|
North Dakota Oil and Gas Division's Reclamation Efforts
We start thinking about reclamation prior to the well ever being drilled.
In the construction of a drill site, access road, and all associated
facilities, the topsoil must be removed, stockpiled, and stabilized or
otherwise reserved for use when the area is reclaimed.
Wells must be drilled, cased, operated, and plugged in a manner that
will prevent the movement of oil, gas, or water from one stratum into
another, the pollution of freshwater supplies, and to prevent blowouts,
caving, seepages, and fires.
The surface hole must be drilled with freshwater-based drilling mud,
cased with new or reconditioned casing that has been pressure tested,
and cemented from at least fifty feet [15.24 meters] below the base of
the Fox Hills formation to the surface of the ground to protect all
freshwater-bearing strata. Surface casing strings must be allowed to
stand under pressure until the tail cement has reached a compressive
strength of at least five hundred pounds per square inch [3450
kilopascals].
All wells must be plugged using of mud-laden fluid, cement, and plugs
in a manner that will confine permanently all oil, gas, and water in
the separate strata originally containing them. The last step of
plugging a well is to cut off all casing strings at least three feet
[91.44 centimeters] below the final surface contour, and weld on a cap.
Within a reasonable time, but not more than one year, after a well is
plugged, the well site, access road, and other associated facilities
constructed for the well must be reclaimed as follows (In the case of a
producing well, the unused portion of the drilling site must be
reclaimed):
- All production equipment, waste and debris are removed from the site.
- Pipelines are purged or removed if buried less than three feet below final contour.
- Gravel or other surfacing material is removed.
- The well site, access road, and other associated
facilities constructed for the well are reshaped as near as is
practicable to original contour.
- The stockpiled topsoil is evenly distributed over the disturbed area.
- The area is re-vegetated with native species or
according to the reasonable specifications of the appropriate
government land manager or surface owner.
The requirement to reclaim the access road may be waived with the
consent of the appropriate government land manager or surface owner.
Lynn D. Helms
NDIC Oil & Gas Division Director
600 E Blvd Ave. - Dept. 405
Bismarck, ND 58505-0840
Phone (701) 328-8020
Fax (701) 328-8022
http://www.oilgas.nd.gov/
|
Reclamation 
