The petroleum industry may be in-creasingly challenged to ed-ucate public and policy mak-ers about the critical role of oil and gas in energy and climate change solutions.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 rMAG LUnCHeOn PrOGrAMs

IN THE PIPELINE

JANUARY 6, 2016

RMAG Luncheon. Speakers Pete Stark and Steve Trammel. The Petroleum Industry Resets Perspectives on the Road Ahead. Maggianos Little Italy, Denver.

JANUARY 8, 2016

DIPS Luncheon. Speaker Terry Donze. Realism Revisited: The Corrupted Claims of the Climate Cabal.

JANUARY 12-13, 2016

PTTC Short Course. Basic Well Log Interpretation. CSM, Golden, CO.

JANUARY 19, 2016

DWLS Luncheon. Speaker Richard Rosen. Impact of Experimental Studies on Unconventional Reservoir Mechanisms (SPE168965).

JANUARY 26, 2016

PTTC Short Course.

RQ Toolkit: Using Rock Data for Reservoir Quality Assessment. CSM, Golden, CO.

JANUARY 27, 2016

Oilfield Christian Fellowship.

For reservations, RSVP to [email protected] or 303-675-2602.

JANUARY 28-29, 2016

IHS Class for RMAG Members.

Kingdom Geological Interpretation, IHS Energy

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS

Speakers: Matt Silverman February 3, 2016

Warren G. Hardings presidential administration was probably the most cor-rupt in American history, and the oil industry wasright in the middle of the fun.The scandal surrounding Teapot Dome in the 1920s was the most infamous presidential malfeasance of the 20th Cen-tury until Watergate.The story includes sex, bribes, scandal, oil barons, crooked politicians, bath-tub gin, smoke-filled rooms, the Roaring Twenties, black-mail, suicide and murder! In short, its just like today ex-cept that gin is made in dis-tilleries and smoking is less popular than fracking.A series of Presidential Orders created several Naval Petroleum Reserves, including Teapot Dome in Natrona County, Wyoming in 1915. The advantages of

petroleum over coal for naval fuel had proved irresist-ible, and the crude reserves were meant to provide a secure wartime supply.Harding was elected in 1920 and chose New Mex-ico Senator Albert B. Fall for his Cabinet. Fall was a successful rancher and lawyer, but one whose enthu-siasm for the private exploitation of the nations stra-tegic resources led a contemporary to say, It would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of Interior, but not altogether easy.Fall wrangled the Reserves away from the Navy

Tempest at Teapot Dome, Wyoming: the Greatest Political Scandal in the History of the American Oil Industry

By Matt Silverman


Matt Silverman was RMAGs President in 2014 and is Exploration Manager for Robert L. Bayless, Producer in Denver. He serves as General Chair of the Petroleum History Institutes 2016 meeting in Casper. This paper represents the triple junction of his interests in petroleum exploration, American political history and bathtub gin.


Historical postcard of Teapot , unidentified publisher

Department, and then leased the field in 1922 to in-dependent oil titan Harry Sinclair in a secret, non-competitive deal. Senate hearings followed, Fall resigned less than a year later, and Harding died sud-denly a few months afterwards.Investigators determined that Fall had received about $400,000 (some tens of millions in todays dol-lars) in loans from Sinclair. He was convicted and imprisoned in 1931 for felonies committed in office, the only Cabinet officer (so far!) ever to suffer such ignominy. Sinclair was jailed for contempt, the leases were invalidated by the Supreme Court, and Teapot was returned to the Navy.For decades Teapot Dome was administered by the Navy and then the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as the last Naval Petroleum Reserve. It is an asymmetrical, Laramide anticline on the southwest-ern flank of the Powder River Basin. Teapot includes basement-seated north-south faults on its west-ern boundary and deep, east-west faults throughout

the field. Its key producing zones are Cretaceous sandstones and shales, and the Pennsylvanian Tensleep Formation.Teapot still produces several hundred BOPD and several thousand BWPD from about 400 wells. There is undeveloped potential for primary and enhanced oil recovery, as well as in fill and horizontal drill-ing targets.Meagher Energy Advisors was retained in 2014 by DOE to solicit offers for Teapot Dome, and effective January 30, 2015, Teapot was acquired by Stranded Oil Resources for $42.5 million. Transfer of title to a new, private operator after 100 years as a Naval Pe-troleum Reserve represents another exciting chapter in the history of Americas most notorious oilfield.The scandal is over but the story continues. The Petroleum History Institute will meet in Casper, Wyo-ming, from July 28-31 in 2016. This meeting is open to the public and will include papers, posters and a tour of Teapot Dome and Salt Creek Field. For more informa-tion,please visit www.petroleumhistory.org.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 rMAG LUnCHeOn PrOGrAMs



