Report | Article writing homework help
Project 5.1: Resolving a Landfill Problem
You are the assistant engineer for the Town of Quillicom in Michigan.
Your boss is Robert D. Delorme, P.E., who is the town engineer.
Mr. Delorme calls you into his office and announces, “I have a project
for you. The Town Council has finally decided to so something about
the landfill problem, and they want it done in a hurry.”
You know about the landfill problem. The existing landfill site—at
Lot 22, Subdivision 3S—is nearly full and, recognizing that a new site
will not be selected before the present site reaches its capacity, he has
authorized dumping an additional layer of garbage on top of the com-
pacted fill.
“Before you do anything, I want you to read this,” Mr. Delorme con-
tinues, placing a report in your hands. “It’s a study done by H. L.
Winman and Associates a while ago, and it affects what you will be
doing. Take it away and read it, and then come back to me for further
instructions.”
You read the report (you will find it in Figure 5-6, on pages 112 to
117) and then go back to see Mr. Delorme.
“The town councillors have decided,” he says, “that before they can
make a decision they need to know how much it will cost to drill a
dozen boreholes north of Quillicom and analyze the results. I want you
to get some quotations that I can present to them. You should also be
aware that the councillors very much prefer Lot 18, Subdivision 5N,
rather than either of the other locations.”
“Who will plot the results of the drilling?” you ask.
“Morley Wozniak, at H. L. Winman and Associates in Lansing,
Michigan. He did the previous study and wrote the report I asked you to
read.” Mr. Delorme hands you a map (the same as that in Figure 5-6,
page 114) and a list titled Borehole Specifications for the Area North of
Quillicom, which contains the exact positions Morley has identified
where the drilling must be carried out.
“And how many quotations should I get?” you ask.
“Two, as a minimum,” Mr. Delorme suggests. “Three would be
better.”
The following week you call on the only two drilling companies you
know of in the area, one in Quillicom and one in Marquette. They give
you the following quotations:
Northwest Drillers, Inc. $78,520 (tax incl)
Quillicom, Michigan
M. J. Peabody Inc. $75,900 (tax extra)
Marquette, Michigan
You had almost given up hope that you would find a third company
to give you a quotation, when Mr. Delorme telephones. “Go and see
Bert Knowles,” he instructs you. “He’s the assistant to the superintend-
ent at Melody Lake Mine, and he has a suggestion for an alternative
landfill site.”
Mr. Knowles comes right to the point: “We do both open-pit and
underground mining. Our open-pit mine is nearly worked out and
we will finish excavating there in less than two years. The problem is
that it’s unsightly, and the Environmental Protection Agency is leaning
on Melody Lake Mines to do something about it. That’s where you
come in.”
He explains that the Town of Quillicom can use the open-pit mine for
a landfill, and the mine will lease it to the town for one dollar a year.
“We have only two conditions. You must spread soil over the compacted
garbage, and do it progressively as you go along so there will be no
obnoxious smell for the people who live near the mine to contend with.
And then you must seed it and plant trees.”
You agree: it’s something the Town would do anyway, before closing
a landfill site.
Mr. Knowles drives you to the site and you stand on the lip of a shal-
low, roughly oval excavation varying from about 10 to 50 feet deep.
“How large is it?” you enquire.
“You’ll have to talk to Inga Paullsen. She’s the mine geologist.”
When you visit Inga, she calculates the size of the excavation as
60.9 acres. “That’s what it will be,” she adds, “when the mining is com-
plete. Why do you need to know?”
You describe the difficulty the Town Council is having in finding a
landfill site, mention the three other sites, say the one north of the town
could create an environmental problem, and explain you won’t know
until drilling has been completed there.
“But drilling has already been done there,” Inga exclaims. “When I
was a junior at college I worked one summer with an exploration crew
sinking boreholes north of Quillicom. We were looking for an alterna-
tive place to sink a mine shaft, but we found no ore deposits north of
either Melody Lake or Quillicom. We drilled quite a few boreholes.”
Inga tells you the mine does not have the records, only a report from
the drilling company. She searches for it among the geology records, but
cannot find it. “It’s strange,” she mutters, “It should be here. Someone
must have removed it.”
The drilling company Inga worked for was Mayquill Explorations,
but she says it does not exist anymore. “When Ernie Mays retired he
simply closed down the company. Maybe he still has the records. You
could ask him. He still lives in Quillicom.”
Ernie Mays is about 70 and he lives in a bungalow at 211 Westerhill
Crescent.
