Drilling for Water and Life - The Human Side of Petroleum Engineering

Lyn Arscott, SPE, Consultant

In the 40 years or so that I have worked in the oil and gas industry, I have witnessed an impressive transformation in our industry’s performance in protecting people and the environment. There are obvious business and legal drivers, but the success would not have happened without appealing to employees in our industry to be good stewards of the environment and to help others.

It is understood that our industry operates by permission of the public: no permission, no permits. Many companies have excellent programs for partnerships with the communities where they operate. Every year, SPE recognizes exceptional service to the public with its Public Service Award. SPE also has an active energy education program with the objective of improving the industry’s public image. The Society encourages section members to get involved with local civic groups and to serve as speakers on energy issues. SPE also sponsors speakers to attend teachers’ conventions and is starting a fund to help teachers buy teaching materials on energy education for classroom use and to help pay for education events and trips. The vision statement in the Industry Image section of the recently approved SPE Long Range Plan states: “Petroleum professionals are widely regarded as ethical, competent, environmentally sensitive, and providing a vital service to society.” It is in keeping with SPE’s tradition of community service that I share an opportunity for humanitarian service that requires the special skills of petroleum engineers.

In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Johannesburg Declaration committed the 189 nations who signed it to develop concrete action to reverse the poverty, hunger, and disease affecting billions of people. The declaration endorsed a previous set of goals formulated by world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. One of the goals is to “reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation by the year 2015.” A few years ago, a group of nongovernmental organizations combined to form the Millennium Water Alliance to coordinate efforts to save lives by providing clean water and sanitation to the world’s poorest countries, where approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

Volunteers and students erect a tripod to repair a failed pump in an Ethiopian village.

Children are the most vulnerable to diseases resulting from contaminated water or from inadequate quantities of water for drinking and personal hygiene. It has been estimated that 5,000 children die every day from water- and sanitation-related diseases. Frequent bouts of intestinal problems lead to further deterioration in nutritional status and in the ability to resist disease. Malnutrition is the most significant cause of immunodeficiency and is associated with about half of all child deaths. The following quote is from a 10-year-old student from the Bwanda primary school in Kenya whose school was the recipient of a new water well:

“I am 10 years old in class five at Bwanda Primary School. Before the installation of water at my school, I used to come home for lunch and find that my mother has gone to look for water. It was a routine that before I went back to school, I had to fetch one bucket of water. The river was very far from my home. I would walk to the river but would become very tired, and so I would never attend classes in the afternoon. Not only that, but if I reported back to school and was late, the teachers would punish me. I don’t think it mattered to them that I was working to fetch water during my lunch break. Instead of reporting late to the afternoon classes, I would stay home and then report back the following day. This started causing another problem, because I would never do the assignments given to the students in the afternoon classes. GWAKO Ministries drilled a borehole in our school compound, and my problems were solved because

I can now carry water home in a small can on my way home from school.
I am no longer punished because I don’t miss classes.
I am now clean and smart because there is water for bathing and washing.
I am no longer exposed to risks like rape, because I don’t walk late in the evening in search of water.
I perform better than before in our class, because I don’t miss classes as I used to.”

Volunteers are needed to help train communities in many parts of the world to obtain clean water. Useful knowledge includes hydrology, drilling, pump repair, water filtration, and basic sanitation, all of which are a natural fit for SPE members’ skills. As an example of the way the process works, it is informative to relate the experience of one SPE member, Lon Stuebinger of Denver. He attended a 4-day hygiene training seminar in 2005 organized by a group called Lifewater and then joined a team for a 3-week trip to Tibet to teach the local people how to drill water wells in a school facility. Stuebinger took a further 4 days of training in pump repair in Houston in 2006 followed by a 3-week trip to Ethiopia to teach local people how to repair broken pumps. He also completed a further 4 days of training in sanitation in California in 2006 and is planning to take a trip this year to Uganda to teach pump repair.

I am aware of other engineers who have donated their time and talents to similar projects through the organization called Engineers Without Borders. In some cases, their companies are pleased to sponsor them. I am hopeful that we can improve our communication within SPE about the fine humanitarian efforts of our members so that they can share their experiences and encourage others to participate. Members who are interested in learning more about this type of opportunity may contact me at safewater@spemail.org.

Lyn Arscott, SPE, is a consultant to the international oil and gas industry specializing in sustainable development. He was 1988 SPE President and was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on the subject of sustainable development in the oil and gas industry in 2001–02. He is an Honorary Member of SPE and the American Inst. of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. From 1998 to 2001, he was Executive Director of the Intl. Assn. of Oil & Gas Producers. He is a past Chairman of the American Petro-leum Inst. General Committee on Health and Environment and past Chairman of the Western States Petroleum Assn. committee on Environment, Health, and Safety. Arscott retired from Chevron Corp. in 1998, where his assignments included Senior Executive Consultant for Exploration and Production reporting to the Chairman of the Board and Corporate General Manager of Health, Environment, and Safety. He was a member of the Chevron Corporate Management Committee. He holds BS and PhD degrees in engineering from the U. of Nottingham, England.