Section 312 IAC 29-25-20 - Abandonment of production fluid storage pitsAuthority: IC 14-10-2-4; IC 14-37-3
Affected: IC 14-37
Sec. 20.
(a) Abandonment of production fluid storage pits shall be conducted according to the requirements of this section.(b) Prior to abandonment, all oil and gas waste materials shall be removed from the pit and disposed of according to the requirements of 312 IAC 29-31-2.(c) The synthetic liner shall be removed and disposed of at a solid waste landfill or other waste management facility permitted by the department of environmental management to accept this type of waste.(d) Prior to backfilling any portion of the pit, the owner or operator shall notify the oil and gas inspector at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the scheduled backfilling operations. The oil and gas inspector shall inspect the pit before any backfilling operations commence.(e) Contaminated soil encountered during pit closure operations shall be removed and managed according to the requirements of section 4 or 5 of this rule.(f) The owner or operator may be required to conduct further investigations or to perform additional remedial operations to correct adverse environmental impacts that may have resulted from the operation of a production fluid storage pit.(g) After removal of the pit contents, liner, and contaminated soil under this section, the excavation shall be backfilled with native soil materials sufficient to ensure that the site is stable and that will allow for settling with the surface restored as close as possible to the original land contour. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the construction of a pond or other impoundment on the site of the former production fluid storage pit if the pond or impoundment is authorized by the landowner and the structure has in all other aspects been abandoned under the requirements of this section.(h) Upon conclusion of abandonment operations, the owner or operator shall submit a report of pit abandonment to the division. The report shall be on a form prescribed by the division that shall include details of the procedures used to close the pit in accordance with the requirements of this section.Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 29-25-20; filed 12/1/2017, 10:35 a.m.: 20171227-IR-312160230FRAReadopted filed 1/17/2023, 1:53 p.m.: 20230215-IR-312220328RFA