Congressional Clout Felt on Fault Project

The National Science Foundation is being pressured by California congressmen to continue funding a scientific research well near the San Andreas Fault, but the push to keep the project going is beginning to rankle some officials in Washington and even has the key scientists a little apprehensive.

The well is being drilled in an effort to answer important questions about the dynamics of the fault, but funding is running out this month because the foundation did not get as large a budget increase as had been expected. Drilling has halted and workers are installing steel casing in the well in preparation for closing down the operation.

“I think there’s a real chance they will not shut it down,” said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Highland), whose district includes the well site on Cajon Pass, following a hearing Wednesday in Washington. It would take about $3 million to complete the well.

Director Testifies

Lewis is a member of the House subcommittee that oversees the foundation’s budget. The panel heard testimony Wednesday from NSF director Erich Bloch on the foundation’s plans for next year.

“We weren’t attempting to use a club on the NSF,” Lewis said in a telephone interview. “But I’m optimistic that we made considerable progress.”

Lewis said that he and a fellow congressman, George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton), have sought to persuade Bloch to “reprogram” funds within the NSF to continue the drilling. The well has reached about 12,000 feet, only 4,000 feet short of the fault.

Lewis emphasized that he is not seeking a supplemental appropriation.

“This involves existing moneys in various pipelines (within the NSF) that have not been spent that could be reprogrammed,” the congressman said.

Excited, Concerned

That left scientists associated with the project excited over the prospects of continuing the drilling but concerned over the appearance of using congressional pressure to redirect activities within the NSF.

“It’s good news and its bad news,” said Stanford University geophysicist Mark Zoback, chief scientist on the drilling project. Zoback said he is eager to continue drilling, and is in full support of Lewis’ efforts, but he added: “We don’t want to take money from other projects.”

The sensitivity of the issue was underscored by Douglas M. Johnson, associate director of the foundation’s earth sciences division, who said that Zoback and other scientists involved in the well “are saying this project is the most important thing in the worl1680613473disagree with them.”

Johnson said the well has turned out to be very costly, and it took considerable maneuvering within the NSF just to supply enough funds to reach 12,000 feet.

Affects Other Projects

“It put a bunch of other projects on the ropes just to benefit that well,” Johnson said.

Zoback and Caltech geologist Leon Silver have pushed for continued funding because they believe that the well must reach the fault itself if the results are to be reliable. So far, evidence from the well suggests that the San Andreas Fault is not under much strain in that region, and that geological forces are not pushing in the right direction to trigger an earthquake.

The dispute over the funding, however, has left nearly everybody dissatisfied.

Crucial to Continue

Lewis believes that it is crucial to continue the project, even if it comes out of the hide of other programs funded by the NSF.

Zoback and Silver also believe that it is important to continue the project, but they do not want to bypass the normal review process by other scientists.