Becker Well Abandonment

Marine Construction

Becker Well Abandonment

The Becker Well is located on the beach in Summerland Ca. The well had been drilled in the early 19th century and initially abandoned in the 20’s.

Project Facts

The original abandonment failed, and the well began seeping several years ago, causing oil to discharge onto the beach and surrounding aquatic environment. The wells exact location was within the surf zone on the beach below Lookout Park just west of downtown. The well location was exposed at low tide, but underwater during high tide. This made accessing the wellhead difficult for any period of time from the land side, and equally difficult from the sea. The strategy for the abandonment was to drive a cofferdam over the well, expose the wellhead that was roughly 5’ below the sand, then drive a pipe pile over the top. The pipe pile was to be driven to a depth of 25’ to give it significant embedment into the native clay to form a seal, then filled with grout to encase the wellhead. Curtin Maritime developed a strategy that could get the equipment on station and execute the project. Hydrographic surveys were done as well as physical inspection of the beach during high and low tides. It was determined that our crane barge could be pushed into the surf zone at high tide within a workable distance from the well and remain in place grounded during low tide to continue the work. In all, the project was completed in 4 days safely and successfully.

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