Hydrogeologic Characterization Results from the Wallula Basalt Pilot Study

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership has completed drilling the first continental flood basalt sequestration pilot borehole to a total depth of 4110 ft at the Boise White Paper Mill property at Wallula, Washington. Site suitability was assessed before drilling by the 2007 to 2008 acquisition, processing, and analysis of a 4-mi, five-line three component seismic swath, which was processed as a single data-dense line. Analysis of the seismic survey data indicated a composite basalt formation thickness of ~8000 ft and absence of major geologic structures (i.e., faults) along the line imaged by the seismic swath. Drilling of Wallula pilot borehole was initiated on January 13, 2009, and reached total depth on April 6, 2009. Based on characterization results obtained during drilling, three basalt breccia zones were identified between the depth interval of 2716 and 2,910 ft as being a suitable injection reservoir for a subsequent CO2 injection pilot study. The targeted injection reservoir lies stratigraphically below the massive Umtanum Member of the Grande Ronde Basalt, whose flow-interior section possesses regionally recognized low-permeability characteristics. The identified composite injection zone reservoir provides a unique and attractive opportunity to scientifically study the reservoir behavior of three interconnected reservoir intervals below primary and secondary caprock confining zones.

Data and Resources

Field Value
Citation "\"McGrail, B.P., Sullivan, E.C., Spane, F.A., Bacon, D.H., Hund, G., Thorne, P.D., Thompson, C.J., Reidel, S.P. and Colwell, F.S., Preliminary Hydrogeologic Characterization Results from the Wallula Basalt Pilot Study. PNWD-4129. 2009: Richland, Washington. p. i-5.4 \""
Is NETL associated "\"Yes\""
NETL Point of Contact "\"William Aljoe\""
NETL Point of Contact's Email "\"William.Aljoe@NETL.DOE.GOV\""
NETL program or project "\"DE-FC26-05NT42587 Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership Phase II\""
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • Global Provider
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • basalt
  • bscsp
  • ckan
  • edx
  • energy
  • energy-data-exchange
  • geo
  • geoss
  • global
  • hydrogeology
isopen True
license_id odc-by
license_title Open Data Commons Attribution License
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/odc-by
metadata_created 2025-11-25T23:08:43.258784
metadata_modified 2025-11-25T23:08:43.258788
notes The U.S. Department of Energy’s Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership has completed drilling the first continental flood basalt sequestration pilot borehole to a total depth of 4110 ft at the Boise White Paper Mill property at Wallula, Washington. Site suitability was assessed before drilling by the 2007 to 2008 acquisition, processing, and analysis of a 4-mi, five-line three component seismic swath, which was processed as a single data-dense line. Analysis of the seismic survey data indicated a composite basalt formation thickness of ~8000 ft and absence of major geologic structures (i.e., faults) along the line imaged by the seismic swath. Drilling of Wallula pilot borehole was initiated on January 13, 2009, and reached total depth on April 6, 2009. Based on characterization results obtained during drilling, three basalt breccia zones were identified between the depth interval of 2716 and 2,910 ft as being a suitable injection reservoir for a subsequent CO2 injection pilot study. The targeted injection reservoir lies stratigraphically below the massive Umtanum Member of the Grande Ronde Basalt, whose flow-interior section possesses regionally recognized low-permeability characteristics. The identified composite injection zone reservoir provides a unique and attractive opportunity to scientifically study the reservoir behavior of three interconnected reservoir intervals below primary and secondary caprock confining zones.
num_resources 1
num_tags 12
title Hydrogeologic Characterization Results from the Wallula Basalt Pilot Study