Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. Emergency Action
Plan. An Emergency Action Plan containing emergency contact telephone numbers,
procedures and specific information for facility personnel to respond to a
release, upset, incident, accident, or other site emergency shall be kept at
the facility and shall be reviewed and updated as needed. An outline of the
plan, including emergency contact telephone numbers, shall be prepared and
submitted as part of the permit application or compliance review.
B. Controlled Site Access. Access to
solution-mining facilities shall be controlled by fencing or other means around
the facility property. All points of entry into the facility shall be through a
lockable gate system.
C. Personnel.
While solution-mining, testing, or performing any work requiring a UIC-17 (Work
Permit), trained and competent personnel shall be on duty and stationed as
appropriate at the solution-mining well, facility's onsite local control room,
or other facility control location at the storage site, during all hours and
phases of facility operation. If the solution-mining facility chooses to use an
offsite monitoring and control automated telemetry surveillance system,
approved by the commissioner, provisions shall be made for trained personnel to
be on-call at all times and 24 hours a day staffing of the facility may not be
required.
D. Wellhead Protection and
Identification
1. A protective barrier shall
be installed and maintained around the wellhead as protection from physical or
accidental damage by mobile equipment or trespassers.
2. An identifying sign shall be placed at the
wellhead of each solution-mining well and shall include at a minimum the
operator's name, well/cavern name and number, well's serial number,
section-township-range, and any other information required by the Office of
Conservation. The sign shall be of durable construction with all lettering kept
in a legible condition.
E. Valves and Flowlines
1. All valves, flowlines, flanges, fittings,
and related connections shall be manufactured of steel. All components shall be
designed with a test pressure rating of at least 125 percent of the maximum
pressure that could be exerted at the surface. All components and related
connections shall be maintained in good working order and shall be periodically
inspected by the operator.
2. All
valves, flowlines for injection, fluid withdrawal, and any other flowlines
shall be designed to prevent pressures over maximum operating pressure from
being exerted on the solution-mining well and cavern and prevent backflow or
escape of injected material. The fluid withdrawal side of the wellhead shall
have the same pressure rating as the injection side.
3. All flowlines for injection and withdrawal
connected to the wellhead of the solution-mining well shall be equipped with
remotely operated shut-off valves and shall have manually operated positive
shut-off valves at the wellhead. All remotely operated shut-off valves shall be
failsafe and tested and inspected according to
§3321 H
F. Alarm Systems. Manual and automatically
activated alarms shall be installed at all cavern facilities. All alarms shall
be audible and visible from any normal work location within the facility. The
alarms shall always be maintained in proper working order. Automatic alarms
designed to activate an audible and a visible signal shall be integrated with
all pressure, flow, heat, fire, cavern overfill, leak sensors and detectors,
emergency shutdown systems, or any other safety system. The circuitry shall be
designed such that failure of a detector or sensor shall activate a
warning.
G. Emergency Shutdown
Valves. Manual and automatically activated emergency shutdown valves shall be
installed on all systems of cavern injection and withdrawal and any other
flowline going into or out from each solution mining wellhead. All emergency
shutdown valves shall be fail-safe and shall be tested and inspected according
to §3321 H
1. Manual controls for emergency shutdown
valves shall be designed for operation from a local control room, at the
solution-mining well, any remote monitoring and control location, and at a
location that is likely to be accessible to emergency response
personnel.
2. Automatic emergency
shutdown valves shall be designed to actuate on detection of abnormal pressures
of the injection system, abnormal increases in flow rates, responses to any
heat, fire, cavern overfill, leak sensors and detectors, loss of pressure or
power to the well, cavern, or valves, or any abnormal operating
condition.
H. Systems
Test and Inspection
1. Safety Systems Test.
The operator shall annually function-test all critical systems of control and
safety. This includes testing of alarms, test tripping of emergency shutdown
valves ensuring their closure times are within design specifications, and
ensuring the integrity of all electrical, pneumatic, and/or hydraulic circuits.
Tests results shall be documented and kept onsite for inspection by an agent of
the Office of Conservation.
2.
Visual Facility Inspections. Visual inspections of the cavern facility shall be
conducted each day the facility is operating. At a minimum, this shall include
inspections of the wellhead, flowlines, valves, signs, perimeter fencing, and
all other areas of the facility. Problems discovered during the inspections
shall be corrected timely.
I. Retaining Walls and Spill Containment
1. Retaining walls, curbs, or other spill
containment systems shall be designed, built, and maintained around appropriate
areas of the facility to collect, retain, and/or otherwise prevent the escape
of waste or other materials that may be released through facility upset or
accidental spillage.
J.
Assistance to Residents. As soon as practicable following the issuance of an
evacuation order pursuant to
R.S.
29:721 et seq., and associated with a
sinkhole or other incident at a solution-mining cavern facility, the
commissioner of conservation shall:
1. after
consulting with the authority which issued the evacuation order and local
governmental officials for the affected area, establish interim assistance
amounts for residents subject to the evacuation order and identify the
operator(s) responsible for providing assistance. The interim assistance shall
remain in effect until the evacuation order is lifted or until a subsequent
order is issued by the commissioner in accordance with Paragraph 2 of this
Subsection;
2. Repealed.
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
30:4 et seq.
