The title of this division and the name by which it shall be known is the city salt water disposal well ordinance.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 1, adopted 4/10/1973)
The city council, knowing there is a likelihood of drilling and operation of salt water and/or other disposal wells within the city, now and in the future, and being mindful of the unsanitary conditions, contaminated water supply and all similar and like threats to the lives, property, health, safety and convenience of the public in general, for which the police power of the state is delegated to this city, is to be and is hereby invoked in aid of the enforcement of the provisions of this division.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 2, adopted 4/10/1973)
For the purposes of this division, and for all purposes under this division, the following words and terms, wherever and whenever used or appearing in this division, shall have the scope and meaning hereinafter defined and set out in connection with each:
Permittee
means the person to whom is issued a permit for the drilling and operating of a salt water disposal well under this division, and his or its administrators, executors, heirs, successors and assigns.
Person
includes both the singular and plural, and shall mean and include any person, individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, club, society, cooperative, trust, municipal corporation, or political subdivision whatsoever.
Regulated area
means all of the corporate area of the city as shown by the official map of the city.
Salt water
means water containing salt and other mineralized substances produced by drilling an oil or gas well or produced in connection with the operation of an oil or gas well.
Well
means any hole or holes, bore or bores, to any sand, formation, strata or depth, which is or are drilled, bored, sunk, dug, put down or utilized for the purpose of disposing of salt water.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 3, adopted 4/10/1973)
(a) 
Any person desiring to drill and/or operate a well for disposal of salt water within the regulated area of the city shall present an application in duplicate therefor to the city secretary, which application shall set forth in writing the following facts:
(1) 
It shall be addressed to the mayor of the city;
(2) 
The date of said application;
(3) 
The name of the applicant;
(4) 
The address of the applicant;
(5) 
Clear identification of the exact location thereon of the well location, together with certified or photostated copies of all requisite permissions (if required) from the owners of the surface and improvements thereon;
(6) 
The proposed injection depth of the well;
(7) 
Proposed complete casing program;
(8) 
Proof, satisfactory to the council, that all tests and requirements of the state railroad commission have been met insuring the safety from contamination of all fresh water sands;
(9) 
Must be accompanied by a cashier's check in the amount set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code, made payable to the city, same being a filing fee;
(10) 
Must be signed by the applicant or some person duly authorized to sign same in his behalf;
(11) 
Permit from the state railroad commission authorizing the use of the proposed well for disposal of salt water.
(b) 
The application will be accepted and filed by the city secretary and kept as a part of the public records of the city.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 4, adopted 4/10/1973; Ordinance 31 adopted 2/13/1996; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
When the application above set forth is filed with the city secretary, the city secretary shall issue a notice, within two (2) days from the date of said application, addressed to "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN", which notice shall state as follows:
This the ______ day of ____________, 19___, Notice is hereby given that ____________ acting under and pursuant to the terms and provisions of AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE OPERATION OF SALT WATER DISPOSAL WELLS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF DAISETTA, TEXAS, dated the ______ day of ____________, 19___, filed with the City Secretary of the City of Daisetta, Texas, an application for a permit as set forth in the copy of said application hereto attached. A hearing upon such application before the Mayor and the City Council will be held in the office of City Secretary of the City of Daisetta, Texas, on the ______ day of ____________, 19___, at ______ o'clock, __.M.
(b) 
This notice shall bear the signature of the city secretary and the seal of the city, and shall be accompanied by one of the duplicate copies of said application provided for herein. This notice shall be served by posting one copy thereof on the public bulletin board in the city for not less than ten (10) days before the day of hearing therein set forth.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 5, adopted 4/10/1973)
At the time fixed in said notice provided for herein, a hearing on such application for a permit shall be held in accordance with said notice. In the event a majority of the members of the city council are not present at the hearing, or at the discretion of the members of the city council if a majority of the members thereof are present at the hearing, the hearing may be recessed, continued or postponed from time to time until final disposition of the application; provided that in no event shall the final decision on the application be postponed for a longer period than thirty (30) days from the original date of hearing fixed for the application unless a final decision within such time be waived in writing by the applicant.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 6, adopted 4/10/1973)
(a) 
If, after such hearing, an application filed pursuant to this division be found by the city council to comply in all respects with the terms of this division, and the operation of a salt water disposal well is not prohibited by the terms of this division, then the city council shall issue a permit for the drilling and/or operation of the well applied for. Each permit issued under this division shall:
(1) 
By reference have incorporated therein all provisions of this division with the same force and effect as if this division were copied verbatim in said permit;
(2) 
Specify the well location with particularity to lot number, block number, name of addition or subdivision, or the available legal description;
(3) 
Contain and specify that the term of such permit shall be for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of the permit and as long thereafter as the permittee is engaged in operation of the well.
