Completion Report for Well ER-EC-2A

Well ER-EC-2A was drilled for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations Office, in support of the Nevada Environmental Restoration Project at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. This well was drilled in January and February of 2000 as part of a hydrogeologic investigation program in the Pahute Mesa - Oasis Valley region just west of the Nevada Test Site. A 44.5-centimeter surface hole was drilled and cased off to a depth of 412.9 meters below the surface. The hole diameter was then decreased to 31.1 centimeters for drilling to a total depth of 1,516.1 meters. One completion string with three isolated slotted intervals was installed in the well. A preliminary composite, static water level was measured at the depth of 228.0 meters, approximately two months after installation of the completion string. Detailed lithologic descriptions with preliminary stratigraphic assignments are included in this report. These are based on composite drill cuttings collected every 3 meters, and 81 sidewall samples taken at various depths below 212 meters, supplemented by geophysical log data. Detailed petrographic, chemical, and mineralogical studies of rock samples were conducted on 30 samples. The well was collared in rhyolite lava and penetrated Tertiary-age lava and tuff of the Volcanics of Fortymile Canyon and the Timber Mountain Group. The preliminary geologic interpretation of borehole data indicates that this well was drilled within the margins of the buried Rainier Mesa and Ammonia Tanks calderas, and that caldera collapse in this area was deeper than expected, resulting in a section of Volcanics of Fortymile Canyon (caldera-filling deposit) that is much thicker than expected