“I quit eight years ago,” he tells you. “I sold some of my accounts to
Northwest Drillers—those that were still active—and kept the remain-
der.”
He remembers drilling for Melody Lake Mines. “We sank about 20
boreholes, all north of Quillicom, but we didn’t find anything.”
You ask if he remembers whether the bedrock slopes, but he shakes
his head. “Not really,” he says. “Nothing definite.”
But he adds that he does remember there was evidence of a large sand
esker running roughly south-southwest toward Quillicom.
“Do you still have the records?”
“No,” he says. “The mine has them. Mr Caldicott came to see me
himself, about three years ago, and I gave them all to him.”
Suddenly, everything falls into place. Frank Caldicott is not only gen-
eral manager of Melody Lake Mines, but also a very influential
Quillicom town councillor. And his youngest sister, Julie, is married to
the town engineer—Robert Delorme, your boss.
Because you have so much new information to include, you decide to
write a semiformal report of your findings. (You will have to decide
whether you will include the information you now have about the previ-
ous drilling north of Quillicom, and the location of the records.)
Here is some additional data you may need to write your report:
1. You are concerned about groundwater contamination problems if
the open-pit mine is used as a landfill, so call Morley Wozniak at
H. L. Winman and Associates in Lansing. He tells you that it will
not be a problem. “Both the lake and the mining community are
north of the pit, and the bedrock slopes to the south.”
2. You calculate that costs to develop the open-pit mine as a landfill
will be only $3000, because you can use the buildings and approach
roads that are already there.
3. The open-pit mine is 2.5 miles directly south of Quillicom, but 4.1
miles by road (2.4 miles southeast along highway A806, then 1.7
miles southwest along highway B1201).
4. The annual operating cost for using the open-pit mine as a landfill
will be $49,500, which is $2500 more than the cost for operating
the current landfill.
5. You obtain a third drilling estimate from Quattro Drilling and
Exploration Company in Houghton, Michigan, which quotes
$83,200, tax included.
Before starting to write your report you visit Thunder Bay on other
business. On a hunch you visit the Land Titles Office and look up the
surveys for the area north of Quillicom. Against Lot 18, Subdivision 5N,
you find the owner listed as Julie Sarah Caldicott, 207 Northern Drive,
Quillicom, Michigan.
Now write your report.
Project 5.1: Resolving a Landfill Problem
You are the assistant engineer for the Town of Quillicom in Michigan.
Your boss is Robert D. Delorme, P.E., who is the town engineer.
Mr. Delorme calls you into his office and announces, “I have a project
for you. The Town Council has finally decided to so something about
the landfill problem, and they want it done in a hurry.”
You know about the landfill problem. The existing landfill site—at
Lot 22, Subdivision 3S—is nearly full and, recognizing that a new site
will not be selected before the present site reaches its capacity, he has
authorized dumping an additional layer of garbage on top of the com-
pacted fill.
“Before you do anything, I want you to read this,” Mr. Delorme con-
tinues, placing a report in your hands. “It’s a study done by H. L.
Winman and Associates a while ago, and it affects what you will be
doing. Take it away and read it, and then come back to me for further
instructions.”
You read the report (you will find it in Figure 5-6, on pages 112 to
117) and then go back to see Mr. Delorme.
“The town councillors have decided,” he says, “that before they can
make a decision they need to know how much it will cost to drill a
dozen boreholes north of Quillicom and analyze the results. I want you
to get some quotations that I can present to them. You should also be
aware that the councillors very much prefer Lot 18, Subdivision 5N,
rather than either of the other locations.”
“Who will plot the results of the drilling?” you ask.
“Morley Wozniak, at H. L. Winman and Associates in Lansing,
Michigan. He did the previous study and wrote the report I asked you to
read.” Mr. Delorme hands you a map (the same as that in Figure 5-6,
page 114) and a list titled Borehole Specifications for the Area North of
Quillicom, which contains the exact positions Morley has identified
where the drilling must be carried out.
“And how many quotations should I get?” you ask.
“Two, as a minimum,” Mr. Delorme suggests. “Three would be
better.”
The following week you call on the only two drilling companies you
know of in the area, one in Quillicom and one in Marquette. They give
you the following quotations:
Northwest Drillers, Inc. $78,520 (tax incl)
Quillicom, Michigan
M. J. Peabody Inc. $75,900 (tax extra)
Marquette, Michigan
You had almost given up hope that you would find a third company
to give you a quotation, when Mr. Delorme telephones. “Go and see
Bert Knowles,” he instructs you. “He’s the assistant to the superintend-
ent at Melody Lake Mine, and he has a suggestion for an alternative
landfill site.”
