Beauheim 1987 - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

stabilize in three days of shut-in testing, leading to
the conclusion that the transmissivity of the
claystone is too low to measure in tests performed
on the time scale of days. Similar behavior at H-16
led to the abandonment of testing at that location as
well.
The Magenta Dolomite Member of the Rustler
Formation was tested in wells H-14 and H-16.
Examination of the pressure response during DST's
revealed that the Magenta had taken on a significant
overpressure skin during drilling and Tamarisktesting
activities. Overpressure-skin effects were
less pronounced during the drillstem and rising-head
slug tests performed on the Magenta at H-16. The
transmissivity of the Magenta at H-14 is about 5.5 x
1 0-3 ft2/day, while at H-16 it is about 2.7 x 10-2 ft2/day
(Table 5-2). The static formation pressures
calculated for the Magenta at H-14 and H-16 are
higher than those of the other Rustler members.
The Forty-niner Member of the Rustler Formation was
also tested in wells H-14 and H-16. Two portions of
the Forty-niner were tested in H-14: the medial
claystone and the upper anhydrite. DST's and a
rising-head slug test were performed on the
claystone. The transmissivity of the claystone is
about 7 x 10-2 ftz/day (Table 5-2). A prolonged
buildup test performed on the Forty-niner anhydrite
revealed a transmissivity too low to measure on a
time scale of days. A pulse test, DST's, and a risinghead
slug test were performed on the Forty-niner
clay at H-16, indicating the clay has a transmissivity
of about 5.3 x 10-3 ftz/day (Table 5-2). Formation
pressures estimated for the Forty-niner at H-14 and
H-16 are lower than those calculated for the Magenta
(compensated for the elevation differences),
indicating that water cannot be moving downwards
from the Forty-niner to the Magenta at these
locations.
The lower portion of the Dewey Lake Red Beds,
tested only at well H-14, also has a transmissivity
lower than could be measured in a few days' time.
No information was obtained at H-14 pertaining to the
presence or absence of a water table in the Dewey
Lake Red Beds.
The hydraulic properties of Cenozoic alluvium were
investigated in a pumping test performed at the
Carper well. The alluvium appears to be under watertable
conditions at that location. An estimated 120 ft
of alluvium were tested, with an estimated
transmissivity of 55 ft2/day (Table 5-2).
The database on the transmissivity of the Culebra
dolomite has increased considerably since Mercer's
(1983) summary report on WlPP hydrology. Mercer
(1983) reported values of Culebra transmissivity from
20 locations. This report and other recent reports
have added values from 18 new locations, and have
significantly revised the estimated transmissivities
reported for several of the original 20 locations. In
general, the Culebra is fractured and exhibits doubleporosity
hydraulic behavior at locations where its
transmissivity is greater than 1 ft2/day. These
locations usually, but not always, correlate with the
absence of halite in the unnamed member beneath
the Culebra. leading to a hypothesis that the
dissolution of halite from the unnamed member
causes subsidence and fracturing of the Culebra.
This hypothesis is incomplete, however, because
relatively high transmissivities have been measured
at DOE-I and H-11 where halite is still present
beneath the Culebra, and low transmissivity has
been measured at WIPP-30 where halite is absent
beneath the Culebra.
Recent measurements of the hydraulic heads of the
Rustler members confirm Mercer's (1 983)
observations that over most of the WlPP site, vertical
hydraulic gradients within the Rustler are upward
from the unnamed lower member to the Culebra, and
downward from the Magenta to the Culebra. New
data on hydraulic heads of the Forty-niner claystone
show that hydraulic gradients are upward from the
Magenta to the Forty-niner, effectively preventing
precipitation at the surface at the WlPP site from
recharging the Magenta or deeper Rustler members.
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