Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 4 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Subchapter F - OIL AND GAS NORM › Section 4.614 - Authorized Disposal Methods

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				  Purpose. This section authorizes the methods for disposing of oil and gas NORM
				  waste without a permit.
(b)
				  Disposal in plugged and abandoned well. A person may dispose of oil and gas
				  NORM waste by placing it between plugs in a well that is being plugged and
				  abandoned, provided that:
(1) No person may
				  dispose of oil and gas NORM waste at a lease or unit other than the lease or
				  unit where the oil and gas NORM waste was generated unless prior to
				  commencement of disposal operations, the surface owner of the lease or unit
				  where the disposal occurs provides written consent for the disposal.
(2) The oil and gas NORM waste shall be
				  placed in the well at a depth at least 250 feet below the base of usable
				  quality water in compliance with §
											RSA 3.14 of
				  this title (relating to Plugging).
(3) If the oil and gas NORM waste is encased
				  in a tubing string, the tubing shall be:
(A)
				  placed, not dropped, in the well; and
(B) left with an assembly that allows ready
				  retrieval, if the string is not secured in cement.
(4) A cement plug shall be set immediately
				  above the oil and gas NORM waste and the plug shall be either:
(A) above a cement retainer;
(B) above a cast iron bridge plug;
				  or
(C) tagged to locate its
				  position.
(5) The cement
				  of the surface plug shall be color dyed with red iron oxide.
(6) A permanent marker that shows the
				  three-bladed radiation symbol specified in 25 TAC §
											RSA
				  289.202<subdiv>(z)</subdiv>
				  (relating to Standards for Protection Against Radiation from Radioactive
				  Material), adopted effective October 1, 2000, without regard to color, shall be
				  welded to the steel plate at the top of the well casing.
(7) The operator shall state on Form W-3A,
				  Intent to Plug and Abandon:
(A) the physical
				  nature (such as pipe scale, contaminated soil, basic sediment, equipment, pipe,
				  pumps, or valves) of the oil and gas NORM waste;
(B) the volume of oil and gas NORM
				  waste;
(C) the radioactivity level
				  of the oil and gas NORM waste (in pCi/g of Radium-226 combined with Radium-228
				  and any other NORM radionuclides for soil or other media (such as pipe scale,
				  contaminated soil, basic sediment, etc.), or in µR/hr for equipment (such
				  as pipes, pumps and valves);
(D)
				  the operator(s) of the lease, unit, or facility at which oil and gas NORM waste
				  was generated; and
(E) the
				  source(s), if known, of the oil and gas NORM waste by Commission district;
				  field; lease, unit, or facility; and producing formation.
(8) If the oil and gas NORM waste is encased
				  in tubing, the operator shall state on Form W-3A, Intent to Plug and Abandon:
(A) the size, grade, weight per foot, and
				  outside diameter of the tubing;
(B)
				  the subsurface depth of both the top and bottom of the tubing;
(C) the diameter of the retrieval assembly;
				  and
(D) whether the tubing is free
				  in the hole or is secured by cement, a bridge plug, or a cement
				  retainer.
(9) The
				  operator shall submit Form W-3A to the Commission's district office for the
				  location of the oil and gas NORM waste disposal site.