Kan. Admin. Regs. § 82-3-704 - Plugging methods and procedures for cathodic protection boreholes, site restoration, submission of plugging report, penalty

This regulation shall apply in Kansas except for groundwater management districts #2 and #5. Each owner, operator, or person responsible for the plugging of a cathodic protection borehole located in groundwater management district #2 or #5 shall be subject to K.A.R. 82-3-710.

(a) The operator, owner, or agent of the owner shall plug each cathodic protection borehole in accordance with the following procedures:

(1) At least 72 hours before the actual plugging, the operator, owner, or agent of the owner shall contact the appropriate conservation division district office for plugging instructions and approval.

(2) Before the actual plugging, the operator shall remove any cables and anodes, the vent pipe and anode conductor, and any other materials originally installed in the borehole to a level necessary to ensure that the borehole is properly plugged and to facilitate proper plugging.

(3) The operator shall cut off the cathodic surface casing at least three feet below the land surface.

(4) The operator shall plug each borehole with grout from at least five feet below the bottom of the cathodic surface casing to the top of the cathodic surface casing. The operator shall place grout with a tremie pipe or any other method approved by the appropriate conservation division district office where the facility or borehole is located if the method provides adequate protection of fresh and usable waters.

(5) Where subsurface pressures cause artesian flow, the operator shall maintain a pressure sufficient for placement of the grout plug long enough for the plug to set.

(6) The operator shall fill any vent pipe not removed from the borehole with grout.

(b) The operator shall restore each former cathodic protection borehole site, as close as practical to predrilling condition.

(1) The operator shall backfill and compact each borehole from three feet below land surface to land surface, with clean topsoil.

(2) The operator shall remove from the site all cables and anodes, the vent pipe and anode conductor, all surface casing sections, and any other material installed at the surface or in the borehole.

(c) The operator shall submit a final plugging report to the production department of the conservation division within 60 days after plugging has been completed, on forms prescribed by the commission.

(d) Exceptions to this regulation may be granted by the director of the conservation division upon written request. Each operator requesting an exception shall be required to demonstrate that the exception provides adequate protection of fresh and usable waters.

(e) A cathodic protection borehole shall be considered abandoned if either of the following conditions is met:

(1) The borehole has not been used for one year, and the owner has not provided a written request to the director for temporary abandonment status pursuant to K.A.R. 82-3-111.

(2) The borehole is contaminating or threatening to contaminate a freshwater aquifer.

(f) Each failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation shall be punishable by a penalty of up to $1,000.

Notes

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 82-3-704

Authorized by K.S.A. 55-152; implementing K.S.A. 55-152 and K.S.A. 2003 Supp. 55-164; effective Oct. 25, 1996; amended, T-82-1-21-04, Jan. 21, 2004; amended May 14, 2004.