Oklahoma Corporation Commission: Pit Rules

摘要

Xanadu is cited for a nonpermitted discharge from a noncommercial pit in violation of O.A.C. 165:10-7-16(d)(5)(A) when its contractors, in the course of closing a well's reserve pit, cut the side of the pit with a bulldozer to allow the water in the pit to escape, so the remaining mud in the pit would dry for disposal. Xanadu's witnesses at the hearing testify that the contents of the reserve pit at its well site consisted of a layer of predominantly fresh water containing little or no contaminants on top of a heavier layer of drilling mud. They further testify that, as a matter of industry custom and to comply with O.A.C. 165:10-7-16(3) governing closure of reserve pits, operators typically drain the upper layer of fresh water onto the surface to allow drying of the underlying layer of mud, and that the fresh water discharged from the pit did not constitute a deleterious substance under Commission regulations.