| (a) Applicability. Subsections (b) - (j) of this section
apply to all Class I wells except for those Class I wells authorized
to inject only nonhazardous desalination concentrate or nonhazardous
drinking water treatment residuals.
(b) Injection fluids shall be sampled and analyzed
with a frequency sufficient to yield representative data of their
characteristics.
(1) The owner or operator shall develop and follow
an approved written waste analysis plan that describes the procedures
to be carried out to obtain a detailed chemical and physical analysis
of a representative sample of the waste, including the quality assurance
procedures used. At a minimum, the plan shall specify:
(A) the parameters for which the waste will be analyzed
and the rationale for the selection of these parameters;
(B) the test methods that will be used to test for
these parameters; and
(C) the sampling method that will be used to obtain
a representative sample of the waste to be analyzed.
(2) The owner or operator shall repeat the analysis
of the injected wastes as described in the waste analysis plan and
when process or operating changes occur that may significantly alter
the characteristics of the waste stream.
(3) The owner or operator shall conduct continuous
or periodic monitoring of selected parameters as required by the executive
director.
(4) The owner or operator shall assure that the plan
remains accurate and the analyses remain representative.
(c) Pressure gauges shall be installed and maintained,
at the wellhead, in proper operating conditions at all times on the
injection tubing and on the annulus between the tubing and long-string
casing, and/or annulus between the tubing and liner.
(d) Continuous recording devices shall be installed,
used, and maintained in proper operating condition at all times to
record injection tubing pressures, injection flow rates, injection
fluid temperatures, injection volumes, tubing-long string casing annulus
pressure and volume, and any other data specified by the permit. The
instruments shall be housed in weatherproof enclosures. The owner
or operator shall also install and use:
(1) automatic alarm and automatic shutoff systems,
designed to sound and shut-in the well when pressures and flow rates
or other parameters approved by the executive director exceed a range
and/or gradient specified in the permit; or
(2) automatic alarms designed to sound when the pressures
and flow rates or other parameters approved by the executive director
exceed a rate and/or gradient specified in the permit, in cases where
the owner or operator certifies that a trained operator will be on
location and able to immediately respond to alarms at all times when
the well is operating.
(3) If an automatic alarm or shutdown is triggered,
the owner or operator shall immediately investigate as expeditiously
as possible the cause of the alarm or shutoff. If, upon investigation,
the well appears to be lacking mechanical integrity, or if monitoring
otherwise indicates that the well may be lacking mechanical integrity,
the owner or operator shall:
(A) cease injection of waste fluids unless authorized
by the executive director to continue or resume injection;
(B) take all necessary steps to determine the presence
or absence of a leak; and
(C) notify the executive director within 24 hours after
the alarm or shutdown.
(4) If the loss of mechanical integrity is discovered
by monitoring or during periodic mechanical integrity testing, the
owner or operator shall:
(A) immediately cease injection of waste fluids;
(B) take all steps reasonably necessary to determine
whether there may have been a release of hazardous wastes or hazardous
waste constituents into any unauthorized zone;
(C) notify the executive director within 24 hours after
the loss of mechanical integrity is discovered;
(D) notify the executive director when injection can
be expected to resume; and
(E) restore and demonstrate mechanical integrity to
the satisfaction of the executive director prior to resuming injection
of waste fluids.
(5) Whenever the owner or operator obtains evidence
that there may have been a release of injected wastes into an unauthorized
zone:
(A) the owner or operator shall immediately cease injection
of waste fluids; and
(i) notify the executive director within 24 hours of
obtaining such evidence;
(ii) take all necessary steps to identify and characterize
the extent of any release;
(iii) propose a remediation plan for executive director
review and approval;
(iv) comply with any remediation plan specified by
the executive director;
(v) implement any remediation plan approved by the
executive director; and
(vi) where such release is into an underground source
of drinking water (USDW) or freshwater aquifer currently serving as
a water supply, within 24 hours, notify the local health authority,
place a notice in a newspaper of general circulation, and send notification
by mail to adjacent landowners;
(B) the executive director may allow the operator to
resume injection prior to completing cleanup action if the owner or
operator demonstrates that the injection operation will not endanger
USDWs or freshwater aquifers.
(e) Mechanical integrity testing.
(1) The integrity of the long string casing, injection
tube, and annular seal shall be tested annually by means of an approved
pressure test with a liquid or gas and whenever there has been a well
workover. The integrity of the bottom-hole cement shall be tested
annually by means of an approved radioactive tracer survey. A radioactive
tracer survey may be required after workovers that have the potential
to damage the cement within the injection zone.
(2) A temperature log, noise log, oxygen activation
log, or other approved log shall be required by the executive director
at least once every five years to test for fluid movement along the
borehole.
(3) A casing inspection, casing evaluation, or other
approved log shall be run whenever the owner or operator conducts
a workover in which the injection string is pulled, unless the executive
director waives this requirement due to well construction or other
factors which limit the test's reliability, or based upon the satisfactory
results of a casing inspection log run within the previous five years.
