North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 43 - Industrial Commission › Article 43-02 - Mineral Exploration and Development › Chapter 43-02-03 - Oil and Gas Conservation › Section 43-02-03-53.3 - Saltwater handling facility construction and operation requirements

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1. Bond
				requirement. Before construction of a saltwater handling facility, saltwater
				handling facility site, or access road begins, the operator shall file with the
				director a surety bond or cash bond conditioned upon compliance with all laws,
				rules and regulations, and orders of the commission. The bond must be in the
				amount of fifty thousand dollars and must be payable to the industrial
				commission. The commission, after notice and hearing, may require a higher bond
				amount. Such additional amounts for bonds must be related to the economic value
				of the facility and the expected cost of decommissioning and site reclamation,
				as determined by the commission. The commission may refuse to accept a bond if
				the operator or surety company has failed in the past to comply with all laws,
				rules and regulations, and orders of the commission; if a civil or
				administrative action brought by the commission is pending against the operator
				or surety company; or for other good cause.
2. Saltwater handling facility sites or
				appropriate parts thereof must be fenced if required by the director. All
				fences installed within or around any facility must be constructed in a manner
				that promotes emergency ingress and egress.
3. All waste, recovered solids, and fluids
				must be stored and handled in such a manner to prevent runoff or migration
				offsite.
4. Surface tanks may not
				be underground or partially buried, must be devoid of leaks, and constructed
				of, or lined with, materials resistant to the effects of produced saltwater
				liquids, brines, or chemicals that may be contained therein. The above
				materials requirement may be waived by the director for tanks presently in
				service and in good condition. Unused tanks and equipment must be removed from
				the site or placed into service, within a reasonable time period, not to exceed
				one year.
5. Dikes must be erected
				and maintained around saltwater tanks at any saltwater handling facility. Dikes
				must be erected around saltwater tanks at any new facility prior to introducing
				fluids. Dikes as well as the base material under the dikes and within the diked
				area must be constructed of sufficiently impermeable material to provide
				emergency containment. Dikes must be of sufficient dimension to contain the
				total capacity of the largest tank plus one day's fluid throughput. The
				required capacity of the dike may be lowered by the director if the necessity
				therefor can be demonstrated to the director's satisfaction. The operations of
				the saltwater handling facility must be conducted in such a manner as to
				prevent leaks, spills, and fires. Discharged liquids or brines must be properly
				removed and may not be allowed to remain standing within or outside of any
				diked areas. All such incidents must be properly cleaned up, subject to
				approval by the director. All such reportable incidents must be promptly
				reported to the director and a detailed account of any such incident must be
				filed with the director in accordance with section 43-02-03-30.
6. Within one hundred eighty days from the
				date the operator is notified by the commission, a perimeter berm, at least six
				inches [15.24 centimeters] in height, must be constructed of sufficiently
				impermeable material to provide emergency containment around the facility and
				to divert surface drainage away from the site. The director may consider an
				extension of time to implement these requirements if conditions prevent timely
				construction or a modification of these requirements if other factors are
				present that provide sufficient protection from environmental
				impacts.
7. The operator shall take
				steps to minimize the amount of solids stored at the facility.
8. Within thirty days following construction
				or modification of a saltwater handling facility, a sundry notice (form 4) must
				be submitted detailing the work and the dates commenced and completed. The
				sundry notice must be accompanied by a schematic drawing of the saltwater
				handling facility site drawn to scale, detailing all facilities and equipment,
				including the size, location, and purpose of all tanks; the height and location
				of all dikes as well as a calculated containment volume; all areas underlain by
				a synthetic liner; any leak detection system installed; the location of all
				flowlines; the stockpiled topsoil location and its volume; and the road access
				to the nearest existing public road.
9. Immediately upon the commissioning of the
				saltwater handling facility, the operator shall notify the director in writing
				of such date.
10. The operator of a
				saltwater handling facility shall provide continuing surveillance and conduct
				such monitoring and sampling as the director may require.
11. Storage pits, waste pits, or other
				earthen storage areas must be prohibited unless authorized by an appropriate
				regulatory agency. A copy of said authorization must be filed with the
				director.
12. Burial of waste at
				any saltwater handling facility site is prohibited. All residual water and
				waste, fluid or solid, must be disposed of in an authorized facility.
13. If deemed necessary by the director, the
				operator shall cause to be analyzed any waste substance contained onsite. Such
				chemical analysis must be performed by a certified laboratory and must
				adequately determine if chemical constituents exist which would categorize the
				waste as hazardous by department of environmental quality standards.
14. Saltwater handling facilities must be
				constructed and operated so as not to endanger surface or subsurface water
				supplies or cause degradation to surrounding lands and must comply with section
				43-02-03-28 concerning fire hazards and proximity to occupied
				dwellings.
15. All proposed changes
				to any saltwater handling facility are subject to prior approval by the
				director.
16. Any salable crude oil
				recovered from a saltwater handling facility must be reported on a form 5
				SWD.
17. The operator shall comply
				with all laws, rules and regulations, and orders of the commission. All rules
				in this chapter governing oil well sites also apply to any saltwater handling
				facility site.
18. The operator
				shall immediately cease operations if so ordered by the director for the
				failure to comply with the statutes of North Dakota, commission rules or
				orders, or directives of the director.
General Authority:
NDCC 38-08-04
Law Implemented:
NDCC
					 38-08-04