POWERGRAMS

25 by thinking outside the box you're dealing with, so you have to go on feel and intuition with wells this deep." He raised the pump but, on the way up, the pen lodged between the side of the well wall and the pump. The pen and the pump were stuck a short distance from the bottom of the well. Goggins was able to free the pump and pull it to the surface, but the pen was missing: Only the pen cap was retrieved. "Now, my ink pen was still at the bottom of the well, with the cap off," Goggins said. "I knew I had to figure out a way to remove the pen because this was one of our compliance sampling wells. I had to get it out." He couldn't leave the pen in the well because of the chance for cross-contamination. Goggins began brainstorming how to retrieve the pen. Checking to see what he had on hand and in his truck, Goggins found a 250-milliliter plastic bottle used for water samples, which was a little smaller than the diameter of the well pipe. An avid fisherman, Goggins began thinking about the workings of minnow traps. Using a razor blade, Goggins cut the bottom of the plastic bottle into slits and pushed it in, mimicking a minnow trap. Next, he placed a PVC- threaded fitting on the bottle top and attached a stainless-steel rod inside the pump to add weight. Thinking the pen would be upright inside the 2-inch diameter well, he hoped that lowering the device would force the pen into the trap. But he didn't know whether the idea would work. "I had no choice – I had to try something," Goggins said. "We needed to sample the well in two days, so I had to get the pen out." Lowering the trap down the well, he eventually felt it hit bottom. He raised the bottle up and down, hoping that it would capture the bait. When Goggins pulled the device to the surface, the pen was inside. Strict protocols for groundwater testing Alabama Power conducts groundwater monitoring at Plants Barry, Gadsden, Gaston, Gorgas, Greene and Miller. Though sampling is semiannual at these facilities, the volume of wells requires nearly year-round monitoring. Ash pond closures can take eight to 10 years to complete, and groundwater monitoring of these sites is required for 30 years afterward. EA Team Leader Nick Pitts has reinforced in Goggins and the groundwater team the importance of honesty and dedication in performing their work. As evidenced in Goggins' work on the well, he demonstrated transparency and resiliency to achieve the desired outcome, Pitts said. Goggins enjoys working outdoors at the plants. "Our job can be demanding, and you have to have patience," he said. "It's a team effort working at the plant sites on different wells. Some wells take a couple of hours or more to sample. We all work together and hold each other accountable at the end of the day. Data quality and integrity are important to us, so we have lots of peer reviews at the end of the week." "This was a learning experience," Goggins said. "If something happens, be honest and work through it and do your best. The rest will work itself out." By Donna Cope Some of the 350 wells are 400 feet deep. Coal combustion residual wells are often only inches wide.

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