The Driller Newscast

We welcome back this week Dave Schulenberg, the director of partner states for the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). But … today’s episode shines the spotlight on Schulenberg’s other work as a children’s book author. He wrote “The Adventure of Mr. Mouse” in 2021, and has returned with a prequel sure to warm the burly hearts of groundwater professionals everywhere. Host Brock Yordy talks to...

Have you led an effort to install 100 wells across Africa from Kenya to Cameroon? Neither have we. But Youtube powerhouse Mr. Beast has. Anchor Brock Yordy celebrates the accomplishment and challenges Mr. Beast to come on the show to talk about it (and properly fitting PPE).This editorial podcast is brought to you by:

Rob Meyer, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and driller, returns to The Driller Newscast for a conversation about hiring. What can the industry do to find and pull in veterans? What do they want from the industry? To Meyer, drilling suffers when vets — or anyone, really — can find competing wages and arguably better working conditions at an Amazon distribution center. This editorial podcast is brought...

Edd Schofield of Johnson Screens talks avoiding drilling nightmares, plus leadership columnist Jake Fletcher. This editorial podcast is brought to you by:

For this episode, we sit down for an interview with Kortney Lull of Midwest Geothermal, the outgoing board chair for the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association. Lull and host Brock Yordy cover a lot of ground, from IGSHPA’s re-invention to the how geothermal competes with and complements other strategies for cutting “peak load” on our energy grid.

On this episode, host Brock Yordy has a wide-ranging interview with Sam Connelly, president of the National Drilling Association. Connelly, who runs the drilling company Connelly & Associates Inc. in Fredericksburg, Maryland, touches on everything from the NDA’s 50-plus year history to the current skilled labor crunch.

This packed episode features an interview with Christina R. Ekhoff, executive director of the Virginia Water Well Association, who talks about the group’s training efforts and upcoming 75th anniversary, and ideas for appealing to a younger generation of workers.

Host Brock Yordy has a full slate this week. First, we have a reminder on hearing safety. Then we go to this year’s National Drilling Association convention, and talk to Jeff Garby of Alucast. Last up, in this week’s feature segment, the host talks about the intersection of groundwater and beer.

This week starts with an interview with Brian Brogan, an author on construction leadership, at the 2023 National Drilling Association conference. Then, host Brock Yordy and editor Jeremy Verdusco conclude their interview with Tanner Kuhl, a mechanical engineer and driller with the U.S. Ice Drilling Program.

This week, we start out with a safety segment on recognizing mental health risks among our work peers. Then, host Brock Yordy and editor Jeremy Verdusco welcome mechanical engineer and driller Tanner Kuhl to hear about his recent scientific expedition to Greenland’s ice sheet.

Host Brock Yordy dives into some heady topics in episode 76 of The Driller Newscast. How do perceptions of the industry affect the industry? Can the highest levels of professionalism really attract more professionals to drilling and groundwater?

Testing, monitoring and reporting costs money. Is it all worth it? Are health and safety policies too much? This week, host Brock Yordy sorts through regulatory costs for everything from workplace safety to groundwater safety, and what those costs mean for drilling and groundwater professionals.

We get back to geothermal and net zero this week. How can drilling and drillers be part of the solution for ambitious electrification goals in the United States? Host Brock Yordy talks about the win-win of geothermal drilling. This editorial podcast is brought to you by:

We hear it all the time. Young people don’t want to work. They just look at their phones all day. They don’t want to get dirty. But is that the full story? This week, host Brock Yordy talks with Michael Boven, director of operations and maintenance at Bioenergy Devco, a Maryland based company that turns food waste into fuel.

This week opens with good news on the groundwater and property rights front. Anchor Brock Yordy talks to Tucker Green, executive director of the Georgia Association of Groundwater Professionals. Green talks about a new law — spearheaded by their group and drillers like you — that specifically legalizes groundwater wells in areas that could otherwise connect to municipal water. How can you help edu...

This week, roving reporter Brock Yordy takes us to the 2023 South Atlantic Jubilee in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. First, we get a look at some of the equipment on the show floor. Then we catch up with Water Systems Council legal advisor Jesse Richardson, who fills us in on the latest water and groundwater cases and rulings — and there have been many.

In episode 70, we check in with National Ground Water Association President Jason House. Host Brock Yordy and House cover a lot of territory in this interview, so you don’t want to miss it. In part, they cover NGWA’s role in raising awareness of jobs in groundwater fields. How does drilling capture its portion of people choosing to build and explore, rather than work in an office? 

This week, host Brock Yordy explores ideas about how mines can be good neighbors with Mike Wilczynski of Pangea Environmental LLC. The Certified Professional Geologist, who has decades of experience in the field, helps us weigh the need for aggregate mining with complex zoning, safety and citizen-rights issues.

Did you miss us? It sure felt good to have a break, but we’re back with our weekly The Driller Newscast — and just in time. This week, we give folks a preview of the 2023 South Atlantic Jubilee, coming up July 29-31, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This year’s show, for the first time, features a hands-on emergency response course called “Stop the Bleed,” complete with life-like dummies and scena...

This episode focuses on developing the future workforce in drilling, groundwater and other trades. First, host Brock Yordy talks to Ben Frech and Dave Schulenberg of the National Ground Water Association about the group’s workforce efforts. Then, we talk to Kevin Mossman Sr., president of Mossman Enterprises, and his son, Kevin Mossman Jr., who is still in sixth-grade but passionate about going in...

On this week’s episode, anchor Brock Yordy talks about building the 21st-century workforce needed to meet demand in geothermal and other types of drilling. We, of course want to have conversations about safety, equipment and compensation. But Yordy says we also want to offer a clear career path and an even clearer, aspirational goal: They get to help contribute solutions to energy and resource sca...

On this week’s episode, anchor Brock Yordy talks about the recent $1.18B PFAS class-action settlement with DuPont, Corteva and Chemours. The companies will set up a fund to compensate public water systems over the impact of PFAS and other “forever” chemicals. Plus, in this week’s safety segment, we challenge contractors in this year’s Trench Safety Stand Down.

Well, we’ve talked about it for months here, but the Supreme Court finally handed down a ruling in the Sackett vs. EPA case. The ruling rebuked the agency on the expanse of waters of the United States (WOTUS), curtailing the administration’s regulatory powers. Anchor Brock Yordy helps us sort out what the ruling means for drilling, groundwater and the regulations that affect our industry (and our...

Ever wonder what it takes to grow a drilling company? This week, host Brock Yordy sits down Matthew McAnally, owner and president of Texas-based Innov8 Drilling Services. They talk about the hustle it takes to build a contracting company, as well as the challenges and opportunities posed by younger workers.

This week, host Brock Yordy talks about the latest challenges to waters of the United States (WOTUS), as well as EPA grants for remediation and restoration projects in the Great Lakes, and PFAS. He also discusses a recent scientific review looking at the prevalence of PFAS in freshwater fish species.