PREVIEW: 22ND ANNUAL 3D SEIS-MIC SYMPOSIUM

The 22nd Annual 3D Seismic Symposium, jointly sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Association of Ge-ologists and the Denver Geophysical Society, will be held Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 at the Colorado Con-vention Center in Downtown Denver, Colorado. This is the same venue as last year, with its expanded so-cial and exhibitor space. This years symposium is co-chaired by Mary Sue Purcell and Cambrey Cammon.The 3D Symposium will highlight 13 presenta-tions, concentrating on case histories in resource plays using large-scale 3D seismic surveys. Case stud-ies include: the Mars North Polar Cap, the Wattenberg Field Niobrara formation, the Bakken formation, along with geologic formations in Wyoming, Texas, and

Oklahoma. Attendees to this years Symposium will witness the most up-to-date concepts and workflows in our industry, with many of the talks being present-ed in public for the first time. Early Registration is currently available by contacting RMAG societies or via the 3D Symposium website www.3dseismicsym-posium.com. This years lunch time Keynote speaker will be Dr. Nathaniel Putzig, from the Southwest Research Insti-tute. He will present Three-dimensional Radar Imag-ing of Structures within the North Polar Cap of Mars. The first 3D volume of the Mars Reconnaissance Or-biter Shallow Radar data encompassing the north

22nd ANNUAL 3D SEISMIC SYMPOSIUM

Focusing Our Energy 3D Seismic Symposium Set for March 3, 2016

PREVIEW: 22nd ANNUAL 3D SEISMIC SYMPOSIUM

Thursday, March 3, 2016 Colorado Convention Center Downtown - Denver, Colorado



Preview: 22nd AnnUAL 3d seisMiC syMPOsiUM

polar cap will be shown. Major subsurface structures are plainly visible and other features are newly im-aged, including apparent buried impact craters with no surface expression. These findings place new con-straints on the depositional timing of the northern po-lar deposits and their relationship to climate.

The first presentation of the day will be our morn-ing Kickoff speaker, Ross Peebles, CEO of Global Geo-physical Services. He will present Fast, Actionable, and Affordable Making Seismic a Standard Tool for Ongoing Development Operations. Examples from various unconventional plays will be presented that highlight how 3D and Ambient Seismic are applied to develop operations such as well planning and spac-ing, completion design, production issues, production monitoring, and selecting candidates for re-fracing and infill drilling. Further, some new ideas regard-ing seismic acquisition design, field acquisition ap-proaches and seismic processing will be presented to show how these data can be made fast, actionable and

affordable in order to be applied and incorporated into the fast-paced work programs of unconventional asset development and production. The afternoon Kickoff speakers are Jeremy Boak of the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) and Ju-lie Shemeta, President and Founder of MEQ Geo Inc. This presentation is titled 4-D Seismology of Induced Earthquakes in Oklahoma: Developments at a Geopo-litical Hypocenter. The OGS has been building a seis-mic network to gather and analyze data on the nature of earthquakes, faults, and waste water wells in the region to understand the connections among them. This work led to a position statement in April that ac-knowledged the connection between substantially in-creased disposal of water in the Arbuckle Formation and the basement, and an ~600 fold increase in the number of earthquakes of magnitude greater than 3.0 (Mm).Jeff Zawila from SM Energy will present an In-tegrated Multi-Disciplinary Approach Utilizing CONTINUED ON PAGE 18


