b'C H A P T E R 22J U M P I N G T H E F E N C Etronic instruments were snaked down the geothermal recruits were young We needed a geologist to examine cut -the wells on cables. In short, the stan- women who were riding the crest of tings while the well was being drilled.dard NRTS multi-disciplinary attack on enthusiasm brought about by the envi- Someone referedrme to a lady geolo -a problem had a thorough workout. ronmental movementand the crest of gist named Susan Prestwich who livedconfidence brought about by the in Idaho Falls. She had sat wells forThe environmental monitoring studies w o men s movement. Kunze hired her family business in Utah. I thought, at Raft River called for scientists and Susan Stiger, a civil engineer with an Drilling crews are known to be rough -engineers in new specialties. Much of academic focus on the environment necks. I cant send a woman out therethe talent was youthful, and several of and hydrogeology, to create the envi- all night to work that well! But Ironmental program at Raft River. Attalked to her, and she said, Dontthe time, no models existed for com- worry, I can handle those guys.11prehensive characterization of environ-mental features and their interactions. And she did. Prestwich was the firstOnce more, NRTS energy research was female drilling engineer (and geologist)all new for a new generation. 1 0 ever hired at the Site. As it had been forhundreds of NRTS male scientists andOld trailers served as field offices and engineers before her, the chance of dis-crew quarters at Raft River. Monitoring covering something new was motivethe performance of wells and fluids enough to endure an all-nighter. Shesometimes required 24-hour-a-day oper- continued with Aerojet and EG&G, theation. No one seemed to mind. Kunze new Site contractor in 1976. Her careerrecalled another woman he hired: eventually took her to the Departmentof Energy in Washington. Stiger contin-ued her career with BechtelCorporation, returning to the Site inINEEL 79-10129 1999 to manage the entire environmen-tal management program when Bechtelbecame the contractor.Kunze and Roger Stoker, the chiefgeologist for the geothermal project,extended the reach of the project toBoise. Geothermal wells drilled in the1890s had heated homes in the citysWarm Springs neighborhood fordecades, but the question was whethergeothermal water might be found else-where on the Boise Front faultline. Ateam including Clay Nichols and RoyMink from Boise State Universityselected a site for a test well on BoiseAbove. Inside a geothermally heated greenhouse nearRaft River test facility. Left. Raft River Pilot Plant.INEEL 81-475221 5'