Scott Vojta runs GeoTek's first Geoprobe® machine on its first project, a 6610DT, at the Adak Naval Base in theAleutian Islands.

Making an Impact: GeoTek Alaska Inc.
Anchorage, Alaska

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Before we formed GeoTek Alaska, I had used a Geoprobe® machine and knew immediately I could run circles around drill rigs taking soil samples. So when Kevin Rogers, Chris Nettels, and I opened up shop in 2002, we looked to Geoprobe® to get us going. We had nothing except our drilling backgrounds and knowledge of the area, so we rented a 54DT machine to get started, and the rest, they say, is history! We used mill-slots to take groundwater samples and set 0.5 in. monitoring wells with the 54DT with OASIS Environmental as our first client for our first job at Cooper’s Landing.

We recognized we had a niche market for subsurface analysis using more efficient, less expensive, accurate, and minimal disturbance data acquisition methods. We formed our company to respond to this market by specializing in new, but proven, direct push technology using Geoprobe® equipment and tooling. Although slow, we grew our business from there.

Kevin Rogers is warm but the 6610DT was shivering in the -37 F ambient temps. Hydraulic heaters were plugged in and the hydraulic tank was wrapped in blankets to keep the hammer operating. Drilling through the 5-ft. thick drill pad at Deadhorse, AK, required Kevin to use a small amount of down pressure and a slow hammer hertz to prevent PVC liners from melting near the drive cap.

When the time came to ‘expand’, I climbed into a truck here in Anchorage and started my 7,400 mile roundtrip to Kansas to buy our first Geoprobe® machine, a 6610DT, and a truckload of tools. It took 3 days (over 60 hours) to get there. I even picked up a hitchhiker to help with the driving while I slept!

We first used the 6610DT at the Adak Naval Base in the Aleutian Islands taking groundwater samples with the SP16 and setting 1.5 in. monitoring wells. This was the project that got us started!

Because of our backgrounds, we can gather and interpret environmental and geophysical data for our customers. The types of tooling we use with our Geoprobe® machines, like Electrical Conductivity and MIP, sets us apart from what can be done with a drill rig. This is because our Geoprobe® equipment is more efficient and acquires a greater quantity of high quality data for us to use.

There are all kinds of environmental operating restrictions in Alaska. Most of our work is in the wilderness. We can get there faster and more economical, and sometimes because of the remote locations, we can get to sites that others cannot. The relatively lightweight of our Geoprobe® rigs are a plus especially for mobilizing.

We work in temperatures ranging from -45 F to 90 F. We operate from locations that don’t take credit cards, there’s no phone service, no running water, no showers, and no food. We sleep in pumphouses, school buildings, and community centers, sometimes without electricity. Our mobilization charges to remote locations average $20,000 to $35,000, sometimes twice the amount of the actual service we provide. It’s all worth it because we have good people who go out and do a good job, and we have good customers who keep giving us the work. With our equipment and people, we believe we can provide twice the data as conventional drilling methods. We’re also able to provide full Phase II services.

Geoprobe® equipment is a tremendous value to us because it’s always being refined and updated. The MC5 with the lightweight center rods really ‘made us’ and is our tool-of choice because it works so well and is easy to use. Things are going well for us. This year we added our sixth Geoprobe® rig, an 8040DT, and we opened our Hawaii office in Pearl City. We’ve always felt like we’re a part of the Geoprobe® team. They listen to us and do whatever they can to help us operate better in our climate and location. We believe in vendor loyalty. And with Geoprobe®, they don’t pocket it; they reinvent it!