All technical industry words or phrases related to the drilling
and production of gas wells not specifically defined in this chapter
shall have the meanings customarily attributable thereto by prudent
and reasonable gas industry operators. The following words, terms
and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed
to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates
a different meaning:
Abandonment
means “abandonment” as defined by the Railroad
Commission of Texas and includes the plugging of the well and the
restoration of any well site as required by this chapter.
Affiliate
means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock
company, limited liability company, trust, corporation or other person
or entity who owns or controls, or is owned or controlled by, or is
under common ownership or control with, the entity in question.
Blowout preventer
means a mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic or other device
or combination of such devices secured to the top of a well casing,
including valves, fittings and control mechanisms connected therewith,
which can be closed around the drill pipe, or other tubular goods
which completely close the top of the casing and are designed for
preventing blowouts.
Building
means any structure which is built for the support, shelter,
or enclosure or partial enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or
movable property of any kind including pools.
Cathodic protection
means an electrochemical corrosion control technique accomplished
by applying a direct current to the structure that causes the structure
potential to change from the corrosion potential to a protective potential
in the immunity region. The required cathodic protection current is
supplied by sacrificial anode materials or by an impressed current
system.
Church
means a facility or area for people to gather together for
public worship, religious training, or other religious activities
including a temple, mosque, synagogue, convent, monastery or other
structure, together with its accessory structures, including a parsonage
or rectory. This use does not include home meetings or other religious
activities conducted in a privately occupied residence.
City
means the City of Euless.
City Code
means the Code of Ordinances of the city.
Closed loop system
means a series of tanks including filters, separators and
shakers on the discharge side of the drilling process that contains
by-products of drilling such as cuttings and earthen materials to
contain the by-products and recycle useable materials for reuse in
the drilling process.
Commercial structure
means all buildings which require the issuance of a certificate
of occupancy from the city in order to be used for human occupancy.
Compressor
means a device or facility that raises the pressure of natural
gas and/or by-products. Compressors are any devices that create a
pressure differential to move or compress a vapor or a gas. Any such
device used alone or in series to adequately compress a gas are considered
a compressor.
Compressor station
means a facility or location that contains a compressor or
compressors to facilitate the movement of natural gas and/or it’s
by-products through a pipeline.
Customer
means any person located within or conducting business in
whole or in part within the city.
Day
means a calendar day.
Derrick
means any portable framework, tower, mast and/or structure
which is required or used in connection with drilling or re-working
a well for the production of gas.
Drilling
means digging or boring a new well for the purpose of exploring
for, developing or producing gas or other hydrocarbons, or for the
purpose of injecting gas, water or any other fluid or substance into
the earth.
Drilling equipment
means the derrick, together with all parts of and appurtenances
to such structure, every piece of apparatus, machinery or equipment
used or erected or maintained for use in connection with drilling.
Drill site
means the immediate area used during the drilling or re-working
of a well or wells located there and subsequent life of a well or
wells or any associated operation.
Emergency response plan
means a plan that is put in place to deal with emergency
situations that may occur at the site during all stages of the drilling
and production process.
Exploration
means geologic or geophysical activities, including seismic
surveys, related to the search for gas or other subsurface hydrocarbons.
FEMA
means the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Fire marshal
means the fire marshal of the city or their designee.
Flaring
means to burn off gas during the flow back stage. The process
includes a series of secured piping to facilitate the flow of gas
and a combustion chamber to ignite the gas.
Fracturing
means the injecting of a fluid into a well to cause pressure
that “cracks” or opens up fractures already present in
the formation.
Gas
means any fluid, either combustible or noncombustible, which
is produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains
a gaseous or rarefied state at standard temperature and pressure conditions
and/or the gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived from
petroleum or natural gas.
Gas monitor
means a device approved by the city that monitors the air
for specific gases and will sound an alarm and/or transmit a signal
to an offsite monitoring facility when specific gases are detected
in the air.
Gas well
means any well drilled, to be drilled, or used for the intended
or actual production of natural gas.
Gas well pad site
means any area designated as the location used during the
drilling or re-working of a well or wells and subsequent life of a
well or wells or any associated operation.
Hospital
means a facility or area for providing health services primarily
for human in-patient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured
and including related facilities such as laboratories, out-patient
departments, training facilities, central services facilities and
staff offices that are an integral part of the facilities.
Operation site
means the area used for development and production and all
operational activities associated with gas after drilling activities
are complete.
Operator
means, for each well, the person listed on the appropriate
railroad commission forms for a gas well that is, or will be, actually
in charge and in control of drilling, maintaining, operating, pumping
or controlling any well, including, without limitation, a unit operator.
If the operator, as herein defined, is not the lessee under a gas
lease of any premises affected by the provisions of this chapter,
then such lessee shall also be deemed to be an operator. In the event
that there is no gas lease relating to any premises affected by this
chapter, the owner of the fee mineral estate in the premises shall
be deemed an operator.
