Compendium of regulatory requirements governing underground injection of drilling waste.

Abstract

Large quantities of waste are produced when oil and gas wells are drilled. The two primary types of drilling wastes include used drilling fluids (commonly referred to as muds), which serve a variety of functions when wells are drilled, and drill cuttings (rock particles ground up by the drill bit). Some oil-based and synthetic-based muds are recycled; other such muds, however, and nearly all water-based muds, are disposed of. Numerous methods are employed to manage drilling wastes, including burial of drilling pit contents, land spreading, thermal processes, bioremediation, treatment and reuse, and several types of injection processes. This report provides a comprehensive compendium of the regulatory requirements governing the injection processes used for disposing of drilling wastes; in particular, for a process referred to in this report as slurry injection. The report consists of a narrative discussion of the regulatory requirements and practices for each of the oil- and gas-producing states, a table summarizing the types of injection processes authorized in each state, and an appendix that contains the text of many of the relevant state regulations and policies. The material included in the report was derived primarily from a review of state regulations and from interviews with state oil and gas regulatory officials.