(A) Erosion control for each drill and operation site or line compressor facility shall comply with the storm water pollution prevention plan approved by the City Engineering Department.
(B) No drill site, operation site, or line compressor facility may be located in a floodplain without the approval of the city and, where applicable, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(C) There shall be a locked entrance gate to the drill site, operation site or line compressor facility.
(D) The following signs shall be required on all drill sites and operation sites:
(1) Address sign. An address sign shall be immediately and prominently displayed at the entrance of the access road. The numbers and letters of the address must be at least six inches in height and having a one-half inch brush-stroke.
(2) 911 sign. A 911 sign shall be immediately and prominently displayed at the entrance to a drill site or operation site. Unless otherwise required by the Railroad Commission, the sign shall have a surface area of not less than two square feet or more than four square feet, and shall be lettered with the following:
(a) The emergency 911 number;
(b) The well name and number;
(c) Name of the operator;
(d) The address of the site and city pad ID number, as assigned by the city;
(e) A 24-hour emergency telephone number of the operator; and
(f) City of Mansfield jurisdiction.
(3) No smoking sign. Signs reading "DANGER NO SMOKING ALLOWED" in both English and Spanish as shown in the figure below shall be posted at the entrance of each site and tank battery and in any other location approved or designated by the Fire Marshal. Sign lettering shall be four inches in height and shall be red on a white background or white on a red background.
(4) The appropriate National Fire Prevention Association fire diamond hazard placard is required on each tank.
(5) Non-potable water signs shall be displayed on all tanks containing non-potable water.
(6) The operator shall post a sign at the entrance of a drill site to notify the public whenever flaring will take place on the drill site.
(7) All signs required under this division shall be made of waterproof, durable materials and shall be maintained in a good condition at all times.
(E) All facilities used for parking, loading, unloading, driveways and all other vehicular access to each drill site, operation site, and line compressor facility shall be constructed of concrete, asphalt or an alternative equivalent strength surface which complies with all Fire Code standards, provided that the drive approach from the street be constructed of concrete. The surface for such facilities and drive approach must always be maintained in good condition and repair.
(F) All gates into a drill site or operation site shall remain locked at all times when the operator's personnel are not present. Unless otherwise approved by the Fire Marshal, each gate shall be equipped with a Knox Box with a key or a Knox Lock for emergency access to the site.
(G) The permanent screening of a site shall consist of a landscaped enclosure with a minimum height of eight feet and a maximum height of ten feet. The enclosure must be installed along the perimeter of the site. Low-profile equipment or facilities shall be used on the site and shall not exceed the height of the enclosure. Permanent screening shall comply with the following:
(1) A site shall be enclosed with a) a wrought iron fence with double row of dense evergreen plantings, each row staggered, to form a solid screen that is at least eight feet tall at the time of planting; or b) with a screening wall constructed of at least two complimentary masonry construction materials with non-dwarf variety shrubs planted three feet on center, with a minimum height of three feet at planting and reaching a mature height of at least six feet. The type and dimensions of fence or wall, its dimensions, and plantings for the enclosure shall be approved as proposed by the applicant or may be modified as deemed appropriate by the City Council as part of the specific use permit and associated site plan. For the purpose of this Division (G)(1), masonry construction material shall mean brick or natural or manufactured stone units at least two inches thick, laid up unit by unit and set in mortar. A fence or wall required under this division shall meet the following:
(a) Fences or walls shall be designed by a Texas registered design professional licensed based on soil analysis and geotechnical data. Prior to the construction of the fence or wall, the operator shall submit plans sealed by the registered design professional indicating the design specifications of the fence or wall. Upon completion of the fence or wall, the operator shall provide a letter to the city sealed by the registered design professional certifying that the fence or wall was installed according to the design specifications.
(b) A fence or wall that is leaning by ten degrees or more beyond plumb or is missing portions of the fence or wall panels shall be considered structurally unsafe and a hazard to safety, health and public welfare. The operator shall commence repairs or replacement of the fence or wall within 48 hours of receipt of notice from the city.
(2) Trees shall be planted around the site in the following proportion: a maximum of 70% of the trees shall be at least three and one-half caliper inches, and a minimum of 30% of the trees shall be at least five caliper inches. Trees shall be of an evergreen variety and container grown.
(3) Trees shall be planted in a manner so as to achieve a more natural appearance. The number of required trees shall be established at rate of one tree for each 25 linear feet along each side of the site.