Perforation and perforate
means to create holes in the casing or liner to achieve efficient
communication between the reservoir and the wellbore.
Permit
means any written license granted by the city for the exploration,
development, and production of gas wells issued pursuant to the rules
and regulations of this chapter.
Person
means an individual, person, firm, partnership, co-partnership,
affiliate, corporation, society, company, association, joint stock
association, or body politic, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee,
administrator, executor, guardian, or other representative; and shall
include both singular and plural and the masculine shall include the
feminine gender.
Pipeline(s)
means the pipeline(s) and other facilities approved by the
city that are installed by the pipeline company in the public rights-of-way
in accordance with a right-of-way use agreement.
Pipeline company
means the company authorized by an agreement to install and
maintain gas pipelines within the city’s public right-of-way.
Production
means the period after the fracturing and flow back operations
have been completed and natural gas has been run through a series
of separators and tank batteries to metering devices and into the
pipeline.
Public building
means all buildings used or designed and intended to be used
for the purpose of assembly of persons for such purposes as deliberation,
entertainment, amusement, or health care. Public buildings include,
but are not limited to, theaters, assembly halls, auditoriums, funeral
homes, gymnasiums, bowling alleys, courtrooms, jails, restaurants,
churches, schools, and hospitals.
Public parks, playground, or golf course
means a facility or area for recreational, cultural or aesthetic
use owned or operated by a public agency and available to the general
public. This definition may include, but is not limited to, lawns,
decorative planting, walkways, active and passive recreation areas,
playgrounds, fountains, swimming pools, wooded areas, and water courses.
The properties to which this definition refers to must be specifically
dedicated, deeded or platted as public park, playground or golf course.
Re-drill
means re-completion of an existing well by deepening or sidetrack
operations extending more than 150 feet from the existing well bore.
Residence
means a house, duplex, apartment, townhouse, condominium,
mobile home or other building designed for dwelling purposes, including
those for which a building permit has been issued on the date the
application for a gas well permit is filed with the inspector.
Re-working
means re-completion or re-entry of existing well within the
existing bore hole or by deepening or sidetrack operations which do
not extend more than 150 feet from the existing well bore, or replacement
of well liners or casings.
Rig up
means the drilling rig is on site and active preparations
have commenced and are continuing towards placing the drilling rig
into operation.
Right-of-way
means any area of land within the city that is acquired by,
dedicated to, or claimed by the city in fee simple, by easement, by
prescriptive right or other interest and that is expressly or impliedly
accepted or used in fact or by operation of law as a public roadway,
sidewalk, alley, utility, drainage, or public access easement or used
for the provision of governmental services or functions. The term
includes the area on, below, and above the surface of the public right-of-way.
The term applies regardless of whether the public right-of-way is
paved or unpaved.
Right-of-way use agreement
means the authorization issued to the company to use the
public rights-of-ways for:
(1)
The construction, installation, maintenance and repair of company’s
pipeline;
(2)
The use of such pipeline for the transportation of gas; and
(3)
Any other directly related uses of the public rights-of-ways
pursuant to and in accordance with a right-of-way use agreement.
Road repair agreement
means a written agreement provided by or approved by the
city obligating the operator, at his own expense, to repair damage,
excluding ordinary wear and tear, if any, including but not limited
to, public rights-of-ways, pursuant to and in accordance with a right-of-way
use agreement.
School
means any public or private primary or secondary facility
providing education through and including the twelfth grade as well
as any licensed day care centers, meaning any facility licensed by
the state for purposes of providing care, training, education, custody,
treatment or supervision for more than six children under 14 years
of age for less than 24 hours per day including after school and summer
programs.
Street
means any public thoroughfare dedicated to the public use
and not designated as an alley or private access easement.
Tank
means a container, covered or uncovered, used in conjunction
with the drilling or production of gas or other hydrocarbons for holding
or storing fluids.
Technical advisor
means such person(s) familiar with and educated in the gas
industry or the law as it relates to gas matters who may be retained
from time to time by the city.
Truck route
means a designated route for commercial vehicles as designated
by the city.
Watchman
means a regular or contract employee of the operator or pipeline
company whose sole purpose is to monitor conditions on the property,
protect the property from unauthorized entry or tampering, and provide
for the safety and security of the property, employees and the surrounding
community.
Well
means a hole or holes, bore or bores, to any horizon, formation,
or strata for the purpose of producing gas, liquid hydrocarbon, brine
water or sulphur water, or for use as an injection well for secondary
recovery, disposal or production of gas, or other hydrocarbons from
the earth.
Wire line logging
means the use of radioactive isotopes or hazardous materials
which are used when measuring formations within the immediate vicinity
of the drilling hole.
(Ordinance 1852, § 1, 6-23-09)