North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 43 - Industrial Commission › Article 43-02 - Mineral Exploration and Development › Chapter 43-02-03 - Oil and Gas Conservation › Section 43-02-03-19.3 - Earthen pits and receptacles

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
Except as otherwise provided in this section and sections 43-02-03-19.4, 43-02-03-19.5, and 43-02-03-51.3, no saltwater, drilling mud,
				  crude oil, waste oil, or other waste may be stored in earthen pits or open
				  receptacles except in an emergency and upon approval by the director.
A lined earthen pit or open receptacle may be temporarily
				  used to retain oil, water, cement, solids, or fluids generated in well plugging
				  operations. A pit or receptacle used for this purpose must be sufficiently
				  impermeable to provide adequate temporary containment of the oil, water, or
				  fluids. The contents of the pit or receptacle must be removed within
				  seventy-two hours after operations have ceased and must be disposed of at an
				  authorized facility in accordance with section 43-02-03-19.2. Within thirty
				  days after operations have ceased, the earthen pit shall be reclaimed and the
				  open receptacle shall be removed. The director may grant an extension of the
				  thirty-day time period to no more than one year for good reason.
The director may permit pits or receptacles used solely for
				  the purpose of flaring casinghead gas. A pit or receptacle used for this
				  purpose must be sufficiently impermeable to provide adequate temporary
				  containment of fluids. Permission for such pit or receptacle must be
				  conditioned on locating the pit not less than one hundred fifty feet [45.72
				  meters] from the vicinity of wells and tanks and keeping it free of any
				  saltwater, crude oil, waste oil, or other waste. Saltwater, drilling mud, crude
				  oil, waste oil, or other waste must be removed from the pit or receptacle
				  within twenty-four hours after being discovered and must be disposed of at an
				  authorized facility in accordance with section 43-02-03-19.2.
The director may permit pits used solely for storage of
				  freshwater used in completion and well servicing operations. Permit
				  applications for freshwater pits must be submitted on a sundry notice and must
				  be valid for a period of one year but may be reauthorized upon application.
				  Freshwater pits must be lined and no pit constructed for this purpose may be
				  wholly or partially constructed in fill dirt unless approved by the director.
				  The director may approve chemical treatment to municipal drinking water
				  standards upon application.
The freshwater pit must have signage on all sides accessible
				  to vehicular traffic clearly identifying the usage as freshwater only.
The director may permit portable-collapsible receptacles used
				  solely for storage of fluids used in completion and well servicing operations,
				  although no flowback fluids may be allowed. Permit applications for such
				  receptacles must be submitted on a sundry notice and must be valid for a period
				  of one year but may be reauthorized upon application. Such receptacles must
				  utilize a sealed inner bladder, erected to conform to American petroleum
				  institute standards, and may not be wholly or partially constructed on fill
				  dirt unless approved by the director. Such receptacles must have signage on all
				  sides accessible to vehicular traffic clearly identifying the fluid contained
				  within.
The director may permit portable-collapsible single sidewall,
				  double liner open top receptacles used solely for storage of fluids used in
				  completion and well servicing operations, although no flowback fluids may be
				  allowed. Such receptacles must have signage on all sides accessible to
				  vehicular traffic clearly identifying the fluid contained within. Permits for
				  such receptacles must be submitted on a sundry notice and must be valid for a
				  period of one year but may be reauthorized upon application. Permits for such
				  receptacles must include at least the following information:
1. The name and address of the
				operator.
2. Legal location of the
				site where the open top receptacle will be located.
3. Structural engineering analysis of the
				open top receptacle including panels and connection system.
4. Schematic drawings depicting the
				following:
a. As-built or proposed cut and
				fill diagram showing how the open top receptacle will be located in a cut area
				of the site.
b. The site that
				includes its dimensions or proposed dimensions and the height, location, and
				calculated capacity of the perimeter berm and any other spill containment
				structures.
c. Fill pipe or filling
				mechanism designed to protect the liner system from the initial force of water
				entering the open top receptacle.
d. Isolation valves in the produced water and
				freshwater flow lines.
e. Location
				of the concrete jersey barriers around the open top receptacle to avert
				vehicular traffic and impede the flow of water in the event of a
				breach.