Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 150 - VIRGINIA GAS AND OIL REGULATION › Part I - Standards of General Applicability › Article 5 - Technical Standards › Section 4VAC25-150-280 - Logs and surveys

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Each
					 permittee drilling a well or corehole shall complete a driller's log, a gamma
					 ray log, or other log showing the top and bottom points of geologic formations
					 and any other log required under this section. The driller's log shall state,
					 at a minimum, the character, depth, and thickness of geological formations
					 encountered, including groundwater-bearing strata, coal seams, mineral beds,
					 and gas-bearing or oil-bearing formations.
B. When a permittee or the director
					 identifies that a well or corehole is to be drilled or deepened in an area of
					 the Commonwealth that is known to be underlain by coal seams, the following
					 shall be required:
1. The vertical location
					 of coal seams in the well or corehole shall be determined and shown in the
					 driller's log and gamma ray log or other log.
2. The horizontal location of the well or
					 corehole in coal seams shall be determined through an inclination survey from
					 the surface to the lowest known coal seam. Each inclination survey shall be
					 conducted as follows:
a. The first survey
					 point shall be taken at a depth not greater than the most shallow coal seam;
					 and
b. Thereafter shot points shall
					 be taken at each coal seam or at intervals of 200 feet, whichever is less, to
					 the lowest known coal seam.
3. Prior to drilling any well or corehole
					 within 500 feet of a coal seam in which there are active workings, the
					 permittee shall conduct an inclination survey to determine whether the
					 deviation of the well or corehole exceeds one degree from true vertical. If the
					 well or corehole is found to exceed one degree from vertical, then the
					 permittee shall:
a. Immediately cease
					 operations;
b. Immediately notify
					 the coal owner and the division;
c.
					 Conduct a directional survey to drilled depth to determine both horizontal and
					 vertical location of the well or corehole; and
d. Unless granted a variance by the director,
					 correct the well or corehole to within one degree of true vertical.
4. Except as provided for in
					 subdivision B 3 of this section, if the deviation of the well or corehole
					 exceeds one degree from true vertical at any point between the surface and the
					 lowest known coal seam, then the permittee shall:
a. Correct the well or corehole to within one
					 degree of true vertical; or
b.
					 Conduct a directional survey to the lowest known coal seam and notify the coal
					 owner of the actual well or corehole location.
5. The director may grant a variance to the
					 requirements of subdivisions B 3 and B 4 of this section only after the
					 permittee and coal owners have jointly submitted a written request for a
					 variance stating that a directional survey or correction to the well or
					 corehole is not needed to protect the safety of any person engaged in active
					 coal mining or to the environment.
6. If the director finds that the lack of
					 assurance of the horizontal location of the well or corehole to a known coal
					 seam poses a danger to persons engaged in active coal mining or the lack of
					 assurance poses a risk to the public safety or the environment, the director
					 may, until 30 days after a permittee has filed the completion report required
					 in 4VAC25-150-360, require that a
					 directional survey be conducted by the permittee.
7. The driller's log shall be updated on a
					 daily basis. The driller's log and results of any other required survey shall
					 be kept at the site until drilling and casing or plugging a dry hole or
					 corehole are completed.