Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The owner of any well shall be
responsible for having a well or borehole decommissioned in accordance with
this chapter if the well is abandoned, destroyed, lost, and/or endangers or
threatens the subsurface or percolating waters with the intrusion of saltwater
or from any other cause, or if it endangers life.
(b) Notwithstanding (a) above, the well
driller is also and primarily responsible for decommissioning a borehole or
well that is abandoned during construction or is not completed or is not
constructed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter in effect at the
time of construction.
(c) The
Department may order the decommissioning of any well or borehole, or any
appurtenances thereto, which:
1. Is abandoned
as defined in this chapter;
2. Has
been constructed in violation of the Act or this chapter;
3. Has not been maintained in a condition
that ensures protection from contamination for the subsurface and percolating
waters of the State;
4. Is damaged
or destroyed;
5. Has been replaced
by another well;
(d) Any
person who fails to comply with an order to decommission a borehole or well
pursuant to (c) above shall be subject to penalties pursuant to N.J.A.C.
7:9D-4.
(e) The Department may
require or allow a well or borehole to be decommissioned by a method other than
as set forth in this subchapter, for good cause, where unusual circumstances
are encountered which would prevent compliance with the standard
decommissioning requirements.
(f)
All wells and boreholes shall be decommissioned by, or in the presence of and
under the onsite supervision of, a well driller of the proper class. The well
driller shall keep an electronic or paper copy of the well record or approved
decommissioning plan onsite at all times for inspection by any authorized
local, county, or State official.
(g) For all wells, other than hand dug or
domestic wells that have a diameter of two inches or less, the well driller
shall obtain all applicable well records prior to decommissioning the well in
order to verify the depth, diameter, and construction of the well. If a well
record is not available from the property owner or local regulating agency, a
well driller shall follow the well search directions available on the
Department's website pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.17.
(h) Upon request, the well driller shall
provide additional information to the Department about a well or borehole prior
to the well being decommissioned. Such information may include, but is not
limited to, data gathered via geophysical logging, downhole televising, or
groundwater sampling.
(i) Any
hazardous waste, including, but not limited to, contaminated casing, cuttings,
sediment, displaced water, or free product generated during the
decommissioning, shall be handled in accordance with N.J.A.C.
7:26G.
(j) The following
types of wells shall not be decommissioned until the well driller proposing to
decommission the well has first obtained written approval of a decommissioning
plan from the Department pursuant to (k) below:
1. Wells, other than hand dug or domestic
wells that have a diameter of two inches or less, for which no well record can
be obtained;
2. Wells that are
contaminated with hazardous waste and/or radiological materials;
3. Wells that are affected by saltwater
intrusion;
4. Wells installed in
unconsolidated formations that are screened in more than one aquifer;
5. Wells which cannot be cleared of all
obstructions throughout the entire length and diameter of the well;
6. Multiple cased wells;
7. Wells drilled for the installation of
elevator shafts; or
8. Wells for
which the well record does not match the measured depth, diameter, and
construction of the well.
(k) A decommissioning plan proposal shall be
submitted by a well driller on the form prescribed by the Department pursuant
to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.17 prior to the decommissioning of a well in accordance with
(j) above. The Department shall issue a written approval or denial of the
decommissioning plan proposal. Approved decommissioning plans will be issued an
approval number and shall be valid for a period of two years. If the well is
not decommissioned within two years of approval, a new decommissioning plan
shall be submitted to the Department. All decommissioning plans shall include
the following information:
1. Well owner and
location of well, including county, municipality, lot, block, New Jersey State
Plane coordinates, and street address;
2. Well construction, including, but not
limited to, depth and diameter of the well and number of casings. If a well
search fails to locate a well record for a domestic well, the well driller may
only report known construction details;
3. Proposed grout materials and method of
decommissioning;
4. Actual or
potentially hazardous conditions within the well or surrounding site, such as
obstructions, impacts on nearby wells, or contamination;
5. Well driller name, license number, and
company name; and
6. A copy of the
approved plan shall be kept available onsite at all times and made available
for inspection upon request of any State, county, or local official.
