Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 567 - Environmental Protection Commission › Title II - Air Quality › Division A › Chapter 39 - Requirements for Properly Plugging Abandoned Wells › Rule 567-39.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
"Abandoned well"
means a water well which
					 is no longer in use or which is in such a state of disrepair that continued use
					 for the purpose of accessing water is unsafe or impractical.
"Agricultural lime "
means all calcium and
					 magnesium products sold for agricultural purposes in the carbonate form, not
					 including quicklime or hydrated lime, of a size comparable with that of crushed
					 stone, gravel or pea gravel.
"Approved"
means accepted or acceptable
					 under an applicable specification stated or cited in these rules.
"Aquifer"
means a water-bearing geologic
					 formation capable of yielding a usable quantity of water to a well or
					 spring.
"Bentonite"
means a naturally occurring
					 highly plastic, colloidal clay composed largely of the mineral montmorillonite
					 which expands upon wetting.
"Bentonite grout (or slurry)"
means a
					 mixture of 10 percent processed bentonite (by weight) and water which is free
					 of contaminants, turbidity and settleable solids.
"Bentonite pellets"
means a form of
					 processed bentonite which can be used directly for sealing applications in well
					 plugging operations.
"Bentonite products "
means the forms of
					 bentonite which can be used for sealing material in wells, including graded
					 bentonite, bentonite pellets and bentonite grout.
"Capped"
means the application of a layer
					 of sealing material at the top of the well casing.
"Casing"
means a tubular retaining
					 structure installed in an excavated hole to maintain the well opening.
"Certified well contractor "
means a well
					 contractor certified by the department in accordance with 567-Chapter
					 82.
"Class 1 well"
means a well 100 feet or
					 less in depth and 18 inches or more in diameter.
"Class 2 well"
means a well more than 100
					 feet in depth or less than 18 inches in diameter or a bedrock well. Bedrock
					 wells include:
1. Wells completed in a
				  single confined aquifer;
2. Wells
				  completed in a single unconfined aquifer; and
3. Wells completed in multiple aquifers.
"Class 3 well"
means a sandpoint well or a
					 well 50 feet or less in depth constructed by joining a screened drive point
					 with lengths of pipe and driving the assembly into a shallow sand and gravel
					 aquifer.
"Concrete "
means a mixture of one sack
					 (94 pounds) of Portland cement, up to but not exceeding an equal amount by
					 volume of sand and up to but not exceeding an equal amount by volume of gravel
					 or crushed stone and not more than six gallons of water which is free of
					 contaminants, turbidity and settleable solids.
"Confined aquifer"
means an aquifer in
					 which the groundwater is under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. The
					 static water level in a well tapping a confined aquifer rises to a level above
					 the top of the aquifer.
"Crushed stone"
means stone (predominantly
					 limestone), crushed and well graded, with 100 percent passing a 1-inch sieve,
					 in accordance with the 1984 edition of Iowa department of transportation
					 specification No. 4120.04 for Class A crushed stone.
"Department"
means the department of
					 natural resources created under Iowa Code section 455A.2.
"Designated agent"
means a person other
					 than the state, designated by a county board of supervisors to review and
					 confirm that a well has been property plugged.
"Director "
means the director of the
					 department.
"Filling materials "
means agricultural
					 lime, soil, sand, gravel, crushed stone, rock and pea gravel used to occupy
					 space between and below sealing materials in abandoned wells being
					 plugged.
"Frost pit"
means a sunken area located
					 directly over or within 4 feet of a well and used to house the equipment for
					 discharging water from a well into the water system.
"Graded bentonite "
means bentonite which
					 is crushed and sized for pouring and easy handling. Like processed bentonite,
					 it swells when hydrated with water and will form a plastic, essentially
					 impermeable mass.
"Gravel"
means stone screened from river
					 sand or quarried, with 100 percent passing a ¾-inch sieve, in accordance
					 with the 1984 edition of the Iowa department of transportation specification
					 No. 4120.02 for Class B gravel.
"Groundwater "
means any water beneath the
					 surface of the earth.
"Grout"
means, for the purposes of this
					 chapter, a fluid mixture of cement and water (neat cement); sand, cement and
					 water (sand cement grout); or bentonite and water (bentonite grout or slurry)
					 of a consistency that can be forced through a pipe and placed as
					 required.
"Limestone "
means sedimentary rock which
					 contains greater than 50 percent calcium carbonate and has a strong reaction
					 with hydrochloric acid (HCL).
"Neat cement"
means a mixture of one sack
					 (94 pounds) of Portland cement to not more than six gallons of water which is
					 free from contaminants, turbidity or settleable solids. Bentonite up to 2
					 percent by weight of cement may be added to reduce shrinkage.
"Owner "
means the titleholder of the land
					 where an abandoned well is located.
"Pea gravel"
means gravel sized from 1/8
					 inch to 3/8 inch in diameter.
"Plug "
means the closure of an abandoned
					 well with plugging materials by procedures which will permanently seal the well
					 from contamination by surface drainage and permanently seal off the well from
					 contamination into an aquifer. This involves the proper application of filling
					 and sealing materials.
"Processed bentonite "
means bentonite
					 which has been kiln dried and processed into pellets for direct use in well
					 sealing applications or into powder or coarse granules for use in bentonite
					 grout for sealing.
"Rock"
means stone screened from river
					 sand or quarried, free of debris, foreign matter and any toxic or agricultural
					 chemical residue, up to 2½ inches in diameter.
"Sand"
means clean, medium-textured quartz
					 (concrete sand) and shall be at least 25 percent with diameters between 2.0 and
					 0.25 mm, less than 35 percent with diameters between 0.25 and 0.05 mm and less
					 than 5 percent with diameters between 0.002 and 0.05 mm.
"Sand cement grout"
means a mixture of one
					 sack (94 pounds) of Portland cement, an equal amount by volume of sand and not
					 more than six gallons of water which is free from contaminants, turbidity and
					 settleable solids.
"Sandpoint well"
means a small diameter
					 water well constructed by joining a screened drive point with lengths of pipe
					 and driving the assembly into a shallow sand and gravel aquifer.
"Sealing "
means the proper placement of
					 sealing materials into an abandoned well to seal off flow into, out of or
					 between aquifers.
"Sealing materials"
means bentonite
					 products. Sealing materials may also include neat cement, sand cement grout and
					 concrete.
"Standby well"
means a water well which is
					 temporarily taken out of service with the expectation of being returned to
					 service at a future date.
"Static water level"
means the water level
					 in a water well or aquifer when the well is not flowing or being pumped;
					 sometimes referred to as the water line. The static water level for an
					 abandoned well is determined just prior to commencing plugging
					 operations.
"Tremie pipe "
means a device, usually a
					 small diameter pipe, that carries grouting materials to the bottom of the hole
					 and which allows pressure grouting from the bottom up without introduction of
					 air pockets.
"Unconfined aquifer "
means an aquifer in
					 which the static water level does not rise above the top of the aquifer, i.e.,
					 the pressure of the water in the aquifer is approximately equal to that of the
					 atmosphere.
"Water well"
means an excavation that is
					 drilled, cored, bored, augered, washed, driven, dug, jetted or otherwise
					 constructed for accessing groundwater.