New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 15 - OIL AND GAS › Part 36 - SURFACE WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES › Section 19.15.36.17 - SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO EVAPORATION, STORAGE, TREATMENT AND SKIMMER PONDS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Engineering
				design plan. An applicant for a surface waste management facility permit or
				modification requesting inclusion of a skimmer pit; an evaporation, storage or
				treatment pond; or a below-grade tank shall submit with the surface waste
				management facility permit application a detailed engineering design plan,
				certified by a registered profession engineer, including operating and
				maintenance procedures; a closure plan; and a hydrologic report that provides
				sufficient information and detail on the site's topography, soils, geology,
				surface hydrology and ground water hydrology to enable the division to evaluate
				the actual and potential effects on soils, surface water and ground water. The
				plan shall include detailed information on dike protection and structural
				integrity; leak detection, including an adequate fluid collection and removal
				system; liner specifications and compatibility; freeboard and overtopping
				prevention; prevention of nuisance and hazardous odors such as H2S; an
				emergency response plan, unless the pit is part of a surface waste management
				facility that has an integrated contingency plan; type of oil field waste
				stream, including chemical analysis; climatological factors, including
				freeze-thaw cycles; a monitoring and inspection plan; erosion control; and
				other pertinent information the division requests.
B. Construction, standards.
(1) In general. The operator shall ensure
				each pit, pond and below-grade tank is designed, constructed and operated so as
				to contain liquids and solids in a manner that will protect fresh water, public
				health and the environment.
(2)
				Liners required. Each pit or pond shall contain, at a minimum, a primary
				(upper) liner and a secondary (lower) liner with a leak detection system
				appropriate to the site's conditions.
(3) Liner specifications. Liners shall
				consist of a 30-mil flexible PVC or 60-mil HDPE liner, or an equivalent liner
				approved by the division. Synthetic (geomembrane) liners shall have a hydraulic
				conductivity no greater than 1 x 10-9 cm/sec.
				Geomembrane liners shall be composed of an impervious, synthetic material that
				is resistant to petroleum hydrocarbons, salts and acidic and alkaline
				solutions. Liner materials shall be resistant to ultraviolet light, or the
				operator shall make provisions to protect the material from sunlight. Liner
				compatibility shall comply with EPA SW-846 method 9090A.
(4) Alternative liner media. The division may
				approve other liner media if the operator demonstrates to the division's
				satisfaction that the alternative liner protects fresh water, public health and
				the environment as effectively as the specified media.
(5) Each pit or pond shall have a properly
				constructed foundation or firm, unyielding base, smooth and free of rocks,
				debris, sharp edges or irregularities, in order to prevent rupture or tear of
				the liner and an adequate anchor trench; and shall be constructed so that the
				inside grade of the levee is no steeper than 2H:1V. Levees shall have an
				outside grade no steeper than 3H:1V. The levees' tops shall be wide enough to
				install an anchor trench and provide adequate room for inspection and
				maintenance. The operator shall minimize liner seams and orient them up and
				down, not across a slope. The operator shall use factory seams where possible.
				The operator shall ensure field seams in geosynthetic material are thermally
				seamed (hot wedge) with a double track weld to create an air pocket for
				non-destructive air channel testing. A stabilized air pressure of 35 psi, plus
				or minus one percent, shall be maintained for at least five minutes. The
				operator shall overlap liners four to six inches before seaming, and orient
				seams parallel to the line of maximum slope, i.e., oriented along, not across,
				the slope. The operator shall minimize the number of field seams in corners and
				irregularly shaped areas. There shall be no horizontal seams within five feet
				of the slope's toe. Qualified personnel shall perform field seaming.
(6) At a point of discharge into or suction
				from the lined pit, the liner shall be protected from excessive hydrostatic
				force or mechanical damage, and external discharge lines shall not penetrate
				the liner.
(7) Primary liners shall
				be constructed of a synthetic material.
(8) A secondary liner may be a synthetic
				liner or an alternative liner approved by the division. Secondary liners
				constructed with compacted soil membranes, i.e., natural or processed clay and
				other soils, shall be at least three feet thick, placed in six-inch lifts and
				compacted to ninety-five percent of the material's standard proctor density, or
				equivalent. Compacted soil membranes used in a liner shall undergo permeability
				testing in conformity with ASTM standards and methods approved by the division
				before and after construction. Compacted soil membranes shall have a hydraulic
				conductivity of no greater than 1 x 10-8 cm/sec. The
				operator shall submit results of pre-construction testing to the division for
				approval prior to construction.
(9)
				The operator shall place a leak detection system between the lower and upper
				geomembrane liners that consists of two feet of compacted soil with a saturated
				hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10-5 cm/sec or greater
				to facilitate drainage. The leak detection system shall consist of a properly
				designed drainage and collection and removal system placed above the lower
				geomembrane liner in depressions and sloped so as to facilitate the earliest
				possible leak detection. Piping used shall be designed to withstand chemical
				attack from oil field waste or leachate; structural loading from stresses and
				disturbances from overlying oil field waste, cover materials, equipment
				operation or expansion or contraction; and to facilitate clean-out maintenance.
				The material placed between the pipes and laterals shall be sufficiently
				permeable to allow the transport of fluids to the drainage pipe. The slope of
				the interior sub-grade and of drainage lines and laterals shall be at least a
				two percent grade, i.e., two feet vertical drop per 100 horizontal feet. The
				piping collection system shall be comprised of solid and perforated pipe having
				a minimum diameter of four inches and a minimum wall thickness of schedule 80.
				The operator shall seal a solid sidewall riser pipe to convey collected fluids
				to a collection, observation and disposal system located outside the perimeter
				of the pit or pond. The operator may install alternative methods as approved by
				the division.
(10) The operator
				shall notify the division at least 72 hours prior to the primary liner's
				installation so that a division representative may inspect the leak detection
				system before it is covered.
(11)
				The operator shall construct pits and ponds in a manner that prevents
				overtopping due to wave action or rainfall, and maintain a three foot freeboard
				at all times.
(12) The maximum size
				of an evaporation or storage pond shall not exceed 10 acre-feet.