Statutes, codes, and regulations
Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITYPart IX - Water QualitySubpart 1 - Water Pollution Control
Chapter 17 - Rules Governing Disposal of Waste Oil, Oil Field Brine, and All Other Materials Resulting from the Drilling for, Production of, or Transportation of Oil, Gas or Sulfur (As Amended January 27, 1953)
Section IX-1701 - Adopted by the Stream Control Commission, State of Louisiana, under Authority of Section 1435, Chapter 3, Part I, of Title 56, Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950

La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § IX-1701

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Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
Section IX-1701 - Adopted by the Stream Control Commission, State of Louisiana, under Authority of Section 1435, Chapter 3, Part I, of Title 56, Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950
A. Crude oil, waste oil, oil sludge, oil-water emulsion, or oil bearing mixtures of any kind shall be gathered and destroyed by burning or otherwise on the lease where the wastes originate, and in such manner as to eliminate any pollution hazard.
B. No oily fluids shall be discharged to, or allowed to flow on the ground, or be carried from the original lease in open ditches, or discharged or allowed to flow into any stream, lake or other body of water.
C. Each producing well, except those over marsh and water, all oil booster pumps, and any pump used to move oil or oily fluids, shall be provided with a surrounding gathering ditch or equally effective device, to prevent the escape of oily wastes from the location, such ditch to be graded to a gathering sump which shall be cleaned regularly by removal and destruction of oily wastes. All spillage of oil shall be promptly gathered and destroyed.
1. On all pumping wells, over water or marsh, there shall be installed an adequate impervious deck or other device with catch tank installed around the wellhead. The catch tank should be equipped with a "stiff-leg" to enable the operator to dispose of excess rainfall.
2. All drilling barges, whether for workover or drilling new wells shall be equipped with a device at the open end or ends of keyways to prevent oil or oil fluids from escaping therefrom. This device shall be so installed as to be adjustable for tidal changes and all oil collected within keyways shall be picked up and disposed of in compliance with LAC 33:IX.1701.C.1 and 2.
3. All barges containing drilling, workover or power units shall be equipped with a coaming or other device as to drain all oil or oily fluids into a catch tank.
4. All necessary steps shall be taken to avoid loss of oil during workover operation.
D. Each permanent oil tank or battery of tanks that are located within the corporate limits of any city, town, or village or where such tanks are closer than 500 feet to any highway or inhabited dwelling or closer than 1,000 feet to any school or church, or where such tanks are so located as to be deemed a hazard by the Stream Control Commission, must be surrounded by a dike (or fire wall) or retaining wall, of at least the capacity of such tank or battery of tanks, with the exception of such areas where such dikes (or fire walls) or retaining walls would be impossible such as in water areas . At the discretion of the Stream Control Commission, fire walls of 100 percent capacity can be required where other conditions or circumstances warrant their construction. (As amended December 13, 1963.) Tanks not falling in the above categories must be surrounded by a retaining wall, or must be suitably ditched to a collecting sump, each of sufficient capacity to contain the spillage and prevent pollution of the surrounding areas.
E. Oil gathering lines, or any other lines used for transporting oil, shall be regularly inspected and all leaks shall be immediately repaired. Waste from leaks shall be collected and destroyed immediately upon discovery. All barges used for the transportation of crude oil or petroleum products shall be in first class condition. Leaking barges shall be repaired before reuse. Loading racks, barge-loading outlets, and similar installations shall be operated at all times with full precaution against spillage. Such installations shall be surrounded by a ditch graded to a gathering sump, or shall be provided with an impervious deck surrounded by a steel gutter leading to a sump, or with such other equipment adequate for the accomplishment of the same purpose as may be approved by the Stream Control Commission. All such gathering sumps shall be cleared regularly by removal and destruction or other safe disposal of the oily waste. After each operation of barge or tanker loading equipment, loading hose and connections shall be carefully drained, and the gathering sumps shall be emptied, preferably to the barge or tanker.
F. No salt water shall be discharged from a lease until all oily waste has been completely separated therefrom, except in cases where the transfer of such salt water from the lease to a central treating plant has been approved in writing by the Stream Control Commission or one of its agents. Separating pits or other equally effective device, for the separation of oily wastes from oil field brine shall be constructed and operated in such a manner that no oily waste will be carried from the lease, except to central treating plants, and shall meet any reasonable minimum requirements set up in any particular field or lease by the Stream Control Commission. In oil field brines discharged to streams the oil content shall not exceed 30 ppm.
G. No oil field brine shall be discharged into any stream, lake or other body of water, or into any ditch or surface drainage leading to any stream, lake or other body of water, when it is determined by the Stream Control Commission that such discharge would adversely affect the palatability of a source of potable water to an appreciable degree, or would be deleterious to the public health, or to the prosecution of an industry or lawful occupation for which or in which any such waters may be lawfully used or employed, or whereby the carrying on of any agricultural pursuit may be injuriously affected or whereby the lawful conduct of any livestock industry or the use of any such waters for domestic animals may be prevented, injuriously affected or impaired, or whereby any lawful use of any such waters by the state of Louisiana, or by any political subdivision, or by any corporation, association, partnership, or person, or any other legal entity may be lessened or impaired, or materially interfered with, or whereby any fish life, or any beneficial animal or vegetable life in said waters may be destroyed, or the growth or propagation thereof prevented or injuriously affected; provided that oil-free brine may be discharged under maximum dilution ratios prescribed for any particular stream or field by the Stream Control Commission, or during any particular period in which such discharge is determined by the commission to be free from pollution hazard, or necessary in the public interest.
H. Wherever possible, disposition of oil field brine shall be accomplished by discharge through disposal wells to underground horizons below the fresh water level, such wells to be so drilled, cased, cemented, equipped, and operated that no fresh water horizon shall be polluted; provided that this rule shall not apply in fields or areas where it is determined by the Stream Control Commission that disposition of the brine is or may be accomplished by discharge into water bodies normally or seasonably sufficiently saline to preclude any actual or potential pollution hazard due to such discharge.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § IX-1701

Adopted by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Office of Coastal and Marine Resources on January 27, 1953, amended by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Planning Division, LR 26:1270 (June 2000).
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 56:1435, Chapter 3, Part I.