A. All wellheads and pump jacks installed after December 15,2003 and surface facilities constructed after December 15, 2003, shall provide for secondary containment pursuant to the requirements of this section. The city engineer may require surface facilities for hydrocarbon, gas, brine injection, or brine handling constructed before December 15, 2003 to be upgraded to meet the requirements of this section if the facility is substantially reconstructed.
B. An operator shall submit secondary containment plans to the city engineer 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 city engineer shall approve or disapprove the secondary containment plans within thirty days of receipt of the plans.
C. An operator shall comply with all of the following minimum construction standards to meet the secondary containment requirements of this rule:
1. An operator shall be required to prepare a hydrogeological investigation of the facility area to establish local background groundwater quality. The hydrogeo logical investigation shall include all of the following:
a. Water quality sampling pursuant to the parameters established in the New Mexico Water Quality Control Act;
b. A determination of the direction of-groundwater flow and depth to the groundwater in the uppermost aquifer;
c. A chemical analysis showing the concentrations of benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, and xylene; and
d. A geologic description of earth materials, both horizontally and vertically, in the immediate vicinity of the proposed facility.
2. Each facility shall be required to have one of the following monitoring systems to detect leakage from hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas:
a. A minimum of one groundwater monitoring well downgradient which is in close proximity to all hydrocarbon or brine storage secondary containment areas; or
b. 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.
3. 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 thirty days or less shall, at a minimum, be placed on leak-resistant material.
4. 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:
a. Containment areas shall be constructed to contain one hundred fifty percent of the largest storage vessel.
b. Precipitation shall be taken into consideration in the design of the secondary containment area.
5. 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.
6. A hydrocarbon and brine storage vessel shall not be erected, enclosed, or maintained closer that two hundred feet from any drilling producing well.
7. Oil heating or treating equipment shall not be erected, enclosed, or maintained closer than seventy-five feet from any drilling or producing well or oil storage tank or tank battery.
8. Dikes shall be maintained and the enclosure kept free of all of the following:
a. Oil;
b. Emulsions;
c. Tank bottoms;
d. Brine;
e. Water;
f. Vegetation;
g. Debris; and
h. Any flammable or combustible material.
9. 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 five 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.
10. 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 ofnot less than twenty barrels.
11. 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.
12. Surface facilities for hydrocarbon and brine handling shall be constructed to meet all of the following minimum requirements:
a. All transfer and injection pumps shall have leak containment;
b. All brine and hydrocarbon flow lines to a facility are considered part of that facility and are subject to the following requirements:
i. All flow lines shall be pressure tested pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (c)(i), (ii), (iii), (v), and (vii) of this subdivision; and
ii. An operator may elect to not perform the pressure testing of the flow lines, except flow lines that transport brine only, if the operator performs visual inspection of the entire flow line corridor every three months, and reports the results of the inspections to the city engineer annually by January 31 st of each year for the previous calendar year.
c. All buried facility piping for the transport of liquids shall be pressure-tested pursuant to the following provision, as applicable:
i. Piping made of noncorrodible or corrosion-protected material shall be pressure-tested every three years;
ii. All piping other than piping specified in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be pressure-tested every twelve months;
iii. If buried piping is excavated for repair or relocation, then the disturbed portion shall be pressure-tested immediately pursuant to subparagraphs (iv) and (v) of this paragraph;
iv. The pressure test shall be one hundred percent of the normal oil and gas separator operating pressure. The pressure shall be stabilized at ninety percent of test pressure, at a minimum, and shall hold for a period of fifteen minutes;
v. An operator shall provide certification to the city engineer, within thirty 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 city engineer shall be notified by the operator within forty-eight hours after the test. If the pressure test indicated that the facility's piping leaked, then the piping shall be repaired and tested before putting the piping back in service. After the repair of the piping, the operator shall report the repair to the city engineer and provide certification that the piping has been retested and is not leaking;
vi. Single-phase gas lines are not subject to the pressure test requirements if the lines are protected by a liquid phase trap; and
vii. The city engineer may approve or require other pressure testing or leak detection methods in place of the pressure testing required in this paragraph.
d. 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 city engineer so that the buried piping can be easily located.
e. Brine injection wells shall have a working check valve on the flow line at or near the wellhead to avoid backflow.
f. 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.
13. 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.
D. Upon completion of the construction of the facility, but before its use, an operator shall certify to the city engineer, that the secondary containment area was constructed according to the approved plan. An operator shall ensure that an approved spill or loss response and remedial action plan is also on file with the city engineer before a facility is used.
E. Before any significant modification of the secondary containment area occurs, an operator of a well shall notify the city engineer and receive approval before making the modification. The city engineer shall approve or deny the request within ten days of receipt of the request.
F. An operator 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 operator shall perform at least one inspection per week.
G. The city engineer shall require the installation of an automatic facility shutdown system if the facility has a throughput of liquids in a twenty-four-hour period that exceeds the containment volume of 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 twenty-four hours per day and is equipped with alarm systems on the tank or the tanks of the tank battery.
H. The monitoring system required by subsection 8.30.460(C)(2) shall be kept in a functional condition so that water samples can be collected and water level measurements can be taken every six months. The water samples shall be tested for specific conductance as an indicator of dissolved solids, concentrations of chloride, and chemical analysis pursuant to subsection (C)(1)(c) of this section, except the chemical analysis provided by subsection (C)(1)(c) of this section shall not be required at monitoring systems at surface facilities where liquid hydrocarbons are not handled. The results of the sample analysis shall be provided to the city engineer as soon as the results are available. If the samples taken by the operator show substantial increases above background water quality, then the operator shall, at a minimum, increase monitoring. If the samples confirm that hydrocarbons are present at levels above background, then the operator shall immediately take remedial action in the form of containment and removal.
I. An operator shall provide a right of entry to the facility for monitoring at all times to the city engineer.
J. Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be an offense. For each day that a facility is operated in violation of this section, it shall be a separate offense punishable by a maximum fine of five hundred dollars per day. (Ord. 449 (part), 2003)