New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 11 - GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT › Part 4 - CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION › Section 19.11.4.13 - TESTING AND MONITORING

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
Well construction testing and monitoring.
(1) The permittee shall log all injection or
				production wells with an induction electrical log, or equivalent, or by
				gamma-neutron log after running casing. The permittee shall log the well from
				the bottom of the hole to the bottom of the production casing. This requirement
				may vary from area to area, depending upon the amount of pre-existing
				subsurface geological data available. If sufficient subsurface geologic data is
				available, the division may not require the permittee to log the well. However,
				the permittee shall obtain the division's written permission to omit this
				requirement prior to running surface casing.
(2) The permittee shall take cuttings a
				minimum of every 10 feet for all geothermal wells. The cuttings must be
				cleaned, dried, marked for location and depth and placed in appropriate
				containers and maintained with the well or facility records per Subsection A of
				19.11.4.14 NMAC.
(3) The permittee
				shall regularly monitor the temperature of the return mud during the drilling
				of the surface casing hole, below the conductor casing. The permittee shall
				either install and maintain in working condition a continuous temperature
				monitoring device, or read the temperature manually. In either case, the
				permittee shall log the return mud temperature after each joint of pipe has
				been drilled down 30 feet.
(4)
				After installation and prior to drilling out the guide shoe from the production
				or injection casing, the permittee shall test the well casing and BOPE under
				pressure. The test pressure shall be 1.5 times the saturated steam pressure
				(psia) of water at the predicted bottom hole mud return temperature. An
				acceptable test shall maintain pressure in the well between the guide shoe and
				BOPE, with no more than a ten percent drop from the initial test pressure, for
				30 minutes.
(5) Prior to operation
				of an injection well, the permittee shall test the well construction to
				demonstrate that the casing cement has acceptably bonded to the casing. The
				permittee shall conduct the cement bond log test by a method approved by the
				division and submit the test results to the division for approval before
				placing the well into operation.
(6) Prior to operation, the permittee shall
				test all injection wells to demonstrate that the casing has complete integrity.
				The permittee shall conduct the MIT by a method approved by the division and
				submit the test results to the division for approval before placing the well
				into operation.
(7) For fresh water
				aquifers the division determines may be affected by the operation of an
				injection well, prior to operation, the permittee shall sample and analyze
				water quality from the fresh water aquifer through a monitoring or observation
				well, located down gradient (static water level of fresh water aquifer) and
				within 500 feet of each injection well. During sampling, the permittee shall
				also measure the static water level and water temperature. The division shall
				establish the scope of the water quality analysis based on the potential
				contaminants from the geothermal resource and geothermal ground
				operations.