Water pollution control: Class V injection well study; summary availability,

[Federal Register: July 13, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 133)]

[Notices]

[Page 37803-37805]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr13jy99-106]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6375-8]

Notice of Availability of Draft Summary of Class V Injection Well Study (EPA Working Draft)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

SUMMARY: EPA and the Sierra Club entered into a modified consent decree on January 28, 1997 (D.D.C. No. 93-2644). In accordance with the second action required by this decree, EPA is completing a study of all Class V wells not included in the July 28, 1999 proposed rulemaking on high- risk Class V injection wells (63 FR 40586). The purpose of this document is to seek public comment on the draft summary of this study, which provides general information on the study approach and results, to ensure that the information is accurate, complete and current.

DATES: EPA must receive public comment, in writing, on the draft Class V study by August 12, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the UIC Class V, W-99-12 Comment Clerk, Water Docket (MC-4101); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. Comments may be hand-delivered to the Water Docket, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 401 M Street, SW, EB57, Washington, DC 20460. Comments may be submitted electronically to ow-docket@epamail.epa.gov.

Please submit all references cited in your comments. Facsimiles (faxes) cannot be accepted. Send one original and three copies of your comments and enclosures (including any references). Commenters who would like EPA to acknowledge receipt of their comments should include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The draft study summary is available for review in the Water Docket at the above address. For information on how to access docket materials, please call (202) 260-3027 between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. If you would like copies of the summary contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water Resource Center; RC-4100; 401 M Street, SW; Washington, DC 20460 or call (202) 260-7786. The summary is also available on the EPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Underground Injection Control web site: http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/uic/cl5study.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline, toll free 800-426-4791. The Safe Drinking Water Hotline is open Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For technical inquiries, contact Anhar Karimjee, Underground Injection Control Program, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (mailcode 4606), EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC, 20460. Phone: 202-260- 3862. E-mail: karimjee.anhar@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For the Class V study, EPA grouped Class V wells into the following 23 categories:

Agricultural Drainage Wells include all wells receiving agricultural runoff. This includes improved sinkholes and

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abandoned drinking water wells receiving agricultural runoff, wells that recharge aquifers with agricultural tail waters, and wells used to drain flood irrigation.

Storm Water Drainage Wells are shallow injection wells designed for the disposal of rain water and melted snow. These wells typically drain paved areas such as streets and parking lots, or roofs. Improved sinkholes and abandoned drinking water wells receiving storm water runoff are considered to be storm water drainage wells.

Wells Used to Drain Fluids from Carwashes Where No Engine or Undercarriage Washing is Performed include floor drains in bays of coin-operated manual carwashes where people use hand-held hoses to wash only the exterior of cars, trucks, and other vehicles. These kinds of carwashes are sometimes referred to as ``wand washes,'' as opposed to ``tunnel washes'' or ``rollover washes'' where automatic washing equipment is used.

Large-Capacity Septic Systems are used to dispose of sanitary waste through a septic tank, used by a multiple dwelling, business establishment, community, or regional business establishment for the injection of wastes. Systems serving single families and non- residential systems serving less than 20 persons are not included.

Wells Used to Inject Fluids from Food Processing Operations are any type of system that accepts food processing wastewater and releases it into or above USDWs. This includes systems used to dispose of wastewaters generated from the preparing, packaging, or processing of food products (e.g., slaughterhouses, seafood or poultry processing facilities, etc.), not septic systems used solely for the disposal of sanitary waste.

Sewage Treatment Effluent Wells are used by privately or publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to inject treated or untreated domestic sewage through a vertical well or a leachfield. Aquifer Recharge wells, Aquifer Storage and Recovery Wells, Subsidence control wells, and Salt water Intrusion Barrier wells injecting treated or untreated wastewater are considered Sewage Treatment Effluent wells for the purposes of this study.

Wells Used to Inject Fluids from Laundromats Where No Onsite Dry Cleaning is Performed or Where No Organic Solvents are Used for Laundering include drains that lead to drywell (open holes) or septic systems at coin-operated laundromats that do not have onsite dry- cleaning services.

Spent Brine Return Flow Wells are used to dispose of the spent brine which results from the extraction of minerals, halogens and other compounds from fluids. These wells are commonly associated with manufacturing facilities that produce specialty chemicals such as boron, bromine, magnesia, or their derivatives.

Mine Backfill Wells are wells which inject water, sand, mill tailings, or other mining byproducts in order to control subsidence caused by mining, to dispose of mining byproducts, or to fill sections of a mine.

Aquaculture Wells dispose of water used for cultivation of marine and freshwater animals and plants.

Solution Mining Wells inject leaching solutions (lixiviants) in order to remove an ore mineral from its original geological setting. The saturated solution is then extracted by a production well, and the target mineral is harvested for processing. Copper, gold, salt, silver, and uranium may all be mined by solution mining processes.