18 Vol. 65, No. 1 | www.rmag.org


Stratigraphy, Petrophysics, and Geophysics to Predict Reservoir Properties of Tight Unconventional Sand-stones in the Powder River Basin, WY. His approach of correlating core facies to petrophysical wireline fa-cies to seismic facies for tight unconventional sand-stones is presented along with results of simultane-ous, geostatistical seismic inversion. Seismic facies and reservoir rock properties, which are calibrated to wireline logs and core data, are mapped from 3D seis-mic inversion volumes. The maps provide a detailed understanding of the characteristics of the reservoirs, namely their spatial distribution, geometry, and inter-nal architecture.Johannes Douma with Cimarex Energy will talk about the Delaware Basin: Optimizing Landing Zone and Drill Time with Pre-Stack Inversions. Cyclical sea level changes within the Delaware Basin led to al-ternating carbonate and siliciclastic intervals. The carbonates can cause significant issues that may re-duce rate of penetration, increase drill bit wear, and OUTCROP | January 2016

be difficult to hydraulically fracture. Pre-stack inver-sions allow the user to invert for acoustic impedance, elastic impedance, and density. These attributes may allow one to delineate sands, shales, and carbonates. Cimarex Energy is using seismic pre-stack inversions to land wells within the best quality rock while avoid-ing carbonates.Travis Pitcher will present his masters thesis work from the Colorado School of Mines Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP), titled: Joint Geophys-ical and Geomechanical Analysis of In-Situ Stress, Wattenberg Field, Colorado, USA. The RCP, in cooper-ation with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, under-took an integrated dynamic reservoir characterization of a portion of Wattenberg Field integrating the dis-ciplines of geophysics, geology, geomechanics, petro-physics, and petroleum engineering. The objective of his research was to integrate and correlate geophys-ical and geomechanical data in an effort to provide a better reservoir characterization in Wattenberg Field. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20



New Date: 24 March 2016

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One Full-day SessionThe Denver Playmakers Forum will feature US Rockies plays that were put together by well-known, successful playmakers. The forum will feature case histories, learnings, strategies, and suggestions for future playmakers. The event is co-sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the Division of Professional Affairs-AAPG.

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Preview: 22nd AnnUAL 3d seisMiC syMPOsiUM Preview: 22nd AnnUAL 3d seisMiC syMPOsiUM

The largest control on production variability in the study area appears to be geology, both at the seis-mic and sub-seismic scale. Travis research shows the stress differences within the study area exist due to complex geologic structures largely controlled by faults. These features control pressure and stress dis-tribution throughout the reservoir and are considered to be the main driving factors for production variabili-ty across the study area.Tony Lupo with SM Energy will present Creating the Conditions for a Resource Play in Complexly Dis-tributed Reservoirs via 3D Seismic Reservoir Charac-terization: A Case Study from the Cleveland Formation in Kay County, OK. By integrating high-resolution 3D seismic and detailed sequence stratigraphic analysis, thicker, productive Cleveland reservoir fairways can be identified and drilled economically on the Nemaha Ridge. Optimal drilling locations are best identified by fine-scale correlations and seismic mapping, linked to subtle syn-sedimentary tectonics. High-resolution 3D seismic and multi-attribute analysis has proven a key tool in differentiating and predicting optimal res-ervoir trends in this new play and sets up an oppor-tunity for focused horizontal exploitation that can be broadly applied to a number of other similar plays in old development areas.Jyoti Behura with Seismic Science LLC will speak about Vogl 3D Surface Seismic Data: Geomechanical and Geophysical Analysis Through Re-datuming and Inversion. Knowledge and utilization of in-situ stress and fracture distributions in the subsurface deter-mine the operational success in most unconvention-al plays. Besides stress and fracture distributions, seismic attributes derived from AVO, velocity, and at-tenuation analyses play key roles in the characteri-zation and development of these plays. In this case study of the Vogl area of the Wattenberg Field, Colora-do, he uses only the surface seismic data to decipher the stress distribution from azimuthal velocity analy-sis, fracture orientation and rock properties from az-imuthal AVO inversion, and fault properties through attenuation inversion. Since the robustness and accu-racy of the above attributes are extremely sensitive to the overburden effects, he utilizes a novel re-datum-ing technique to eliminate all effects of overburden. The attributes are analyzed to draw conclusions about

