Types of UIC Class 2 Documents
There are a variety of documents available for download on this site related to Class 2 wells. For those not familiar with West Virginia's regulatory process this page provides a short description of the types of documents that might be found for wells along with links to examples.
One group of documents is related to drilling the original well and later reworking. Operators are required to get a permit to drill or rework a well. There might be several permits available for a single well covering a period of time. After a well has been drilled or reworked the operator has to file a completion report. The completion report for the original drilled well will include a summary of the driller's log showing depths of formations and locations of fresh and salt water. The current form number of a completion report is W-35.
To operate a Class 2 well the operator has to provide an application. Application requirements were revised in 2014 and require substantially more information than earlier applications. The current application forms and guidance show what is required now. Important parts of the application are the description of the facility (which includes a plan and description of storage tanks along with a well bore schematic); a description of the geology (including location of confining formations); a description of drinking water sources within the Area of Review (AOR -- a quarter mile radius of the well) including chemical analyses of samples; sometimes there is also chemical analysis of nearby surface water; chemical analysis of the waste fluid; description of other oil and gas wells, including plugged wells, within the AOR; a listing, if the permit is for a commercial well, of wells being serviced including their producing formations; and other useful formation. Some parts of the permit application are attached to the final permit as conditions of the permit. These conditions of the permit attachments are the plan of the facility, Groundwater Protection Plan, and injection well plugging plan. If there are wells within the AOR that need corrective action (plugging or monitoring), that needs to be incorporated in the permit text or a corrective action plan needs to be attached to the permit as a condition. This is important for Class 2 area permits where there might be a large number of wells within the AOR needing corrective action. For an area permit the AOR is the area covered by the permit and the area extending outside the area permit a quarter mile from the boundary.
Permit applications vary in length due to a number of factors, including operator's thoroughness. Area permit applications can be quite long, more than a thousand pages.
All Class 2 permits have a 5 year duration. Sometimes a modification is made to a permit, requiring a permit modification application and new modified permit.
Another group of documents is related to monitoring. These are actions and related forms which must be carried out on a periodic basis.
The Mechanical Integrity Test is a pressure test of the tubing annulus which shows that there is not a leak in the tubing, packer or production casing. Normally the pressure test is one and a half times the maximum permitted injection pressure. These must be held within 5 years unless required to be conducted by the Office of Oil and Gas or because of alterations to the well. The WR-37 form is furnished by the operator to show the current configuration of the well and details of the test along with a pressure chart. Some MITs are witnessed by an inspector. If so, then the inspector's name will appear on page 2 of the WR-37.
Recently the Office of Oil and Gas has required operators to conduct MITs on pipelines between the pump and the well. These MITs are conducted at lower pressures, generally 100 or 200 PSI over the maximum permitted injection pressure.
Operators are required to submit monthly reports on a WR-40 form showing daily maximum injection pressure, annulus pressure, and volume of waste injected.
A third group of documents is related to compliance enforcement. These are inspection reports for inspections carried out by an Office of Oil and Gas inspector; Notifications of Violations (NOVs) for violations of state law or regulations; Orders where an operator is to perform a certain action or an action by the Office of Oil and Gas affecting permit or permitted activities; and Consent Orders where the Office of Oil and Gas and operator have agreed that the operator will perform a certain action. Consent Orders and Orders often are due to a violation or prohibited action by an operator.
A separate part of the Underground Injection Control section of Gas Well Study is devoted to background materials related to West Virginia's primacy (including the primacy application), EPA guidance documents, and a lot more.
Underground Injection Control Class 2 Wells
Introduction to Class 2 Wells in West Virginia
Collected documents and information for a number of Class 2 disposal wells and secondary recovery area permits
Searchable tables for UIC inspections, UIC permitting and MITs based on a copy of the Office of Oil and Gas' online UIC databases made in 2016.
Background materials related to West Virginia's primacy (including the primacy application), EPA guidance documents, and a lot more.
Select wells which present important issues
A UIC well constructed without any cement behind the steel casing strings to protect groundwater.
A commercial UIC well where activity on the site contaminated groundwater.
A UIC well whose use led to earthquakes in the area.
Gas Well Study is the examination of natural gas wells in West Virginia.
Underground Injection Control Class 2 Wells
These wells are used either for the disposal of oil and gas liquid waste or for the enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas.
Gas Well Study Site Visits
Annual reports, environmental assessments, and individual well information.
YouTube Videos
Select videos from the Gas Well Study YouTube channel.
What Happened at Fernow
An investigation into what caused the vegetation death in the land application area after landspraying hydraulic fracture flowback waste.
The Spill at Buckeye Creek
An investigation into a spill from a Marcellus well site into Buckeye Creek in Doddridge county.
The Details
Plunger Lift Technology on Gas Wells
Fluids Brought to the Surface during Production
Plugging a Well
How To Read a Lab Report
Information the Completion Report Provides
Casing and Cementing