(4) The permanent screening, landscaping, and irrigation shall be installed within 120 days from setting surface casing on the first well on a drill site. Irrigation shall be designed to ensure that water is evenly distributed to the soil on the interior and exterior sides of the screening wall or fence.
(5) A temporary chain link fence or other approved type of fence with a minimum height of six feet shall be required around a drill site until the permanent screening has been installed in accordance with this section. The fence shall have slats that provide 90% opaqueness.
(6) Other screening and landscaping materials may be approved by the City Council as established by the approved specific use permit and associated site plan.
(7) A wrought iron or ornamental gate shall be required for any entrance to the site. The gate shall have no openings greater than four inches in width.
(8) The operator shall be responsible for maintaining all landscaping in a healthy, neat, orderly and live-growing condition at all times.
(H) The raw soil in disturbed areas or embankments around each drill site, operation site, line compressor facility, fracturing pit or open reserve pit, where permitted, shall be seeded or covered with grass to be maintained in a healthy and live-growing condition.
(I) No refining process, or any process for the extraction of products from gas, shall be carried on at a drill site or operation site, except that a dehydrator and separator may be maintained for the separation of liquids from gas. Any such dehydrator or separator may serve more than one well. All production equipment on an operation site shall be maintained at all times.
(J) No person shall place, deposit, or discharge or cause or permit to be placed, deposited, or discharged any oil, naphtha, petroleum, asphalt, tar, hydrocarbon substance, refuse, wastewater, brine or hazardous substance from any gas well or line compressor operation or the contents of any container used in connection with any gas well or line compressor operation in, into, or upon any public right-of-way, storm drain, ditch or sewer, sanitary drain or sewer, any body of water, or any private property.
(K) Electric lines to the drill site, operation site or line compressor facility shall be located underground.
(L) All fire suppression and prevention equipment required by any applicable federal, state, or local law at each drill site, operation site and line compressor facility shall be provided by the operator, at the operator's cost, and the maintenance and upkeep of such equipment shall be the responsibility of the operator.
(M) No operator shall excavate or construct any lines for the conveyance of fuel, water, oil, gas or petroleum liquids on, under, or through the streets, alleys or other properties owned by the city without an easement or right-of-way license from the city, at a price to be agreed upon, and then only in strict compliance with this chapter, other city ordinances, and the specifications established by the Department of Public Works.
(N) The digging up, breaking, excavating, tunneling, undermining, breaking up, or damaging of any public street or leaving upon any public street any earth or other material or obstruction, is prohibited unless the operator has first obtained written permission from the city, and then only in compliance with specifications established by the city.
(O) No gas well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within any of the public street or alley rights-of-way of the city and/or future streets shown on the master thoroughfare plan. No street shall be blocked or encumbered or closed due to any exploration, drilling, or production activities unless prior consent is obtained from the city, and then only temporarily.
(P) In all cases, blowout prevention equipment shall be used on all wells being drilled, worked-over or in which tubing is being changed. Protection shall be provided to prevent blowout during gas operations as required by and in conformance with the requirements of the Railroad Commission and the recommendations of the American Petroleum Institute. The operator must equip all drilling wells with adequate blowout preventers, flow lines and valves commensurate with the working pressures involved as required by the Railroad Commission.
(Q) All unpaved access roads or unpaved drill sites or operation sites shall be treated with an approved polymer based emulsion agent, magnesium chloride, or other city-approved equivalent agent prior to the commencement of drilling operations. Operators shall follow manufacturer's application and maintenance schedule or re-apply agent as directed by the Inspector.
(R) All production equipment shall be painted and maintained in proper working condition at all times, including, but not limited to, wellheads, pumping units, tanks, and buildings or structures. When requiring painting of such facilities, the Inspector shall consider the deterioration in the quality of the material of which such facility or structure is constructed, the degree of rust, and its appearance. Paint shall be of a neutral color, compatible with surrounding uses. Neutral colors shall include sand, gray and unobtrusive shades of brown, or other neutral colors approved by the Inspector. Except as approved by the city in writing, pipes in the tank battery shall be elevated off the ground.
(S) Upon completion of the construction of a drill site, fracturing pit, access road and other surface appurtenances, an operator shall provide to the city a survey, prepared by a licensed professional surveyor, depicting the existing conditions of the drill site, fracturing pit, access road, in a format acceptable to the city, to demonstrate that all surface facilities are within the boundaries established by the applicable specific use permits and associated site plans. The cost of said surveys shall be borne by the operator. A survey shall be required whenever a change is made to the existing conditions of a drill site, fracturing pit, or access road as depicted on the previous survey.
