Mich. Admin. Code R. 324.1002

Current through Vol. 24-19, November 1, 2024

Section R. 324.1002 - Secondary containment requirements and construction standards

Rule 1002.

(1) All wellheads and pump jacks installed after the effective date of these rules and surface facilities constructed for hydrocarbon, gas, brine injection, or brine handling or surface facilities converted to brine injection or handling after November 15, 1989, shall provide for secondary containment pursuant to the requirements of this rule. A permittee of a well shall maintain all existing dikes or fire walls approved before November 15, 1989, in a manner to form a reservoir that has a capacity of 1 1/2 times the capacity of the enclosed tank or tank battery and shall keep the reservoir free of oil, emulsions, tank bottoms, brine, water, vegetation, debris, or any flammable or combustible material. The supervisor or authorized representative may require surface facilities for hydrocarbon, gas, brine injection, or brine handling constructed before November 15, 1989, to be upgraded to meet the requirements of this rule if the facility is substantially reconstructed.

(2) A permittee of a well shall submit secondary containment plans to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor for approval before construction of the facility. The secondary containment plans shall consist of a plot plan of the proposed facility and cross sections showing construction details of the sidewalls and floor or floors of all secondary containment areas, including the proposed overall dimensions of the facility. The supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor shall approve or disapprove the secondary containment plans within 30 days of receipt of the plans.

(3) A permittee of a well shall comply with all of the following minimum construction standards to meet the secondary containment requirements of this rule:

(a) A permittee shall be required to prepare a hydrogeological investigation of the facility area to establish local background groundwater quality. The hydrogeological investigation shall include all of the following:

(i) Water quality sampling pursuant to the parameters established in R 324.802(g)(iv).

(ii) A determination of the direction of groundwater flow and depth to the groundwater in the uppermost aquifer.

(iii) A chemical analysis showing the concentrations of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene.

(iv) A geologic description of earth materials, both horizontally and vertically, in the immediate vicinity of the proposed facility.

(b) Each facility shall be required to have 1 of the following monitoring systems to detect leakage from hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas:

(i) A minimum of 1 groundwater monitoring well downgradient which is in close proximity to all hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas.

(ii) Tertiary containment underlying the secondary containment, which shall be constructed and sealed in a manner to capture any hydrocarbons or brine that may leak or seep through the secondary containment. A layer of permeable material and a monitoring tube shall be placed between the secondary and tertiary containment to allow monitoring to determine the presence of any leakage or seepage through the secondary containment.

(c) A vessel that contains hydrocarbons or brine, or both, shall be elevated and placed on impervious pads or constructed so that any leakage can be easily detected. A vessel that is to be used on-site for 30 days or less shall, at a minimum, be placed on leak-resistant material.

(d) A hydrocarbon and brine storage vessel, including oil heating and treating equipment, shall be located in a secondary containment area and the containment volume shall be in compliance with the following minimum requirements, as applicable:

(i) Containment areas that have only brine storage vessels shall be constructed to contain 150% of the largest storage vessel.

(ii) Containment areas with only hydrocarbon storage vessels shall be constructed pursuant to R 29.2301 et seq.

(iii) Containment areas where both hydrocarbon and brine storage vessels are located shall be in compliance with the volume requirements for the largest storage vessels.

(iv) Precipitation shall be taken into consideration in the design of the secondary containment area.

(e) The sidewalls and floor of the secondary containment and spill containment areas shall be constructed and sealed in a manner to prevent the seepage of hydrocarbons or brine, or both, into the surrounding soils, surface waters, or groundwater.

(f) A hydrocarbon and brine storage vessel shall not be erected, enclosed, or maintained closer than 200 feet from any drilling or producing well.

(g) Oil heating or treating equipment shall not be erected, enclosed, or maintained closer than 75 feet from any drilling or producing well or oil storage tank or tank battery.

(h) Dikes shall be maintained and the enclosure kept free of all of the following:

(i) Oil.

(ii) Emulsions.

(iii) Tank bottoms.

(iv) Brine.

(v) Water.

(vi) Vegetation.

(vii) Debris.

(viii) Any flammable or combustible material.

(i) The hydrocarbon and brine truck loading and unloading areas located outside of hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas shall have a spill containment capacity equal to double the volume of the hoses used to connect the truck to the tanks, but not less than a capacity of 5 barrels. The spill containment shall be constructed and sealed in a manner that prevents the seepage of hydrocarbons or brine, or both, into the surrounding soils, surface waters, or groundwater.

(j) Brine disposal well truck unloading areas and commercial brine truck loading and unloading areas located outside of hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas shall be constructed and sealed in a manner that prevents the seepage of hydrocarbons or brine, or both, into the surrounding soils, surface waters, or groundwater. In addition, a ramp shall be constructed to contain the unloading vehicle, its hoses, and connections within the ramp area. The ramp area shall contain a sump and be connected to a secondary containment area so that any spillage drains into the sump and into the secondary containment area. The spill containment ramp and sump shall have a combined capacity of not less than 20 barrels.

(k) Sumps shall be constructed of materials impervious to hydrocarbons and brines and resistant to damage and deterioration during use. Sumps shall be connected to the ramp area and the secondary containment area in a manner that prevents leakage.

(l) Surface facilities for hydrocarbon and brine handling shall be constructed to meet all of the following minimum requirements:

(i) All transfer and injection pumps shall have leak containment.

(ii) All brine and hydrocarbon flow lines to a facility are considered part of that facility and are subject to the following requirements:

(A) All flow lines shall be pressure tested pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (iii)(A),(B),(C),(E), and (G) of this subdivision.

