Current through September 24, 2024
(1) All personnel, including operators and
service personnel shall be trained in the prevention of spills and made aware
of the consequences of spillage. There shall be a Site Coordinator designated
for each well site who shall be the principle contact for all activities on the
location and the responsible party for submitting an action and safety plan for
each well site. The action plan shall include contingency measures to mitigate
and minimize the risk of failure, spills, or releases due to unplanned events.
Site Coordinators shall be certified by completing the Tennessee Site
Coordinator Training Course. Equivalent training credentials may be temporarily
accepted at the Supervisor's discretion until such time as the course
certification can be obtained.
(2)
Operators shall implement necessary procedures and safeguards during drilling
and completion operations to prevent the uncontrolled flow of oil from wells,
including, but not limited to:
(a) Follow
reasonable procedures such as cleaning and lubricating pipe threads so that
pipe can be made up to proper tightness.
(b) Lay flow and test lines on ground or
install adequate supports for crossing streams and drainways with the
lines.
(c) At truck loading
terminals, provide containers to catch unrecoverable oil at the hose
connections, and provide proper maintenance of valves and other equipment.
Train personnel to take necessary procedures to prevent spillage.
(d) During completion operations, produce and
clean wells into tanks instead of pits if at all possible.
(e) At the same time that any pits or other
diversion, transport, or storage facilities are constructed at ground level,
dikes, diversion ditches, or other structures shall also be constructed to
prevent any surface water from entering the pits or other facilities.
(f) Remove oil, salt water, or other fluids
from pits as soon as practical after it has accumulated in them, and dispose of
it in such a way that none can enter surface water or ground water, or
otherwise adversely affect the environment or threaten public health and
safety. Uncontaminated fresh water (free of salt, hydrocarbons or other
potential pollutants) produced during drilling operations may be land applied
on site.
(g) All pits or other
diversion, transport, or storage facilities shall be constructed so that waste
fluids do not discharge from them. There shall be no discharge pipe, overflow
weir, trickle tube, or any other device allowing any discharge. The operator is
responsible for maintaining adequate storage capacity at all times. No pit
shall be located so that any part of it, including a dike or diversion
structure, is within a horizontal distance of 100 feet of the normal high-water
line of any stream or lake. All pits shall be lined using a synthetic liner of
at least 10 mil thickness. If a rocky or uneven surface is encountered in pit
construction, sand or sandy material shall be placed below the liner sufficient
to protect the liner from damage. The synthetic liner shall be protected from
deterioration, punctures, or other activity that may damage the integrity of
the liner. As an alternative, compacted clay liners or other equivalent
measures may be used at the discretion of the Supervisor. In areas where
groundwater is close enough to the surface that it will be encountered in
construction of a pit, pits shall be constructed above ground, or the operator
shall use a closed-loop system.
(h)
Containment at tanks shall equal at a minimum the storage capacity of 11/2
times the capacity of the largest tank in the tank battery.
(i) All tanks shall be maintained to prevent
corrosion which can lead to both fluid loss from the vessel and accelerated
reduction in its useful life span.
(j) To prevent fire hazard, all tank
batteries and tanks shall be kept free of brush or overgrowth within the berm
surrounding the tank or tanks.
(k)
Dikes and ditches designated in subparagraphs (e) and (g) of this paragraph
should be constructed in a manner to accommodate permanent facilities such as
pumping units and flow lines.
(l)
Provide dikes and/or containment pits at storage tanks upon initial
installation where such tanks are so located as to be deemed hazardous. If
containment pits are to be used, they should be constructed according to the
guidelines set forth in Rule 0400-54-01-.05.
(3) The following additional requirements
shall apply to mud and reserve pits.
(a) The
operator shall indicate in the drilling application that mud and/or reserve
pits are to be constructed. The application shall include at a minimum the size
and configuration of the pits, the liner to be used, the type of fluid system
and drilling fluids to be used, and the method of disposal of all drilling
fluids used at the site.
(b) Mud
circulation and reserve pits shall be constructed with a synthetic liner of at
least 20 mil thickness, with a 4 inch welded seam overlap, completely covering
the pit bottom and inside walls. Other materials and methods used for liner
construction must be approved by the Supervisor prior to use.
(c) Mud circulation and reserve pits shall be
constructed and operated with a minimum of 2 feet of freeboard, and shall be
designed so that only runoff from the immediate work area may enter the pit.
Pits constructed above ground with bermed side walls shall be constructed with
a minimum of 2:1 side slopes on both interior and exterior walls. The top of
the bermed walls must be a minimum of 2 feet wide.
(d) Closed loop systems may be used for mud
and circulation, and must be maintained in a leak-free condition.
(4) Operators shall implement
prudent production operations to prevent potential oil spills, including, but
not limited to:
(a) Connect fill lines to
storage tanks so that oil and gas shall not spray into the atmosphere.
.
(b) Install "equalizer" lines
between adjacent tanks as a safeguard against overflow.
(c) Install oil and gas separators where gas
is produced in sufficient quantities to be hazardous.
(d) Pump contaminated unsalable residual oil
from storage tanks into an accumulator tank instead of open pits.
(e) Place locks, remove handles, or otherwise
secure all valves, so vandals cannot open them to cause spills.
(5) The Supervisor should notify
all oil industry related companies, including operators, service companies,
drilling contractors, and crude oil gatherers and purchasers of their
responsibility and liability in regard to oil spills. In the case of a spill of
oil, saltwater, or other drilling or production associated materials, the
operator shall contact the Supervisor or his representative within 12 hours
upon knowledge of the spill.
Authority: T.C.A
§§
60-1-201 et seq., and 4-5-201 et
seq.