(T) Explosive charges shall be prohibited within the city limits unless an appropriate permit has first been obtained from the Fire Department.
(U) Operators shall keep drill sites and operation sites free of debris, pools of water or other liquids, contaminated soil, weeds, brush, trash, or other waste material and an area outside ten feet of the entrance to a drill site or operation site. The area around signage required by the city must be maintained so as to provide clear visibility to the signage.
(V) The operator shall provide notice as follows:
(1) Any operator who intends to perform the following activities shall give written notice to the designated city official and the Gas Well Inspector at least 48 hours before the activities begin:
(a) Drill a well, including site construction and/or preparation; mobilization and demobilization of drilling equipment, and operations related to advancing the well bore such as spudding, setting surface casing, and cementing;
(b) Re-work a well using a drilling rig;
(c) Fracture stimulate a well;
(d) Perform flow back operations;
(e) Plug a well; or
(f) Perform any other maintenance at a drill site or operation site.
(2) An operator shall send notice, in a form acceptable to the city, to the occupants of all dwellings within 1,000 feet of a drill site or operation site in accordance with the following provisions:
(a) Notice shall be sent at least ten days prior to the commencement of any of the following activities:
1. Site construction or preparation;
2. Mobilization or demobilization of drilling equipment;
3. Drilling operations;
4. Hydraulic fracturing operations;
5. Flowback operations, together with a disclaimer that flaring may or may not occur;
6. Re-working a well; and
7. Plugging and abandoning a well.
(b) The notice shall identify the above activities that will be conducted and shall include the number of wells to be drilled and the estimated duration of the activities. If the activities are to be conducted continuously, they may be listed on one notice. Separate notices shall be required if an activity does not occur within 90 days of the last activity on the drill site or operation site.
(c) The notice shall provide the address and-24 hour phone number of the person conducting the activities, and the telephone numbers to file complaints with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission.
(d) The operator shall provide an affidavit certifying that notice has been sent to the above-referenced dwellings.
(W) After hydraulic fracturing or re-fracturing, an operator shall employ appropriate equipment and processes to prevent natural gas and associated vapor releases to the environment. All salable gas shall be directed to the sales pipeline or shut-in and conserved. All wells that have a sales pipeline shall be required to employ Reduce Emission Completion techniques and methods. If authorized by the city, flaring may be used in some instances as a temporary alternative to venting. In such a case, open flames shall not be located closer than 300 feet from any building not used in operations on the drill site and such open flame shall be screened in such a way as to minimize nuisance and detrimental effects to surrounding properties.
(X) At all times after the permanent screening is in place around a drill site, operation site or compressor station, a minimum of one security camera shall be mounted inside the enclosure for drill sites located within a 1,000 foot radius of any protected use, residential subdivision or public park. Signs shall be posted on the fence or wall of the site to indicate that activity on the site may be recorded by video surveillance. Camera systems shall be maintained in proper operating condition and shall be designed and located so as to meet the following requirements:
(1) Capture clear video images (day and night) of all traffic entering and exiting the gate(s);
(2) Capture clear video images (day and night) of all production equipment located on the site;
(3) Be equipped with motion detection technology;
(4) Be equipped with panning technology to pan immediately to any motion detected on the site;
(5) Show the date and time of all activity on the footage; and
(6) Be capable of being viewed at the monitoring facility.
(7) Operator shall maintain video data for a period of 72 hours. At the request of the city, the operator shall provide to the city any recorded views of the enclosed area. Data from videos may only be requested by the City Manager, his designee, or law enforcement officials.
(Y) No construction activities including, but not limited to, the erection, excavation, demolition, alteration, or repair of any access road, fracturing pit, drill site, operation site, or any structure or flatwork on such sites shall occur during nighttime hours.
(Z) Drill stem testing shall be done during daytime hours. Drill stem tests may be conducted only if the well effluent during the test is produced through an adequate gas separator to storage tanks and the effluent remaining in the drill pipe prior to the time the tool is closed is flushed to the surface by circulating drilling fluid down the annulus and up the drill pipe.
(Ord. OR-1942-15, passed 3-23-15) Penalty, see § 114.99