New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 11 - GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT › Part 4 - CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION › Section 19.11.4.17 - PIT AND CLOSED LOOP DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATING PLAN AND CLOSURE-REMEDIATION PLAN REQUIREMENTS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
All geothermal resources permit applications shall include
				  details regarding the design, construction and operation of a system designed
				  to temporarily store and dispose of drilling wastes and other process fluids
				  during periods of well or facility maintenance. The division will approve two
				  methods, pit or closed-loop system, for the handling of drilling fluids or
				  other process fluids released during well or facility maintenance activities.
				  The plan for design and construction of a pit shall follow the applicable liner
				  manufacturer's requirements. The operating details shall include operating and
				  maintenance procedures, a closure plan and hydrogeologic data 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
				  compliance with acceptable siting criteria. In the absence of site-specific
				  ground water data, the permittee may provide a reasonable determination of
				  probable ground water depth using data generated by models, cathodic well
				  lithology, published information or other tools as approved by the
				  division.
A.
Siting.
(1) A permittee may locate a pit containing
				fluids containing 10,000 mg/l or less of TDS and 1 mg/l or less of
				H2S:
(a) where ground
				water is more than four feet below the bottom of the pit;
(b) 100 feet or more from any continuously
				flowing watercourse or any other significant watercourse;
(c) 100 feet or more from any lakebed,
				sinkhole or playa lake (measured from the ordinary high-water mark);
(d) 200 feet or more from an occupied
				permanent residence, school, hospital, institution or church in existence at
				the time of initial application;
(e) 200 feet or more from a spring or a
				private, domestic fresh water well used by less than five households for
				domestic or stock watering purposes; or 200 feet or more from any other fresh
				water well or spring, in existence at the time of the initial
				application;
(f) outside
				incorporated municipal boundaries or outside a defined municipal fresh water
				wellfield covered under a municipal ordinance adopted pursuant to Section
				3-27-3 NMSA 1978, as amended, unless the municipality specifically
				approves;
(g) 100 or more feet from
				a wetland;
(h) outside the area
				overlying a subsurface mine, unless the division grants a variance that
				approves the proposed location based upon the permittee's demonstration that
				the pit's construction and use will not compromise the subsurface
				integrity;
(i) outside an unstable
				area, unless the division grants a variance upon a demonstration that the
				permittee has incorporated engineering measures into the design to ensure that
				the pit's integrity is not compromised; and
(j) outside a 100-year floodplain unless the
				division grants a variance for temporary use.