(A) Persons drilling, operating, maintaining or plugging any well shall use all necessary care and take all precautions which shall be reasonably necessary under the circumstances to protect the public. The provisions of this article shall be deemed to be the minimum requirements for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare, and compliance with the terms hereof shall not be deemed to relieve any person of any additional duty imposed by law.
(B) Blowout prevention equipment is required and shall be as follows:
(1) For drilling operations:
(a) The BOP stack shall be hydraulically, operated BOPs equipped with the following: accumulator bottles capable of closing all rams and keeping them closed. Three type preventors, one of which shall contain pipe rams to fit the drill pipe in use, one set to be blind rams, and the third one shall be an annular type. A remote control station is required to operate the BOP’s in case of emergency.
(b) The BOP stack rated at no less than 3,000 psi shall be installed and pressure tested according to the API Bulletin RP 53 specifications using only water, prior to drilling out the surface casing shoe.
(c) Choke manifolds shall be considered as a part of the BOP system and will be installed, tested and maintained in accordance with specifications contained within API Bulletin RP 53.
(2) For maintenance, remedial, recompletion or plugging operations the BOP requirement may be altered to conform to potential risk if approved by the City Manager or his or her designee in writing, but the requirement cannot be deleted.
(3) A safety valve, with appropriate threaded connections to fit any tubular string being moved in or out of the well and having an inside diameter at least as large as the inside diameter of the tubular string and with a working pressure rating equal to at least 3,000 psi or greater than any well pressure that might possibly be encountered during the operations described above must be on the rig floor, in the open position, at all times.
(4) Production operations:
(a) Flowing wells shall be equipped with high-low pressure safety valves with sensing points to be determined by the flowing characteristics of each well.
(b) Beam pumping wells, producing in excess of ten psi of combined oil and water per day shall be equipped with sensing devices and appropriate equipment to shut down the pump if the stuffing box should develop a leak and to seal the tubing if the polish rod should part and allow the well to flow to the atmosphere.
(c) Other artificial lift methods, if used, should be protected by appropriate safety equipment to prevent the accidental discharge of produced oil, gas and/or water to the atmosphere or drainage system.
(d) All pressure vessels should be manufactured in accordance with the appropriate API code in approved manufacturing facilities.
(e) All fired vessels must be equipped with flame arrester.
(f) Injection and transportation systems must be protected with appropriate high-low safety shut-down equipment with sensing points to be determined according to the individual installation.
(Ord. 2991, passed 7-19-94)