Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 35-1-7 - Spill Prevention - Production Facilities7.1. At each production facility, which includes all wells, flowlines, separation equipment, storage facilities, injection facilities, and auxiliary non-transportation-related equipment and facilities, all operators shall have appropriate containment and/or diversionary structures or equipment to prevent discharged oil or other pollutants from reaching the waters of the state. One of the following preventative systems or its equivalent shall be used as a minimum, unless an appropriate water pollution control permit provides for another method of spill prevention:7.1.a. Dikes, berms, or retaining wall sufficiently impervious to contain spilled oil or other pollutants;7.1.c. Culverting, gutters or other drainage system;7.1.d. Weirs, booms or other barriers;7.1.e. Spill diversion ponds;7.1.f. Retention ponds; or7.1.g. Sorbent materials.7.2. At tank batteries central treatment stations, the dikes or equivalent required under subsection 7.1 shall have drains closed and sealed at all times except when rainwater is being drained. Prior to drainage, the diked area shall be inspected as provided in subsections 7.3, 7.6, and 7.8 of this section. Accumulated oil on the rainwater shall be picked up and returned to storage or disposed of in accordance with approved methods.7.3. Field drainage ditches, road ditches, and oil traps, sumps or skimmers, if such exist, should be inspected at regularly scheduled intervals for accumulation of oil that my have escaped from small leaks. Any such accumulations shall be picked up and returned to storage or disposed of in accordance with approved methods.7.4. No tank shall be used for the storage of oil or other pollutants unless its material and construction are compatible with the material stored and the conditions of storage.7.5. All tank battery and central treatment plant installations shall be provided with a secondary means of containment for the entire contents of the largest single tank if feasible, or alternate systems such as those outlined in subsection 7.1. Drainage from undiked areas should be safely confined in a catchment basin or holding pond.7.6. All tanks containing oil or other pollutants shall be visually examined by a competent person as to their condition and need for maintenance on a scheduled periodic basis. Such examination should include the foundation and supports of tanks that are above the surface of tanks that are above the surface of the ground.7.7. New and old tank battery installations should, as far as practical, be fail-safe engineered or updated into a fail-safe engineered installation, to prevent spills. At a minimum an owner or operator should have one or more of the following: 7.7.a. Adequate tank capacity to assure that a tank will not overfill should a pumper/gauger be delayed in making his regular rounds;7.7.b. Overflow equalizing line between tanks so that a full tank can overflow to an adjacent tank;7.7.c. Adequate vacuum protection to prevent tank collapse during a pipeline run; or7.7.d. High level sensors to generate and transmit an alarm signal to the computer where facilities are a part of a computer production control system.7.8. All above ground valves and pipelines, including gathering lines and transportation lines, shall be examined periodically on a scheduled basis for general condition of items such as flange joints, valve glands and bodies, drip pans, pipeline supports, pumping well polish rod stuffing boxes, bleeder and gauge valves.7.9. Salt water (oil field brine) disposal facilities shall be examined often, particularly following sudden change in atmospheric temperature to detect possible system upsets that could cause discharge. 7.10. Production facilities shall have a program of flowline maintenance to prevent spills from this source. The program should include periodic examinations, corrosion protection, flowline replacement, and adequate records, as appropriate, for the individual facility.