The executive director may require that a casing inspection log be
run every five years, if there is sufficient reason to believe the
integrity of the long string casing of the well may be adversely affected
by naturally occurring or man-made events.
(4) The executive director may allow the use of a test
to demonstrate mechanical integrity other than those listed in paragraph
(1) of this subsection with the written approval of the administrator
of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or his
authorized representative. To obtain approval, the executive director
shall submit a written request to the EPA administrator, which shall
set forth the proposed test and all technical data supporting its
use. The EPA administrator shall approve the request if it will reliably
demonstrate the mechanical integrity of wells for which its use is
proposed. Any alternate method approved by the EPA administrator shall
be published in the Federal Register and
may be used unless its use is restricted at the time of approval by
the EPA administrator.
(f) Any wells within the area of review selected for
the observation of water quality, formation pressure, or any other
parameter, shall be monitored at a frequency sufficient to protect
USDWs and fresh or surface water.
(g) Corrosion monitoring.
(1) Corrosion monitoring of well materials shall be
conducted quarterly. Test materials shall be the same as those used
in the injection tubing, packer, and long string casing, and shall
be continuously exposed to the waste fluids with the exception of
when the well is taken out of service. The owner or operator shall
demonstrate that the waste stream will be compatible with the well
materials with which the waste is expected to come into contact, and
to submit to the executive director a description of the methodology
used to make that determination. Compatibility for purposes of this
requirement is established if contact with injected fluids will not
cause the well materials to fail to satisfy any design requirement
imposed under §331.62(a)(1) of this title (relating to Construction
Standards). Testing shall be by:
(A) placing coupons of the well construction materials
in contact with the waste stream; or
(B) routing the waste stream through a loop constructed
with the material used in the well; or
(C) using an alternative method approved by the executive
director.
(2) The test shall use materials identical to those
used in the construction of the well, and those materials must be
continuously exposed to the operating pressures and temperatures (measured
at the wellhead) and flow rates of the injection operation; and
(3) The owner or operator shall monitor the materials
for loss of mass, thickness, cracking, pitting and other signs of
corrosion on a quarterly basis to ensure that the well components
meet the minimum standards for material strength and performance set
forth in §331.62(a)(1) of this title.
(4) Corrosion monitoring may be waived by the executive
director if the injection well owner or operator satisfactorily demonstrates,
before authorization to conduct injection operations, that the waste
streams will not be corrosive to the well materials with which the
waste is expected to come into contact throughout the life of the
well. The demonstration shall include a description of the methodology
used to make that determination.
(h) Ambient monitoring.
(1) Based on a site-specific assessment of the potential
for fluid movement from the well or injection zone and on the potential
value of monitoring wells to detect fluid movement, the executive
director shall require the owner or operator to develop a monitoring
program. When prescribing a monitoring system, the executive director
may also require:
(A) Continuous monitoring for pressure changes in the
first aquifer overlying the confining zone. When a monitor well is
installed, the owner or operator shall, on a quarterly basis, sample
the aquifer and analyze for constituents specified by the executive
director;
(B) the use of indirect, geophysical techniques to
determine the position of the waste front, the water quality in a
formation designated by the executive director, or to provide other
site-specific data;
(C) periodic monitoring of the ground water quality
in the first aquifer overlying the injection zone;
(D) periodic monitoring of the ground water quality
in the lowermost USDW; and
(E) any additional monitoring necessary to determine
whether fluids are moving into or between USDWs.
(2) The pressure buildup in the injection zone shall
be monitored annually, including at a minimum, a shut down of the
well for a time sufficient to conduct a valid observation of the pressure
fall-off curve.
(i) Any other monitoring and testing requirements which
the executive director determines to be necessary including, but not
limited to, monitoring for seismic activity.
(j) The owner or operator shall submit information
demonstrating to the satisfaction of the executive director that the
waste stream and its anticipated reaction products will not alter
the permeability, thickness, or other relevant characteristics of
the confining or injection zones such that they would no longer meet
the requirements specified in §331.121(c) of this title (relating
to Class I Wells).
(k) Class I Wells authorized to inject only nonhazardous
desalination concentrate or nonhazardous drinking water treatment
residuals shall comply with the following monitoring and testing requirements:
(1) Monitoring requirements. Monitoring requirements
shall, at a minimum, include:
(A) The analysis of the injected fluids with sufficient
frequency to yield representative data of their characteristics;
(B) Installation and use of continuous recording devices
to monitor injection pressure, flow rate and volume, and the pressure
on the annulus between the tubing and the long string of casing;
(C) Installation and use of monitoring wells within
the area of review if required by the executive director, to monitor
any migration of fluids into and pressure in the USDW. The type, number
and location of the wells, the parameters to be measured, and the
frequency of monitoring must be approved by the executive director;
(D) A demonstration of mechanical integrity pursuant
to paragraph (4) of this subsection at least once every five years
during the life of the well; and
(E) The type, number and location of wells within the
area of review to be used to monitor any migration of fluids into
and pressure in the USDW, the parameters to be measured and the frequency
of monitoring.
Cont'd... |
