Digging for oil in wick gardens??!!!

**Fran** · 01-Mar-06, 00:28

Has anyone else in wick had a company, on behalf of the highland council, drill boreholes in their gardens for the purpose of collecting and testing soil samples in wick??
One borehole has been drilled in my front garden using a small tracked rig today in the heavy snow!!they are coming back tomorrow. why? What for? Is there oil in my front garden? Is this the reason all the shops and houses are being built?!!!
The company are from london......a long way to come to wick and get soil samples...very odd.

**connieb19** · 01-Mar-06, 00:30

Originally Posted by Fran

Has anyone else in wick had a company, on behalf of the highland council, drill boreholes in their gardens for the purpose of collecting and testing soil samples in wick??
One borehole has been drilled in my front garden using a small tracked rig today in the heavy snow!!they are coming back tomorrow. why? What for? Is there oil in my front garden? Is this the reason all the shops and houses are being built?!!!
The company are from london......a long way to come to wick and get soil samples...very odd.

Wow, this could all be very exciting fran....keep us posted!!

**angela5** · 01-Mar-06, 00:35

Originally Posted by Fran

Has anyone else in wick had a company, on behalf of the highland council, drill boreholes in their gardens for the purpose of collecting and testing soil samples in wick??

Not yet fran..interesting!! keep us posted..

Did you not ask them????

**angela5** · 01-Mar-06, 00:38

Oh fran i did hear seatter dump is now full they are looking for more land

krieve · 01-Mar-06, 00:41

Very interesting there has to be a reason why all the interest and developments in caithness

krieve · 01-Mar-06, 00:49

fran what is the name of the company

**Moira** · 01-Mar-06, 00:49

This is the first I've heard of this. I live in the same area as you Fran but no-one has asked to test the soil here. There's obviously a better class of soil in your street -lol

If I were you I would ask HRC for the reasons behind it - if they're about to strike oil around here we need to be prepared. I could help you to hi-jack some pipes the next time they pass here on their way to Wester

**angela5** · 01-Mar-06, 00:53

Originally Posted by Moira

I could help you to hi-jack some pipes the next time they pass here on their way to Wester

hee...hee...

**Fran** · 01-Mar-06, 01:34

i did ask Highland council and the one workman and his supervisor but they wouldn't say. they had a van with all the equipment and an estate car. It was a driller that made a lot of noise and dug very deeply. the company is called Global Probing and Sampling, environmental and geotechnical and sampling specialists!!!!! they did the same in my neighbours garden, and said they had one more to do on the other side of wick before returning to their base. i even gave them a cup of tea to bribe more info from them but it didn't work....you would think it was top secret!!!!

**Rheghead** · 01-Mar-06, 03:09

Just a thought, you may be able to turn these boreholes to your advantage if they are deep enough. They may be suitable for use as boreholes for Ground source heating. Frankly, if you had to pay for it yersel, it would cost a bomb.

All you have to do is make sure it doesn't cave in on itself then get a plumber to put in the system in for you at great saving to yersel.

**Bill Fernie** · 01-Mar-06, 09:31

It is possible that this has to do with the new Contaminated Land regualtions. All councils are making checks on land in many places to test forr contamination on sites previously used for industrial purposes.

Depending on what was aorund your area at present or in the past it could be that this is the reason. There is nothing necessarily wrong but checks arebeing made in many places. If the men would not say check with Highland Council offices to get an answer.

You will have seen the recent announcments about Castletown. There is nothing wrong necessarily but checks are ongoing and many more will be done at many sites across the whole country.

If you live near anything that might have had an industrial process in the past then you might expect tests to be carried out in coming months and years.

You might also find you live some way away from the sites where the process took place as liquid or gases can travel in the ground. Many samll towns once had indudtries that have long since gone but the residues remain in the ground for a very long time in some cases.

However in Fran's case the bore holes may be for something completely different.

**DrSzin** · 01-Mar-06, 11:08

Originally Posted by Fran

i did ask Highland council and the one workman and his supervisor but they wouldn't say. they had a van with all the equipment and an estate car. It was a driller that made a lot of noise and dug very deeply. the company is called Global Probing and Sampling, environmental and geotechnical and sampling specialists!!!!! they did the same in my neighbours garden, and said they had one more to do on the other side of wick before returning to their base. i even gave them a cup of tea to bribe more info from them but it didn't work....you would think it was top secret!!!!

If anyone came to drill holes in my garden but refused to tell me why they were doing it, I would tell them to get lost! There is no way I would let anyone do such a thing.

DW · 01-Mar-06, 11:26

Originally Posted by DrSzin

If anyone came to drill holes in my garden but refused to tell me why they were doing it, I would tell them to get lost! There is no way I would let anyone do such a thing.

Not much use if it's a council house.

**DrSzin** · 01-Mar-06, 12:09

Originally Posted by SweatyBetty

Not much use if it's a council house.

Never thought of that.

**Saveman** · 01-Mar-06, 12:11

I just suddenly got an image of the Beverly hillbillies......."and up from the ground came a bubbling crude.....oil that is.....black gold.......texas tea...."

**golach** · 01-Mar-06, 12:12

Originally Posted by Saveman

I just suddenly got an image of the Beverly hillbillies......."and up from the ground came a bubbling crude.....oil that is.....black gold.......texas tea...."

Texas Tea....thats why we're called "Tea in a Bowla's"

**Nivelo** · 01-Mar-06, 13:21

GRRRRRR, they just woke me and my dad up, we both do night's and because most of the houses around us our council they've been diging up for ages! what a hell of a noise!

shrek_donkey · 01-Mar-06, 13:24

go out and ask them why they are doing it and could they make less noise you are trying to sleep.

**katarina** · 01-Mar-06, 13:54

there's something going on in a garden in George street. I wondered what it was.....mmm oil in George street.....just a thought, if you own the ground, does that mean you are going to be rich?