fault seal, maximum horizontal stress direction, and dominant fracture direction.Trey Cortez with Energy & Exploration Partners will present Sweet Spot Identification for Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing Using Geophysics, Geology, and Geomechanics: Application to the Buda, George-town and Edwards Unconventional Oil Play. Vertical-ly commingled wells in East Texas are being devel-oped on the heels of the prolific Austin Chalk fracture play. To quantify the sweet spots, pre/post-stack seis-mic attributes were used to derive models of porosi-ty, water saturation, and fracture density. These were combined to form a sweet spot model, which unfor-tunately could not explain all the well performanc-es. A new geomechanical model was built by includ-ing the estimated differential stress caused by faults and natural fractures in the study area. The results of this model were validated with a reprocessed mi-croseismic survey that used anisotropic velocity to improve event position. The combined geologic and geomechanical models gave a better understanding of well performance.Lee Krystinik with Equus Alliance will talk about Transgressive Reworking of Deltaic Headlands and the Formation of Isolated Shelf Sandstone Reservoirs. Deltaic headlands and other geomorphic features along a coastline can dramatically impact the gene-sis, placement and preservation of isolated sandstone bodies on marine shelves, especially during transgres-sions after a significant lowstand. Much of the sand in the Upper Mississippian Springer Formation in the northern Anadarko basin of Oklahoma was delivered via incised valleys and lowstand deltas that pumped clastic sediment into a low accommodation shelfal



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setting with strong longshore currents. Subsequent transgressive erosion and longshore transport pro-duced progressive migration of elongate and isolat-ed bar sands (stranded shoreline deposits and shelf shoals). This process placed these reservoirs far from their sediment source and encased them within seal-ing, shelfal mudstones. The preserved Springer reser-voirs may bear no apparent genetic relationship to the initial incised valley or deltaic source of the sediment. A similar relationship exists for numerous isolated sandstones in the Mid- to Upper Cretaceous of Wyo-ming. Significant exploration opportunities likely ex-ist down longshore drift from other deltaic headlands deposited in low accommodation settings.Heloise Lynn with Lynn Inc. will present Azimuth-al Variations in P-P Pre-stack Amplitudes and AVO Gradients, from the Top of a Carbonate Naturally-Frac-tured Oil Reservoir. Previous work on the published high-fold full-azimuth 3D P-P dataset taken through Offset Vector Tile Pre-stack Depth Migration has tied azimuthal interval velocities, and pre-stack ampli-tudes and AVO gradient by azimuth (AVOaz) measure-ments to calibration data. New work has focused on the relationship of the azimuth-blind Intercept-Gra-dient, through cross-plotting. In the azimuth-blind situation, a dimmed near offset amplitude is typically linked to a flat or positive AVO gradient, indicating the decrease of Vs in the carbonate. These anomalous val-ues, observed at faults and at strongly negative curva-ture features, suggest to the interpreter that the pres-ence of fractures in the carbonate has decreased the value of the Vs, and Vp, in the carbonate. J.B. Aldrich with MHA Petroleum Consultants will discuss The Use of 3D and 4D Seismic Technologies in Evaluating Reserves and Resources: Applications of 3D Seismic and Microseismic to the SEC and PRMS Evaluations. Currently the USA SEC guidance and the 2011 PRMS guidelines specify, to differing degrees, uses of seismic technology to estimate in-place hydro-carbon volumes. 3D volumes of seismic data, includ-ing various attribute analyses, are one common form of seismic technology widely used over large areas in both conventional and unconventional fields. Mi-croseismic data is a 4D passive seismic method used on a limited areal scale to map detailed microseismic events triggered by the injection of stimulation fluids.

While microseismic has been employed in conven-tional fields, its primary application has been to esti-mate the stimulated rock volume in unconventional fields. Accepted practices and workflows for inclusion of seismic technologies in reserve and resource evalu-ations are demonstrated, yet there are important dif-ferences depending on the standard under which the evaluation is being made. Similarities and differences between the SEC and PRMS standards are document-ed and the applications of the best practices in the seismic work flow are detailed.Chelsea Newgord with SIGMA3 will present Mid-dle Bakken Well Performance Predicted Using Shale Capacity. For this Bakken case study, Shale Capaci-ty is used to predict the 90-day initial production for six blind wells. The available data includes 3D surface seismic, wells with logs, wells with 90-day initial pro-duction, geosteering from horizontal wells, and micro-seismic data. Using these data, a Shale Capacity mod-el is built. Seismic attributes are calculated including curvature, post-stack acoustic impedance inversions, and pre-stack elastic properties. These seismic attri-butes are used as input for a neural network and are ranked against the well log properties to build a 3D geologic model of each well log property. Geologic at-tributes of Natural Facture Density, Brittleness, Poros-ity, and Total Organic Carbon are combined to com-pute Shale Capacity. Finally, the microseismic data is qualitatively compared to Shale Capacity.

