Requirements for plugging drill holes and repair, conversion, and plugging wells

The requirements for plugging drill holes and repairing, converting, and plugging wells are as follows: 1. All drill holes must be plugged under subsection 19 of section 33.1-18-01-06 requirements, as applicable, in a manner that will not allow fluids to move either into or between water-bearing strata; 2. The operator shall notify the department forty-five days before plugging a well within a production area or converting a well to other than injection well uses; 3. All abandoned wells must be plugged or converted, in accordance with the permit's plugging or conversion plan, to ensure that ground water is protected and preserved for future use and to eliminate any potential physical hazard. A well is considered abandoned if it has not been used for two years, unless the operator submits to the department and receives approval for a technical revision demonstrating the operator's intention to use the well again and the actions and specifying procedures that will be taken to ensure that the well's mechanical integrity is maintained and the well will not endanger any unauthorized zone, underground source of drinking water, or water-bearing strata; 4. All wells completed in confined aquifers or encountering more than one aquifer must be plugged in accordance with subsection 19 of section 33.1-18-01-06; 5. All wells completed in unconfined aquifers or with only one aquifer encountered must be plugged in accordance with subsection 19 of section 33.1-18-01-06; 6. To ensure that the locations of abandoned wells are identified: a. The boundaries of each wellfield and the location of all monitoring wells around the wellfield must be described in an affidavit and the affidavit must be filed with the appropriate county recorder; and b. The top of the plugging mixture in each abandoned well must clearly show on a steelplate placed atop the sealing mixture the permit number and the well identification number. All steelplates must be installed at a minimum depth of two feet [.61 meter] below the land surface; and 7. Plugging and conversion activities must be reported in accordance with subdivision d of subsection 3 of section 43-02-02.2-55.