Regulating oil and gas facility stormwater discharge: An assessment of surface impoundments, spills, and permit compliance

Abstract

Contaminated stormwater runoff from oil and gas (O&G) operations can pose a significant threat to surface waters. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of this threat and identify more specific permitting requirements to protect surface waters. To better understand the extent of the threat, this paper identified and characterized the use of waste surface impoundments at O&G facilities as well as the threat level from O&G spills in California. To assess the efficacy of the current federal and California state-permitting regime, the paper evaluated stormwater permit compliance in two California counties. It also reviewed selected spill cases and associated Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Plans and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans to identify the adequacy of current industry practices.The analysis showed that contaminated stormwater from O&G facilities can be better regulated. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not require O&G facilities to file for an Industrial Stormwater General Permit even though many O&G industry practices have the potential to contaminate stormwater runoff from the site. When O&G facilities discharge a Reportable Quantity of a hazardous chemical or violate a water quality standard, they are required to enroll in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program. Spills, although not a direct indication of stormwater runoff, can highlight polluted runoff discharges that should have been regulated. Medium and large spills that reached waterways were such a risk for which operators did not file for a permit. In California new filing requirements for the oil and gas industry require all facilities that discharge stormwater that has come into contact with any overburden, raw material, or intermediate products located on the site, to file for an Industrial Stormwater General Permit. As this study showed, there has been an increase in enrollment since the enactment of the new requirements. Having all facilities enroll in the general permit program, as done in California, would require minimum monitoring and maintenance that could help prevent spills. A further step to ensure better protocol is to require specific pollution control practices in addition to the current general permit requirements. Such permitting regimes not only can be implemented on the US federal level but also internationally.