The technical program reflects the 3D Sympo-sium technical committees interest in groundbreak-ing talks that include case studies from the Rockies or analog plays, or present new technology or ideas. A special emphasis was placed on integrated workflows that combine geology, petrophysics, geomechanics, or engineering with geophysical work. Anyone interest-ed in basins such as the Williston, Denver-Julesburg, Anadarko, Permian, Powder River, on up to Canada or even Mars will benefit from the research present-ed by the lineup of speakers above. Whether used for exploration, well planning, geosteering, asset develop-ment, fracture identification, stress determination, or production prediction, the technical program for the 2016 3D Seismic Symposium is sure to demonstrate the value of 3D seismic.For more information on this event, please visit www.3dseismicsymposium.com.


03031z910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202 | follow: @rmagdenver email: [email protected] | phone: 303.573.8621 | fax: 303.476.2241 | web: www.rmag.org

Thursday, March 3, 2016Colorado Convention Center

www.3dseismicsymposium.com

22nd Annual RMAG & DGS

3D Seismic SymposiumFocusing our Energy

Registration, Sponsorship, Exhibitor registration are all open.

Morning Kicko Speaker Ross Peebles Global Geophysical

Keynote Speaker Than Putzig Southwest Research

Afternoon Kicko Speakers Jeremy Boak, Oklahoma Geological SurveyJulie Shemeta, MEQ Geo Inc.

SpeakersJe Zawila SM EnergyJohannes Douma Cimarex EnergyTravis Pitcher CSM - RCPTony Lupo SM EnergyJyoti Behura Seismic ScienceTrey Cortez ENXPLee Krystinik Equus AllianceHeloise Lynn Lynn Inc.J.B. Aldrich MHA Petroleum ConsultantsChelsea Newgord Sigma3


Chris Besler is a Senior Geophysical Advisor at Lago Petroleum Consulting in Denver, Colorado.Daniel Bettinger is a student in Parker, Colorado.Cali Dodd is a student in Fort Collins, Colorado.Lauren Guidry is a Geologist in Denver, Colorado.Clayton Harp is a Geologist at QEP Resources in Denver, Colorado.Marissa Hillje lives in Thornton, Colorado.Allison Kimbrough is a student in Boulder, Colorado.

Shawn Lopez is a student in Golden, Colorado.Paula Mohseni is a Geologist in Littleton, Colorado.Rachael Moreland is a Technical Advisor/Geologist at IHS in Aurora, Colorado.Adam Parker is a Student at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.Ross Peebles is a Chief Executive Officer at Global Geophysical Services in Missouri City, Texas.Craig Peterson is a Geological Sciences M.S. Student at University Of Colorado, Boulder in Boulder, Colorado.

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The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is pleased to present Charles Elmo Brown with its 2015 Presidents Award. Elmo is being awarded this honor for his lengthy and dedicated service to RMAG and numerous geological societies.Elmo has been a long-standing member of RMAG, serving as President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. He has served as Chair of the Publications, Popular Geology, Finance, Membership, Employ-ment and Public Outreach committees. In addi-tion, Elmo has been a co-instructor for the RMAG Teachers in Training class. He continues to serve RMAG on the Long-Term Planning and Professional Awards committees. Most recently Elmo served the Rocky Moun-tain Section AAPG as an officer from 2010 to 2015,

with increasing roles of responsibility, culminating with President in 2013-2014. When a co-chair of the 2014 RMS-AAPG meeting withdrew, Elmo assumed additional responsibilities to ensure the meet-ings success.Elmo has previously been recognized by AAPG with a Certificate of Merit and a Public Service Award, and by RMAG with a Distinguished Service Award and Honorary Membership.For his long-standing commitment to serving the geological community, both locally and nationally, and his extensive public service outreach for RMAG, AAPG and RMS-AAPG, the Rocky Mountain Associa-tion of Geologists recognizes C. Elmo Brown with its 2015 Presidents Award.

C. Elmo Brown Presented with 2015 Presidents Award

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Benjamin Ramaker is a Senior Geologist at Anadarko Petroleum in Denver, Colorado.A Scott Ritchie is a Chairman at Ritchie Exploration, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas.Clayton Roark is a Senior Vice President at Koch Exploration in Denver, Colorado.

