2023 Indiana Code › Title 14. Natural and Cultural Resources › Article 37. Oil and Gas › Chapter 7. Drilling › 14-37-7-4. Well Owner's or Operator's Duties Regarding Coal Mines

Sec. 4. (a) If a vertical or vertical part of a horizontal well is drilled and completed as a producing well:
(1) through a commercially minable coal resource; and
(2) within an area permitted under IC 14-34 or for which an affidavit and map has been filed under section 8 of this chapter;
an owner or operator shall set a production string of casing properly centralized and cemented to ensure that adequate cement is placed behind the casing in the area between fifty (50) feet below and one hundred (100) feet above the commercially minable coal seam.
(b) On completion of the coal seam protection requirements of subsection (a), the owner or operator shall prepare and submit to the director an affidavit on a form provided by the division that includes the following:
(1) Verification that the commercially minable coal resource was protected as required by subsection (a).
(2) A cross-section drawing of the well showing the location of each centralizer in the completed well.
(3) Evidence that adequate cement was circulated behind the casing as required by subsection (a).
(c) The director may require the owner or operator to run a cement bond-variable density log or other similar logging procedure to determine the adequacy of cement bonding if the director believes either or both of the following:
(1) That adequate cement has not been circulated to protect the commercially minable coal resource.
(2) That centralizers were not placed at locations necessary to properly centralize the casing through the coal seam.
(d) If the logging procedure under subsection (c) indicates that adequate cement bonding has not occurred between fifty (50) feet below and one hundred (100) feet above the commercially minable coal resource, the owner or operator shall perform remedial action, as ordered by the director, that results in adequate bonding.
(e) The owner or operator shall:
(1) submit:
(A) to the division the original affidavit required by subsection (b) and a copy of any logs required by subsection (c); and
(B) to the owner or operator of the commercially minable coal resource, if known, a copy of the affidavit required by subsection (b) and of any logs required by subsection (c); and
(2) complete the submission under subdivision (1) not later than thirty (30) days after the later of the following:
(A) The date of completion of the well.
(B) The date of completion of any logging procedure under subsection (c).
(f) If the director finds that coal seam protection measures taken by an owner or operator did not adequately protect the coal seam during coal mining operations in close proximity to a well that has not been plugged under IC 14-37-8-2 for which an affidavit is submitted under subsection (b), the owner or operator shall perform additional remedial action to ensure protection of the coal resource and the health and safety of miners. Significant water, gas, or other fluid movement into the underground mine that is transmitted through the annular space outside the protective casing string is evidence of a failure to adequately protect the coal seam.
(g) Preparation of the log and any remedial action required under this section are at the expense of the owner or operator.
[Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-8-9-4.]
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.30. Amended by P.L.140-2011, SEC.9.