(l) All other wells shall be
decommissioned as follows:
1. The well shall
be cleared of pump, pipe, debris, and all other obstructions;
2. If the well has been overdrilled to remove
the entire casing, screen, and gravel pack, the resulting borehole shall be
constructed to, and maintained at, the original depth of the well until this
borehole is properly sealed in accordance with this subchapter;
3. Adequate protection shall be provided for
the top of the borehole and/or the top of the well casing to prevent surface
contamination from entering the well during the sealing operation and when the
driller is not at the sealing site;
4. If it is known that an unsealed annular
space exists between the outermost casing and the borehole, the casing shall be
perforated, ripped, or removed to insure that this space is sealed;
and
5. All water used in the
sealing process shall be of potable quality.
(m) The grout materials specified in
N.J.A.C. 7:9D Appendix A and the grouting methods and
selection criteria in N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.9
shall be used to decommission wells.
1. Only those materials or additives
specifically designed for well decommissioning by the manufacturer and approved
by the Department as specified in N.J.A.C. 7:9D Appendix A,
shall be used to decommission wells. The material shall have a maximum
permeability of 1 x 10<-7> centimeters per second when prepared in
accordance with manufacturer's specifications;
2. Bentonite-based thermally enhanced
geothermal grout materials containing a minimum silica sand content of 200
pounds per 50 pounds of bentonite may be used in consolidated formations,
provided the permeability meets the value specified in (m)1 above. All other
bentonite-based grout materials listed in Table 3 and Table 5 of
N.J.A.C. 7:9D Appendix A shall not be used as a
decommissioning material in consolidated formations, or in those instances
where it will come in contact with groundwater of a pH of less than 5.0 or a
Total Dissolved Solids content in excess of 1,000 ppm.
3. Where the grout material extends through
zones of saltwater, a cement-based grout approved for use in saltwater
environments shall be used. See N.J.A.C. 7:9D Appendix A for
mixes approved for use in saltwater environments.
(n) Decommissioning materials shall be
installed using one of the following methods:
1. Pumped into the well under pressure
through a tremie pipe that discharges at the bottom of the well. If an annular
space is being sealed, the material shall discharge at the bottom of the
annular space. During sealing, the tremie pipe may be raised from the bottom of
the space being filled in a manner which insures that the discharge end of the
tremie pipe is constantly submerged within the column of undiluted
decommissioning material in the well. The decommissioning material shall be
pumped into the well until all water has been displaced from the well and until
the decommissioning material overflowing the well has a density within the
acceptable density range for that material; or
2. Sodium-based bentonite chips and bentonite
pellets may be gravity poured in accordance with the manufacturer's
specifications as follows:
i. To seal the
annular space between casings or the annular space between the casing and the
borehole to a maximum depth of 50 feet or inside the inner casing or borehole
to a maximum depth of 100 feet;
ii.
After all fine material has been removed through screening or equivalent
methods to prevent bridging; and
iii. From bottom to top until all space that
is to be sealed is completely filled.
(o) The well driller who decommissions the
well shall return to the well no sooner than 24 hours, nor later than 72 hours,
and fill any settlement of the decommissioning material in the well as follows:
1. By the pressure method, or by using
sodium-based bentonite chips and shaped pellets in accordance with (n)2 above,
for settlement less than 50 feet from ground surface; or
2. By the pressure method, for any settlement
of 50 feet or greater in accordance with (n)1 above; and
3. After the completion of either (o)1 or 2
above, concrete shall be poured to form a slab which shall extend beyond the
perimeter of the casing after any settlement is filled in accordance with (o)1
and 2 above. This slab shall be a minimum of six-inches thick and located at or
below grade.
(p) The
driller shall obtain written approval of a decommissioning plan from the
Department pursuant to this chapter according to the procedures set forth at
(k) above prior to deviating from the methods or materials set forth in this
subchapter.