Dylan Rose-Coss is a Student/Researcher at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico.Kate Schwehr is a Geologist in Billings, Montana.Brandon Snyder is a student in Denver, Colorado.Bob Wilcox is a Consultant at Rock Reader Consulting, LLC in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

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DEEP IN THE HEART OF BUTTEA Special Report: Part 2

LEAD STORY

An archive photogragh of the Parrot Tailings complex, circa 1900. Provided by The Montana Standard


By Susan Dunlap

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MONTANA STANDARD

Editors Note: The following is a con-tinuation of last months lead story on the Parrot Plume in Butte, MT. If you have not read last months is-sue feel free to download it from the RMAG website.

WHATS IN PLACE NOW?ARCO built a system to capture contaminated groundwater com-ing from the Butte Hill, treat it, and send it back into Silver Bow Creek. The project began in 1998, Ryan said. ARCO completed the system in 2014, Greene said. Greene also said Silver Bow Creek has met standards for aquatic life since January 2011.The EPAs record of decision says groundwater will be treated in Butte in perpetuity. The system consists of four parts: the sub-drain, a pump vault, the hydraulic control channel, and the Butte Treatment Lagoons.The sub-drain lies underground. It is about five feet deep from the sur-face. It rests in a bed of gravel be-neath the mostly dry drainage ditch frequently called the Metro Storm Drain, or MSD, channel parallel to George Street. The sub-drain is a slotted pipe. One way to think of it is a pipe with holes in it so the dirty water can move into it. The pump vault, located across from the visitor center, sends the dirty water on its way from the sub-drain into a regu-lar pipe. The regular pipe transports the dirty water into an above-ground concrete channel. That channel called the hydraulic control channel provides a concrete pathway west of the slag walls at South Montana Street. Once the dirty water is in the



LeAd stOry

hydraulic control channel, it moves above ground and flows along in an area that looks like a waste land beside Silver Bow Creek before emptying into the Butte Treatment Lagoons. The lagoons consist of nine ponds and are visible from Interstate 90.The lagoons are monitored and treated with

lime to make the metals drop out as the water flows through the ponds and eventually discharges into Sil-ver Bow Creek.The treatment lagoons receive praise from Grif-fin, who up until a few months ago represented the states position.




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LeAd stOry

Its susceptible to upsets to the system, Griffin told the Standard, but its pretty efficient. It works pretty well.The system in place now, from the underground sub-drain starting just south of Harrison Avenue to the Butte Treatment Lagoon discharge near the I-90 overpass, is enabling Silver Bow Creek to meet stan-dards for aquatic life during normal flow. Because of that, Greene says the EPA will not and cannot change its position on digging up the contamination in the Par-rot corridor.We have to base our de-cision (about the cleanup) off whats going on in the stream, Greene said. The data is telling us its working.But scientists who work for the state in various agencies dis-agree with the assessment that the capture system is working at least as far as the dirty water coming from the old Parrot tail-ings is concerned.Ted Duaime, a hydrogeol-ogist who supervised the bu-reaus 2010 study on the Parrot, said the system in place is not a preferred way to create a cap-ture system.Duaime pointed out the sub-drain, lying horizontally under-ground from approximately the Civic Center to the visitor cen-ter, is about five feet deep. The contaminated water coming from the Parrot is approximately 50 to 60 feet deep.BPs Ryan said the sub-drain does work. In an emailed statement, Ryan commented, the condi-tions in the area around the Butte Chamber of Com-merce are similar to how an artesian well works, as deeper groundwater in the area naturally upwells to the surface.Dave Williams, a geologist who chairs the Cit-izens Technical Environmental Committee a group funded by the EPA says the sub-drain was

not designed to capture all of the pollution from the Parrot tailings.It couldnt have been, because they didnt know where all of it was, Williams told the Standard.Ryan disagrees. In his emailed statement, he commented: The MSD sub-drain is fulfilling its in-tended purpose and effectively intercepts ground-water before it reaches Silver Bow Creek.Ford was also critical of the sub-drains abil-ity to capture the dirty water emanating from the Parrot.Its a 10-inch pipe; its not logical, Ford said.