(b) 
Said permit, in duplicate originals, shall be signed by the mayor of the city, and prior to delivery to the permittee shall be signed by the permittee (with one original to be retained by the city and one by the permittee), and when so signed shall constitute the permittee's license and the contractual obligation of the permittee to comply with the terms of such permit and this division.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 7, adopted 4/10/1973)
(a) 
If the issuance of a permit be authorized by proper vote of the city council, same shall not issue until the applicant shall file with the city secretary a bond executed by the permittee as principal and by a good and sufficient corporate surety company licensed to do business in the State of Texas, conditioned that the principal obligor will operate said well in strict accordance with the terms of this division; that the obligor will repair any and all damages to streets, curbs, gutters, water lines, fire hydrants and other public property, occasioned in any manner by his or its operation of said well; and that the obligor will hold the city harmless from any and all liability growing out of such permit. Such bond shall be in form and accordance herewith and acceptable to the city council, and shall be in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
(b) 
Failure to keep said bond in full force and effect, in accordance with the terms hereof, shall be unlawful and shall be punishable in accordance herewith.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 8, adopted 4/10/1973; Ordinance adopting Code)
The granting of a permit as provided herein and the acceptance thereof by the permittee obligates said permittee to hold the city harmless from any and all liability of every kind and nature whatsoever which may arise because of any act done or omitted by the permittee or successors thereof.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 9, adopted 4/10/1973)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to inject or permit to be injected into any disposal well located within the regulated area any substance other than "salt water" as defined in this division.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 10, adopted 4/10/1973)
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person, acting either for himself or as agent, employee, independent contractor or servant of any other person, to operate any salt water or any other type or kind of disposal well within the regulated area of the city, or to work upon or assist in any way in the prosecution or operation of any such well, without a permit for the operation of such well having first been issued by authority of the city council in accordance with the provisions of this division.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 11, adopted 4/10/1973)
Any violation of the laws of the United States, the state, or regulations of the state railroad commission, or any other regulatory agency, or any other present or future ordinance of the city, pertaining to the operation of salt water disposal wells within the regulated area of the city, shall be a violation of this division and shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions hereof.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 12, adopted 4/10/1973)
It is further provided that, in addition to the fines and penalties provided for herein, the city council will revoke the license or permit under which a salt water disposal well is operated, upon a proof and evidence that any provision of this division is being violated after the issuance of the permit by the city secretary and the mayor of the city. Notice of revocation shall be in writing and shall be mailed by registered mail to the permittee's address shown in his application. Any permittee whose permit or license has been revoked may, within fifteen (15) days from and after the date of the order of revocation, appeal to the city council from such order. Within fifteen (15) days from the filing of such application, the city council shall hear the same and shall either sustain or set aside the order.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 13, adopted 4/10/1973)
A holder of a permit as provided for herein shall be bound by all regulations herein set forth and by all regulations set forth in amendments hereof.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 14, adopted 4/10/1973)
Any violation of any of the terms of this division, whether herein denominated as unlawful or not, shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and any person convicted of any such violation shall be fined in a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00), and any natural person so convicted shall be committed to jail until such fine and cost are paid. Each day of the continuance of such violation shall be considered a separate offense and be punished separately, and any person, agent or employee engaged in any such violation shall on conviction be so punished therefor.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 15, adopted 4/10/1973)
If ever and whenever in this division, restrictions, prohibitions or provisions conflict with the laws of the state, or with regulations of the state railroad commission, in each such instance the more restrictive restriction, prohibition or provision shall apply.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 16, adopted 4/10/1973)
The city council shall have the right, upon proper application submitted and for good cause shown to said council, to grant exemptions, exceptions or modifications, to any person, to any provisions and requirements of this division.
(Ordinance 31, sec. 21, adopted 4/10/1973)