Transported by water - hydrologic consulting

Nation's Business, Feb, 1990 by Bradford A. McKee

Transported By Water

Chester McKee likens his work to taking the earth's pulse. His company, In Situ Inc., in Laramie, Wyo., does hydrologic consulting - it examines the movement of water on and beneath the surface of the planet. (In situ is Latin for "in position.") In Situ's instruments probe the earth, recording water pressure down deep, taking the water's temperature, testing its acidity, and following its migration among gigantic underground waterways, or aquifers.

In Situ's 55-person staff measures the impact that planned development will have far beneath the earth's surface. One example: Because water binds methane gas to coal seams, In Situ studies water pressure around prospective coal mines as a first step toward ridding the mines of the gas, which can cause underground explosions.

In Situ pioneered computer software for mapping aquifers; its computer-simulated model of ground-water movement helps find the safest way to clean up hazardous wastes in the ground, so that chemical residues do not percolate into a nearby water supply. In Situ also has developed monitors that detect leaks in double-walled underground storage tanks, thus forestalling a frequent cause of ground-water pollution.

McKee has proved that rural Wyoming is as hospitable to international business as any place in the country. "People tend to think that because you're landlocked in Wyoming, you have no hope of being successful in the international arena," he says, "but to survive the ups and downs of the domestic economy, we've started a reachout program." In Situ has found markets for its products and services in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Switzerland.

McKee opened his business in 1976, after persuading his wife, Carol, to put the $10,000 profit from the sale of their home into a new company. In Situ spent its formative years in the late 1970s doing mostly in-situ mining. This type of mining involves pumping liquid mixtures underground to dissolve mineral ores, which then are pumped back to the surface in solution. Uranium, for example, can be dissolved and retrieved with a mixture of water and baking soda.

In Situ suffered when high interest rates in the early '80s ravaged the minerals market. Luckily, In Situ's hydrologic services soon were in greater demand than its mining services were, thanks largely to the Superfund program, set up through the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up hazardous-waste sites. "A lot of our work comes through either Superfund or the pressure of EPA on public and private corporations to clean up their waste sites," McKee says. In Situ had fully recovered from the recession by 1986.

In Situ's sales totaled about $5 million in 1988, and the company is growing 35 percent a year. McKee attributes In Situ's endurance to the strength of its intellectual capital. In addition to its own staff, In Situ relies on the University of Wyoming for professional support. Wyoming is a mecca for earth scientists, and the University of Wyoming in Laramie attracts renowned authorities in such fields as geochemistry and mathematical computer modeling.

"At Stanford or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there's a significant demand on the professors," McKee says. "They get assigned to the most lucrative contracts, and a small, growing company has little opportunity" to work with experts. But in Laramie, McKee says, "the university is right at our doorstep. We have good access to people with really outstanding credentials."

PHOTO : Chester McKee's Wyoming firm uses devices like these probes to measure the movement of water far beneath the earth's surface.