(B) A permittee may elect to not perform the pressure testing of the flow lines, except flow lines that transport brine only, if the permittee performs visual inspections of the entire flow line corridor every 3 months, except when impractical due to snow cover, and reports the results of the inspections to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor annually by January 31 of each year for the previous calendar year.

(iii) All buried facility piping for the transport of liquids shall be pressure-tested pursuant to the following provisions, as applicable:

(A) Piping made of noncorrodible or corrosion-protected material shall be pressure-tested every 3 years.

(B) All piping other than piping specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be pressure-tested every 12 months.

(C) If buried piping is excavated for repair or relocation, then the disturbed portion shall be pressure-tested immediately pursuant to subparagraphs (D) and (E) of this paragraph.

(D) The pressure test shall be 100% of the normal oil and gas separator operating pressure. The pressure shall be stabilized at 90% of test pressure, at a minimum, and shall hold for a period of 15 minutes.

(E) A permittee shall provide certification to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor, within 30 days of a pressure test, that a pressure test was conducted and the facility piping passed the pressure test. If a facility's piping does not pass the pressure test, the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor shall be notified by the permittee within 48 hours after the test. If the pressure test indicated that the facility's piping leaked, then the piping shall be repaired and retested before putting the piping back in service. After the repair of the piping, the permittee shall report the repair to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor and provide certification that the piping has been retested and is not leaking.

(F) Single-phase gas lines are not subject to the pressure test requirements if the lines are protected by a liquid phase trap.

(G) The supervisor may approve or require other pressure testing or leak detection methods in place of the pressure testing required in this paragraph.

(iv) At production or injection well facilities, all piping shall be routed above the ground and kept within the secondary containment area where practical. Piping that cannot be routed above the ground shall have its location marked with posts or with other location-identifying markers approved by the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor so that the buried piping can be easily located.

(v) Brine injection wells shall have a working check valve on the flow line at or near the wellhead to avoid backflow.

(vi) All hydrocarbon and brine loading and unloading facility transfer lines that are not in use shall be secured to prevent spillage. A shutoff valve shall be installed at the truck connect point and at the storage vessels. At connect points, impermeable drip containment vessels shall be used and shall be an adequate size to contain all spillage and precipitation to avoid overflow.

(m) Wellheads, flare pits, vents, and flare stacks shall have secondary containment and spill containment areas constructed in a manner to prevent the seepage of hydrocarbons or brine, or both, into the surrounding soils, surface waters, or groundwater. Secondary containment at the wellhead shall be constructed in a manner to capture any leakage of liquid that may occur. In addition, if the wellhead is provided with a pump jack or is converted to a pump jack equipped with a gasoline or diesel-powered engine, then the engine shall also have secondary containment that is sufficient to prevent the seepage of any machine oils or fuels into the surrounding soils, surface waters, or groundwater. Injection wells utilized for gas storage are exempt from this subrule.

(4) Upon completion of the construction of the facility, but before its use, a permittee of a well shall certify, to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor, that the secondary containment area was constructed according to the approved plan. A permittee shall ensure that an approved spill or loss response and remedial action plan is also on file with the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor before a facility is used.

(5) Before any significant modification of the secondary containment area occurs, a permittee of a well shall notify the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor and receive approval before making the modification. The supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor shall approve or deny the request within 10 days of receipt of the request.

(6) A permittee of a well shall perform inspections at the facility at a frequency that is sufficient to ensure that the throughput of fluids in the system does not exceed the primary and secondary containment capacity between inspections. The permittee shall perform at least 1 inspection per week.

(7) The supervisor shall require the installation of an automatic facility shutdown system if the facility has a throughput of liquids in a 24-hour period that exceeds the containment volume of the secondary containment area. The automatic shutdown system shall be designed to prevent liquids from overflowing the secondary containment area. A facility shall be exempt from the requirement of an automatic shutdown system if the facility has staff present 24 hours per day and is equipped with alarm systems on the tank or tanks of the tank battery.

(8) The monitoring system required by R 324.1002(3)(b) shall be kept in a functional condition so that water samples can be collected and water level measurements can be taken every 6 months. The water samples shall be tested for specific conductance as an indicator of dissolved solids, concentrations of chloride, and a chemical analysis pursuant to subrule (3)(a)(iii) of this rule, except the chemical analysis provided by subrule (3)(a)(iii) of this rule shall not be required at monitoring systems at surface facilities where liquid hydrocarbons are not handled. If sampling indicates a possible problem, then additional sampling for the water quality parameters established in R 324.802(g)(iv) may be required. The results of the sample analysis shall be provided to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor as soon as the results are available. If the samples taken by the permittee show substantial increases above background water quality, then the permittee shall, at a minimum, increase monitoring. If the samples confirm that hydrocarbons are present at levels above background, then the permittee shall immediately take remedial action in the form of containment and removal.

(9) A permittee of a well shall provide a right of entry to the facility for monitoring at all times to the supervisor or authorized representative of the supervisor.

Mich. Admin. Code R. 324.1002

1996 AACS; 2018 MR 11, Eff. 6/7/2018

An obvious error in R 324.1002 was corrected at the request of the promulgating agency, pursuant to Section 56 of 1969 PA 306, as amended by 2000 PA 262, MCL 24.256. The rule containing the error was published in Michigan Register, 2018 MR 11. The memorandum requesting the correction was published in Michigan Register, 2018 MR 18