Groundwater Exploration Project Near Fox Creek, Alberta, Phase 2

This report describes the second phase of an investigation into the groundwater resources of an area adjacent to the proposed site of the Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Company's gas plant, located two and one-half miles southwest of the town of Fox Creek, Alberta. The first phase, conducted by R. J. Clissold, consisted of field mapping of surficial groundwater phenomena, collection of water samples for chemical analysis, and the drilling and bail testing of three deep test holes, W.T.H. No. 1, W.T.H. No. 2, and W.T.H. No. 3A. The findings of this study have been reported in detail (Clissold, 1968) and indicate excellent prospects of developing the required supply of groundwater, 1000 igpm (imperial gallons per minute) for a period of 20 years, from an area within a two mile-radius of the plant and from depths of less than 500 feet.

The objective of the second phase of the investigation was to obtain more precise production test data at the sites of the three test holes and, if necessary, to advise on the construction and testing of production wells at these sites. The first step was to conduct a constant rate pump test of several days on W.T.H. No. 1 and No. 3A, the site of W.T.H. No 2 being inaccessible during the summer months. During the drilling of an observation well - W.T.H. No. 1A -, 200 feet west of W.T.H. No. 1, it appeared that the same zones which were highly productive in W.T.H. No. 1, had only very low transmissibility at the second site. Therefore, it was considered doubtful whether sufficient production could be obtained from this site, and W.T.H. No. 1 was temporarily abandoned.

At the site of W.T.H. No. 3A, results were more encouraging; as in W.T.H. No. 3A, two productive zones were encountered in W.T.H. No. 3B, offset 200 feet to the east, which had transmissibilities similar to the corresponding zones in W.T.H. No. 3A. Both productive zones were pump tested, and their combined production was estimated at 410 igpm. Later, Production Well No. 3 was constructed at this site.

The failure of W. T. H. No. 1A as a producer necessitated the drilling of additional exploratory holes. Four more test holes were drilled - W.T.H. No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 and No . 7, to depths varying between 240 and 600 feet. Of these, W.T.H. No. 4 and W.T.H. No. 5 proved economically productive, as established from constant rate pump tests, and Production Wells No. 2 and No. 1 were respectively constructed at these sites. The safe production rates are estimated at 425 igpm for Production Well No. 1 and 235 igpm for Production Well No. 2.