A GAP IN THE SYSTEMAnother problem with the capture system is a gap. From the visitor center to the lagoon ponds, no ground water is be-ing captured.A 2012 study stated contam-inated water is impacting Silver Bow Creek where the slag walls border the creek channel. Greene said that has been fixed.That area falls within the cap-ture systems gap.Greene said the EPA is look-ing at the gap and ARCO is ex-pected to produce a revised study on the gap by the end of this month.Greene acknowledged zinc is showing up in Silver Bow Creek within the gap, but he says it is more likely coming from the slag walls, not the Parrot corridor. He said he is currently reviewing data that suggests the slag walls are the cause.

WHERES THE CONTAMINATION?No one knows why exactly heavier amounts of contamination are not showing up in the creek. But several state scientists strongly disagree with Greene that the lack of its appearance in the creek is a reason to leave the Parrot tailings in place.



This is very well-established science. The EPA has written

guidance on this. Theyre looking in the wrong (material). You monitor groundwater. You dont wait till it

shows up in the creek. JIM FORD, environmental

science specialist with the Natural Resource Damage program


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LeAd stOry

Ford called expecting the majority of the con-tamination to show up in the creek at this point a fundamental misunderstanding of science.Greene responded by saying the EPA believes contaminated groundwater is being captured.Groundwater and surface water transport con-taminants differently, Ford said, and metals would partition off into sediment under or around the creek before entering the stream. But in the future, the metals would begin to appear.This is very well-established science. The EPA has written guidance on this, Ford said. Theyre looking in the wrong (material). You monitor groundwater. You dont wait till it shows up in the creek.Greene acknowledged the EPA has such guid-ance but said certain conditions must exist for the partitioning of sediment to happen.Ford said there are wells within five feet of the creek that have very high concentrations of contaminants.Duaime warned, regardless of whats going on in the creek now, the Parrot plume has the potential

to find its way into Blacktail and Silver Bow Creeks as time goes on.Greene responded by saying there are a lot of what ifs.If the data was telling us its not working, we would be all over it, Greene said.Icopini said contaminated groundwater is hit-ting the creek near the KOA. He said its not bad enough yet to cause the creek to exceed standards. He also said no one knows for sure its source.THE DEBATEScientists representing the state say the plume has never been adequately understood. Greene says it has. He said 135 wells are in place at the site.Ford said other aspects of the Butte Hill were characterized adequately but the EPA failed to fully understand groundwater when the agency looked at the site in the early years.

The (record of decision) was finalized in 2006. Its 2015, and were still debating where the con-tamination resides and where its going. I think that

sort of answers it, Ford said.Icopini criticized the placement of the wells the majority of them are in a line, he said as well as the depths of the wells. Some are shallow and some are deep, but theyre all treated as if theyre measuring the same thing.The water table will change depending on which well you use, Icopini said. That complicates whats going on there.Griffin said there should be more wells.Greene said that as the EPA finds data gaps, the agency puts in more wells.

THE PUBLICWhile the EPA and the other negotiating par-ties work toward a consent decree, for the Butte Hill and upper Silver Bow Creek, activists are speaking clearly: They want the Parrot cleaned up.How can I enforce ARCO to remove some-thing that the data tells me shouldnt be removed? Greene asked.But many remain unconvinced.Tester sent a letter in June to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy during the agencys recent five-year Superfund review saying he wants the Parrot tail-ings removed.Butte should be driving the bus on this, wheth-er it costs $50 million or $50 bucks, Tester told the Standard.The reply Tester received was signed by Shaun McGrath, EPA regional administrator. McGraths let-ter did not address Testers remarks regarding the Parrot corridor.Others who have spoken publicly on this issue as well as written letters to the EPA include local groups such as Citizens for Labor and Environmen-tal Justice, Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition, Butte Natural Resource Damage Council, and CTEC. Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Matt Vincent and Planning Director/Superfund Coordinator Jon Ses-so say they support the tailings removal (see relat-ed story). Gov. Bullock says he supports cleaning up the tailings.Bullock stated through his deputy communica-tions director Mike Wessler via email: The Gover-nors top priority is the cleanup of the site. Details




