Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 79 - OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION › WELL DRILLING AND USE › Section 79.15 - Fire prevention

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
						Rubbish or debris which might constitute a fire hazard shall be removed to a
						distance of at least 100 feet from the well location, tanks and separator.
						Waste oil or gas shall be burned or disposed of in a manner to avert creating a
						fire hazard.
(b) When it is deemed
						necessary by the Department to protect life, health or property, the Department
						may require any oil storage tank to have a method of secondary containment
						which meets the requirements of §
												78.64 (relating to containment
						around oil tanks).
(c) A person
						controlling or operating oil and gas wells or pipelines, or receiving tanks,
						storage tanks or receiving and storage receptacles into which crude oil is
						produced, received or stored, or through which oil or gas is piped or
						transported, shall immediately notify the Department and confirm by letter
						giving full details concerning fires which occur at the oil or gas wells or
						tanks or receptacles on their property, and that person shall immediately
						report and confirm in the same manner, tanks or receptacles struck by lightning
						and any other fire which destroys oil or gas, and also breaks in or from tanks
						or receptacles and pipelines from which oil or gas is escaping or has escaped.
						In the reports of fires, breaks or other accidents of this nature, the location
						of the well, tank, receptacle or line break shall be given by latitude and
						longitude, and property, so that the exact location thereof can be readily
						located on the ground. The reports shall likewise specify what steps have been
						taken or are in progress to remedy the situation reported and shall detail the
						quantity of oil or gas estimated to have been lost, destroyed or permitted to
						escape. In case a tank or receptacle is permitted to run over, the escape thus
						occurring shall be reported. The report hereby required as to oil losses shall
						be necessary only in case the estimated oil loss exceeds 100 barrels in the
						aggregate, or when the estimated gas loss exceeds 3 million cubic feet in the
						aggregate. The provisions of this section apply to the oil or gas losses on the
						lease or spacing unit and not to oil or gas losses from pipelines, or
						transmission lines, or transmission systems.
The provisions of this §
														79.15 amended under section 604 of
							 the Oil and Gas Act (58 P. S. §
															601.104);
							 section 5 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Law (58 P. S. §
															405); section 105 of the Solid Waste
							 Management Act (35 P. S. §
															6018.105);
							 section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. §
															691.5); and section 1920-A of The
							 Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §
															510-20).