In-Situ Fossil Fuel Recovery Wells are used for in-situ recovery of lignite, coal, tar sands, and oil shale. The wells inject water, air, oxygen, solvents, combustibles, or explosives into underground or oil shale beds to liberate fossil fuels, so they can be extracted for surface use. Underground coal gasification (UCG) and in-situ oil shale retorting are two processes which use in-situ fossil fuel recovery injection wells.

Special Drainage Wells include a variety of wells such as potable water tank overflow, construction dewatering, swimming pool drainage, and mine dewatering wells. These drainage wells receive fluids that cannot be classified as agricultural, industrial, or storm water.

Experimental Wells are used to test new technologies. Wells will not be classified as experimental if the technology can be considered under an established well subclass. For example, a well used for bioremediation will be classified as an aquifer remediation well.

Aquifer Remediation Wells are wells used to clean up, treat, or prevent contamination of underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). Treated ground water (pump and treat), bioremediation agents, or other recovery enhancement materials may be injected into the subsurface via Class V wells. These wells may be associated with RCRA or CERCLA projects.

Geothermal Electric Power Wells dispose of spent geothermal fluids following the extraction of heat for the production of electric power.

Geothermal Direct Heat Return Flow Wells dispose of spent geothermal fluids following the extraction of heat used directly (without conversion to electric power or passed through a heat exchanger) to heat homes, swimming pools, etc.

Heat Pump/Air Conditioning Return Flow Wells reinject ground water that has been passed through a heat exchanger in order to heat or cool buildings. A heat pump takes thermal energy from the ground water and transfers it to the space being heated. When cooling is required, the heat pump removes heat from a building and transfers it to the ground water. For the purposes of the study, only open loop heat pump/AC return flow wells are considered.

Salt Water Intrusion Barrier Wells are used to inject fluids to prevent the intrusion of salt water into an aquifer. These wells may have secondary purposes such as aquifer recharge.

Aquifer Recharge Wells are used to inject fluids to recharge an aquifer. These wells may have secondary purposes such as salt water intrusion prevention, subsidence control, or aquifer storage and recovery (ASR).

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Wells are used to inject fluids for later recovery and use. These wells may have a secondary purpose such as aquifer recharge.

Wells Used to Inject Noncontact Cooling Water That Contains No Additives and Has Not Been Chemically Altered are used in conjunction with cooling systems designed to maintain constant separation of the water from process chemicals.

Subsidence Control Wells are used to control land subsidence caused by ground water withdrawal, or over pumping of oil and gas. These wells may have secondary purposes such as aquifer recharge.

Although the Class V study is ongoing and the final methods and results have not yet been fully documented, the draft summary has been compiled and placed in the public docket for review and comment. Based on a workgroup of EPA and State UIC representatives, the Class V study design has two components: (1) An information collection effort for the 23 Class V well categories listed above; and (2) inventory models to estimate the number of storm water drainage wells and large-capacity septic systems.

Data Collection

The information collection for the draft study consisted of four activities: a literature review, State and EPA Regional data collection, request to the public for data, and peer review.

In order to begin the State and EPA Regional data collection process, EPA

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prepared an Information Collection Request (ICR), approved by OMB (OMB #240-0194) on July 31, 1998. EPA then sent nearly 700 questionnaires to contacts identified for each State, territory, and Indian Land. EPA supplemented the information from the questionnaire through telephone interviews, on-site file searches, and information from other sources.

EPA additionally sought information from the public through: the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (63 FR 66168, 64 FR 18903); two notices in the Federal Register (64 FR 1108, 64 FR 1007); presentations at meetings of the Ground Water Protection Council; an Internet Web site (http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/uic/cl5study.html); and, the July 28, 1998 proposed rule (60 FR 44652).

Well-specific reports were drafted for each well type covered in the study. Although the reports are tailored to the particular issues relevant to the well type, all of the reports address the following basic topics: (1) Well purpose and fluids released; (2) the extent to which the fluids released exceed drinking water standards at the point of injection; (3) generalizations about the characteristics of the underground zone receiving fluids from the wells; (4) contamination incidents or studies, if any; (5) vulnerability of the wells to spills or illicit discharges; (6) prevalence of the wells; and (7) existing State and federal controls.

Most reports have undergone extensive peer and EPA workgroup review (or are currently under review). EPA coordinated peer reviews of draft reports for each of the types of wells studied to ensure technical accuracy and completeness of the documents. Technical experts were located through various sources including the Ground Water Protection Council and three Federal Register notices seeking peer sources including the Ground Water Protection Council and three Federal Register documents seeking peer reviewers (64 FR 1007-1008). It should be noted that some peer review comments have not yet been addressed and are not reflected in the summary being made available through this document.

Inventory Models

Because States believe that their inventories on storm water drainage wells and large-capacity septic systems are inaccurate, EPA constructed inventory models to predict the national inventories for these two well types. Due to the limited information available, EPA developed the inventory models by analyzing data collected from visits to a sample of census tracts. Elizabeth Fellows, Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.

[FR Doc. 99-17772Filed7-12-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P