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LeAd stOry

of how best to go about it are to be worked out.Current MDEQ project manager Darryl Reed would not comment to the Standard for this story other than to say that MDEQ continues to support removal of the tailings.Project Green, a group previously dormant, has regrouped along with Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition and Citizens for Labor and Environmental Justice to rally for a cleanup.Its the future of our community, Project Green board president Northey Tretheway told the Stan-dard. We have to do something. We dont have for-ever to make things right.The Butte Natural Resource Damage Council set aside $10 million that came from a 2008 settlement with ARCO to clean up the worst of the Parrot con-tamination. BNRC board chair Elizabeth Erickson said they set aside the money toward a cleanup of the Parrot corridor because the public overwhelm-ingly wanted it done.We still have a source area in the middle of our town thats contaminating groundwater, and its moving faster than was previously thought, Erickson told the Standard. We need to address the threat.In an effort to effect change, three citizens formed the Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition in 2010 to launch a lawsuit against MDEQ. The law-suit is over the name of the approximately 1.5 mile stretch of mostly dry creek bed along George Street to Silver Bow Creek. Official documents call that area the Metro Storm Drain, or MSD, channel. The Works Project Administration built it roughly in the area of the historic Silver Bow Creek channel in the 1930s for flood control. One of the members, Fritz

Daily, says the coalition started the lawsuit as a way to force the state and the EPA to clean up the Par-rot corridor.Daily said his group believes that if the mostly dry channel is called a creek, then legally it becomes waters of the state and the state will have a consti-tutional duty to clean up that area.Hopefully were putting that pressure on them to do whats right, Daily told the Standard. Unless they remove those tailings, were not going to have a clean creek.CAN THE TWO SIDES EVER AGREE?While the debate between state scientists and the EPA is painfully complex and appears perma-nently intractable, a flicker of hope might be gleam-ing in the distance. Greene told the Standard the EPA wants to work with the state.We want to work with them, and were in sup-port of their restoration efforts, Greene said.Ryan said in his email that ARCO has not pledged anything further for restoration work.This is important because the NRD proposal to take out the worst of the contamination currently hinges on ARCO putting in $10 million.

Ryan added: Atlantic Richfield paid $72.5 mil-lion to the State to settle all then-remaining Nation-al Resource Damage restoration claims, and the State allocated $28 million of that sum to Butte for restoration. Excavation of buried tailings and oth-er wastes for restoration purposes was the basis of that claim, and the dollar amount of the settlement was derived from cost estimates that included the removal of the Parrot tailings and other waste ma-terials in the area. We leave it to the state to deter-mine how these funds may best be spent.


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CALENDAR | JANUARY 2016


AAPG ....................................................................... 7

AAPG/RMAG DPA Playmakers ............................. 19

Crown Geochemistry ............................................... 6

Daub & Associates, LLC ........................................ 10

Donovan Brothers Inc. .......................................... 10

GeoSteering . .......................................................... 15

Horizontal Solutions Intl. (HSI) ................................ 8

James C. Karo Associates Land Services ............. 11

JLog ......................................................................... 8

Johnson Geo-Consulting, LLC ................................. 6

Kestrel Geoscience, LLC ......................................... 4

Louis J. Mazzullo, LLC ........................................... 10

Mineral Appraiser, LLC ........................................... 4

MJ Systems .......................................................... 17

Neil H. Whitehead, III ........................................... 20

PTTC ........................................................................ 9

Sinclair Petroleum Engineering, Inc. ...................... 4

Spancers & Associates ........................................... 4

Stoner Engineering (SES) ...................................... 21

T-Rex Oil Inc. .......................................................... 4

W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC ............ 4, 10

ADVERTISER INDEX

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28

1

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2

9

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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

DWLS Luncheon.

PTTC Short Course.

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Oilfield Christian Fellowship.

DIPS Luncheon.

PTTC Short Course.

IHS Class for RMAG Members.

AAPGAAPG/RMAG DPA PlaymakersCrown GeochemistryDaub & Associates, LLCDonovan Brothers Inc. GeosteeringHorizontal Solutions Intl. (HSI)James C. Karo Associates Land ServicesJLogJohnson Geo-Consulting, LLCKestrel Geoscience, LLCLouis J. Mazzullo, LLCMineral Appraiser, LLCMJ SystemsNeil H. Whitehead, IIIPTTCSinclair Petroleum Engineering, Inc. Spancers & AssociatesStoner Engineering (SES)T-Rex Oil Inc. W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLCW.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC

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January 2016 Outcrop