N.D. Admin. Code 43-02-03-28
During drilling operations all oil wells must be cleaned into a pit or tank, not less than forty feet [12.19 meters] from the derrick floor and one hundred fifty feet [45.72 meters] from any fire hazard.
All flowing oil wells must be produced through an approved oil and gas separator or emulsion treater of ample capacity and in good working order. No boiler, electric generator, flare, or treater may be placed nearer than one hundred fifty feet [45.72 meters] to any producing well or oil tank that is not an oil processing vessel as defined in American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) section VIII. Placement as close as one hundred twenty-five feet [38.10 meters] may be allowed if a spark or flame arrestor is utilized on the equipment. Placement of an oil processing vessel as defined in ASME section VIII as close as fifty feet [15.24 meters] may be allowed if approved by the director. The required distances above must be measured horizontally from closest vessel edge to closest edge of the boiler, generator, flare, or treater or closest vessel edge to flame arrestor or burner air inlet edge. Any rubbish or debris that might constitute a fire hazard must be removed to a distance of at least one hundred fifty feet [45.72 meters] from the vicinity of wells and tanks. All waste must be burned or disposed of in such manner as to avoid creating a fire hazard. All vegetation must be removed to a safe distance from any production or injection equipment to eliminate a fire hazard.
The director may require remote operated or automatic shutdown equipment to be installed on, or shut in for no more than forty days, any well that is likely to cause a serious threat of pollution or injury to the public health or safety.
Surface casing may not be plumbed into the production flow line to relieve pressure without approval from the director.
No well shall be drilled nor production or injection equipment installed nor saltwater handling facility or treating plant constructed less than five hundred feet [152.40 meters] from an occupied dwelling unless agreed to in writing by the owner of the dwelling or authorized by order of the commission.
Subsurface pressure must be controlled during all drilling, completion, and well-servicing operations with appropriate fluid weight and pressure control equipment. The operator conducting any well hydraulic fracture stimulation shall give prior written notice, up to thirty-one days and not less than twenty-one days, to any operator of a well completed in the same or adjacent pool, if publicly available information indicates or if the operator is made aware, if the completion intervals are within two thousand six hundred and forty feet [804.67 meters] of one another. Notice must include twenty-four-hour emergency contact information, planned start and end dates, and contact information for scheduling updates.
N.D. Admin Code 43-02-03-28
General Authority: NDCC 38-08-04
Law Implemented: NDCC 38-08-04