Mr. Knowles comes right to the point: “We do both open-pit and
underground mining. Our open-pit mine is nearly worked out and
we will finish excavating there in less than two years. The problem is
that it’s unsightly, and the Environmental Protection Agency is leaning
on Melody Lake Mines to do something about it. That’s where you
come in.”
He explains that the Town of Quillicom can use the open-pit mine for
a landfill, and the mine will lease it to the town for one dollar a year.
“We have only two conditions. You must spread soil over the compacted
garbage, and do it progressively as you go along so there will be no
obnoxious smell for the people who live near the mine to contend with.
And then you must seed it and plant trees.”
You agree: it’s something the Town would do anyway, before closing
a landfill site.
Mr. Knowles drives you to the site and you stand on the lip of a shal-
low, roughly oval excavation varying from about 10 to 50 feet deep.
“How large is it?” you enquire.
“You’ll have to talk to Inga Paullsen. She’s the mine geologist.”
When you visit Inga, she calculates the size of the excavation as
60.9 acres. “That’s what it will be,” she adds, “when the mining is com-
plete. Why do you need to know?”
You describe the difficulty the Town Council is having in finding a
landfill site, mention the three other sites, say the one north of the town
could create an environmental problem, and explain you won’t know
until drilling has been completed there.
“But drilling has already been done there,” Inga exclaims. “When I
was a junior at college I worked one summer with an exploration crew
sinking boreholes north of Quillicom. We were looking for an alterna-
tive place to sink a mine shaft, but we found no ore deposits north of
either Melody Lake or Quillicom. We drilled quite a few boreholes.”
Inga tells you the mine does not have the records, only a report from
the drilling company. She searches for it among the geology records, but
cannot find it. “It’s strange,” she mutters, “It should be here. Someone
must have removed it.”
The drilling company Inga worked for was Mayquill Explorations,
but she says it does not exist anymore. “When Ernie Mays retired he
simply closed down the company. Maybe he still has the records. You
could ask him. He still lives in Quillicom.”
Ernie Mays is about 70 and he lives in a bungalow at 211 Westerhill
Crescent.
“I quit eight years ago,” he tells you. “I sold some of my accounts to
Northwest Drillers—those that were still active—and kept the remain-
der.”
He remembers drilling for Melody Lake Mines. “We sank about 20
boreholes, all north of Quillicom, but we didn’t find anything.”
You ask if he remembers whether the bedrock slopes, but he shakes
his head. “Not really,” he says. “Nothing definite.”
But he adds that he does remember there was evidence of a large sand
esker running roughly south-southwest toward Quillicom.
“Do you still have the records?”
“No,” he says. “The mine has them. Mr Caldicott came to see me
himself, about three years ago, and I gave them all to him.”
Suddenly, everything falls into place. Frank Caldicott is not only gen-
eral manager of Melody Lake Mines, but also a very influential
Quillicom town councillor. And his youngest sister, Julie, is married to
the town engineer—Robert Delorme, your boss.
Because you have so much new information to include, you decide to
write a semiformal report of your findings. (You will have to decide
whether you will include the information you now have about the previ-
ous drilling north of Quillicom, and the location of the records.)
Here is some additional data you may need to write your report:
1. You are concerned about groundwater contamination problems if
the open-pit mine is used as a landfill, so call Morley Wozniak at
H. L. Winman and Associates in Lansing. He tells you that it will
not be a problem. “Both the lake and the mining community are
north of the pit, and the bedrock slopes to the south.”
2. You calculate that costs to develop the open-pit mine as a landfill
will be only $3000, because you can use the buildings and approach
roads that are already there.
3. The open-pit mine is 2.5 miles directly south of Quillicom, but 4.1
miles by road (2.4 miles southeast along highway A806, then 1.7
miles southwest along highway B1201).
4. The annual operating cost for using the open-pit mine as a landfill
will be $49,500, which is $2500 more than the cost for operating
the current landfill.
5. You obtain a third drilling estimate from Quattro Drilling and
Exploration Company in Houghton, Michigan, which quotes
$83,200, tax included.
Before starting to write your report you visit Thunder Bay on other
business. On a hunch you visit the Land Titles Office and look up the
surveys for the area north of Quillicom. Against Lot 18, Subdivision 5N,
you find the owner listed as Julie Sarah Caldicott, 207 Northern Drive,
Quillicom, Michigan.
Now write your report.
