Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/617280
28 January 2016 WWJ waterwelljournal.com And lastly I'll ask how can the movie not mention the Schramm T130XD drilling rig was nicknamed "The Miracle Machine" by the families of the miners? That seems right out of a movie! Did the drillers portrayed in the movie seem or act real enough to you? Beatty: Yeah, they act and talk naturally and knowledgably about the situation they're facing. At first when they begin the rescue operation, they don't think they're going to be success- ful. Who could blame them? They realize how little time they have to reach the trapped miners. Plumley: I have to say this is an area I feel the movie really got right. The sound of the drilling, the mud, the rods going up, the bits turning. I think those making the movie did their homework and I was really glad to see that. Beatty: It was real enough too in the scene where Jeff Hart explains the nuts and bolts of the rescue drill after it breaks down. Jeff says it cannot advance any farther because the drill bit has broken into pieces and the pieces will have to be removed by a heavy magnet before any further work can be done. That whole scene rang true for me. Jeff Hart found himself shaking his head in disbelief while walking out of the major motion picture preview screening of The 33. As operator of the Schramm T130XD drilling rig, nicknamed "The Miracle Machine," Hart couldn't comprehend the fact his name was in the movie credits. To boot, longtime actor and Emmy Award winner James Brolin played Hart in the film. "So obviously I look worse than I feel," Hart says with a laugh. "It's obvi- ously strange. You never think someone is going to portray your role in a movie, so just having that whole thought process is kind of crazy actually to even think about." Hart couldn't attend the film premiere but was invited to the preview screening in Boulder, Colorado, two weeks before the film release on November 13. Attend- ing the screening were Hart's two drilling colleagues from the rescue, Matt Staffel and Jorge Herrera. Hart saw the screening with his wife, Dora, and their youngest son, 13-year-old Dylan. The film focuses on the miners' story and is based on Héctor Tobar's book, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free. "You can tell when you watch the movie they had a lot of help right up to the drilling portion," Hart says, "and that's where they didn't have anything. They're going off what was written in the book. "For someone in the business, they make the drilling side look really simple and really cheesy. You know, core steel welded to a drill bit. Things we would pick out instantly. It's like 'Oh really? Come on.' But we realize too the rescue portion had to be a very short section." Hart, an expert in deep drilling, also contends he wasn't as gruff looking as portrayed by Brolin in the film. One scene in particular stands out in Hart's mind. "What struck kind of funny was when James Brolin stomps off the drill site say- ing 'I'm going to call my people from Brazil and we're looking for a magnet to fish,'" Hart says. "We didn't use a magnet to fish, number one. We did bring in fishing tools, but they were from there in Chile. The fishing tool we used we actually made." Hart recommends the film despite its inaccuracies. "The movie is fantastic. It gets the point across of what the miners actually went through, and I think that's the point of the movie," Hart says. "It's actually very well done at that point. From our recollection of what was going on while we were there, the movie is extremely accurate to that." Hart was invited to the White House shortly after returning from Chile. He can say he has met the president of two countries (Chile and the United States). The 45-year-old from the San Luis Val- ley in Colorado now works as a drilling manager for Hydro Resources-West Inc. following 20 years at Layne Christensen Co. He manages the West operations for Hydro Resources and is enjoying growing the small company. Hart, a member of the National Ground Water Association, remembers neighbors having cable tool drilling rigs when he was young and working for them. "I love the challenge and seeing peo- ple grow in the industry the most," he says. "At Hydro I'm mostly management but do get on the rigs still when we have issues I can help educate with. It's easy to learn when you're solving a problem." His passion for the groundwater indus- try is apparent when he speaks. He went to work full-time in the industry in 1995 and wants to see it grow with the next generation. "It's important we begin getting some younger people to understand this really isn't an industry just to fall back on," he says. "It's not for the guy who didn't make it through his educational experi- ence. It's for guys who are smart too. "We're looked upon as the rough- necks of the world who are in fights in bars. It's not really about that anymore. It's about how do we do this better." Jeff Hart operated the Schramm T130XD drilling rig that led to the rescue of 33 Chilean miners. Operator of 'The Miracle Machine' Enjoys Surreal Movie Experience By Mike Price MOVIES from page 27