As a representative of Madrid Engineering Group, Scott Nyhof, PG attended the “13th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst”, which ran from May 6 through May 10, 2013 at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Sinkhole Conference, which is held in a different location every other year since 1984, is organized to promote an informational exchange, with scientists and engineers presenting technical papers addressing many different, though related issues associated with karst terrains. The conference included a 1-day field trip to several karst-related features in the Pecos River Valley, including the “JWS Sinkhole”, which measures about 350 feet in diameter that formed following the operation of a brine supply well for the local oil and gas industry.

View to south of JWS Sinkhole, Southeastern New Mexico (photo credit: NCKRI)
Composite of JWS Sinkhole, Southeastern New Mexico (view to north)
Note concentric cracks in ground surface in foreground

Other stops included “Bottomless Lakes” State Park, which is situated at the base of a gypsum escarpment.

A second field trip included a tour of the “Waste Isolation Pilot Plant”, which is operated by the US Department of Energy about 30 miles southeast of Carlsbad, NM. At WIPP, low to mid-level contaminated waste is accepted from four remaining DOE facilities for permanent entombment about 2,000 feet below the ground surface, in the middle of a thick layer of evaporates. Contaminated items such as dry PPE and decontamination materials are packed in containers and slid into chambers and portals. Over the next several decades, the salt will slowly flow around the containers, permanently encasing the waste in a water-tight, near-zero oxygen environment. Currently, WIPP accepts about 17 shipments per week, and is looking to work with federal regulators (EPA and NRC) to modify existing rules and restrictions which would allow the facility to accept similar waste from nuclear power plants.

Additional information may be obtained by visiting: www.wipp.energy.gov.

 

Technical sessions presented at the conference ran from Wednesday morning through Friday noon, and included:

  • Edwards Aquifer (near Austin, Texas)

  • Geophysical and Remote Sensing applications in karst-based studies

  • Managing sinkhole-related damage in central and west-central Florida

  • Evaporite karst in New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana

  • Karst features in Tennessee, Minnesota, and Missouri

  • International topics included sinkhole formation in England and Croatia and anthropogenic sinkholes in Italy and Sicily

Authors / presenters included representatives from the USGS, collegiate professors, private consulting companies, semi-retired private individuals, and local public agencies.

The conference concluded with a private tour of Carlsbad Caverns, a UNESCO site located about 30 minutes southwest of the City.

Natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns

The next “Sinkhole Conference” is tentatively scheduled for October 2015 in Rochester, Minnesota.