The driller liaison program was started in early 1985 to provide the drilling industry with a contact person at the state level. As the Division of Water's field representative, the "liaison" gives the drilling contractors a means of addressing concerns, answering questions, and offering input into legislative issues that concern their industry. Until recently, the Division actually had two people acting as liaison: one serving the water well drilling contractors, and the other serving the environmental drilling contractors.

   Being a field representative can involve educational responsibilities such as giving talks at Ohio Water Well Association district meetings about the latest legislative changes that affect the industry, participating in seminars directed toward a specific topic of interest for a particular company, or setting up the Division display at industry-sponsored conventions and answering questions regarding ground water-related issues. Field representation may also involve meeting with drilling contractors on the job site to observe different well drilling methods or well construction techniques, assisting with an extended pumping test and/or its analysis, or even, for certain types of projects, logging a well as it is being drilled.

   Another responsibility of the liaison is to compile a directory of drilling contractors currently working in the state of Ohio. The latest version of the directory (1996 Ohio Directory of Drilling Contractors) includes the state and county in which each contractor is based, current addresses and phone numbers, and a listing of the drilling and service capabilities of each company. There is a separate listing of environmental drilling contractors and their capabilities. Also included in the directory are addresses and phone numbers for each county health department, the district offices and central office of the State Department of Health, and the district and central offices of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

(For more information on the driller liaison program, contact Jim Raab at 614-265-6747; E-mail  jim.raab@dnr.state.oh.us)

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