[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Evanston by Ord. No.
81-29. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Since the imprudent operation of an oil and
gas facility can constitute a menace to the public health, safety
and welfare of the City, it is the intent and purpose of this chapter
that oil and gas operations be reasonably regulated for the public
good.
The territorial jurisdiction of this chapter
shall include all of the incorporated land located within the City
and, pursuant to Wyoming Statutes, 1977, section 15-3-202, such other
territory peripheral to the City which is located within one-half
mile of the corporate limits.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section; provided, that all technical or oil and gas
industry words or phrases used herein and not specifically defined
herein shall have that meaning customarily attributable thereto by
prudent operators in the oil and gas industry:
Any natural production well in which production casing has
been run but which has not been operated for six months, and each
well in which no production casing has been run and for which drilling
operations have ceased for ninety consecutive days.
The raising to the surface of the earth, by means other than
natural flow, of petroleum or natural gas.
The City and all territory lying within the jurisdictional limits of the City as set forth in section 16-2.
Any chemical, salt water, oil field brine, waste oil, waste
emulsified oil, basic sediment, mud or injurious substances produced
or used in the drilling, development, producing, transportation, refining
and processing of oil, gas or condensate.
An operation by which fluid or energy is introduced into
a source of supply for the purpose of facilitating recovery therefrom.
The raising to the surface of the earth, by natural flow,
of petroleum or natural gas.
The state oil and gas commission.
That person employed by the City to enforce this chapter,
or his authorized representatives.
The person to whom is issued a permit under the terms of
this chapter.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
cooperative, trust or other type of organization.
The contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical
or biological properties of any natural waters of the City or state,
or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous or solid substance into any
waters of the City as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render
such waters harmful or detrimental or injurious to public health,
safety or welfare; to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational or other beneficial uses; or to livestock, animals or
aquatic life.
An operation by which gas, water or other fluids are injected
into a supply of oil to maintain pressure or retard pressure decline
therein for the purpose of facilitating recovery therefrom.
The State of Wyoming and its branches, departments, agencies,
boards or the officers thereof.
All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways,
wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other
bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural
or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow
through or border upon the City or state or any portion thereof.
Unless specifically qualified, any hole or bore to any depth,
for the purpose of producing and recovering any oil, gas or liquefied
matter or for the injection or disposal of any of the foregoing; provided,
that nothing contained herein shall require a permit under this chapter
for the drilling of a water well capable of providing potable water
as a fresh water supply.
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any
person, acting for himself or acting as agent, servant, employee,
subcontractor or independent contractor of any other person, to commence
to drill an original well or reenter any abandoned well in order to
bring such abandoned well into production within the City, or to work
upon or assist in any way in the production or operation of any such
well, without a permit having first been issued by the authority of
the oil and gas inspector in accordance with this chapter. Any permit
issued pursuant hereto shall be transferred only after obtaining the
express written consent of the oil and gas inspector.
Every application for a permit to drill an original
well or to reenter an abandoned well shall be in writing, signed by
the applicant or by some person duly authorized to sign the same on
his behalf, and it shall be filed with the oil and gas inspector and
be accompanied by a filing fee of five thousand dollars for wells
not exceeding a depth of ten thousand feet, and seven thousand five
hundred dollars for wells exceeding a depth of ten thousand feet.
No application shall request a permit to drill more than one well.
The application shall contain the information required by the oil
and gas inspector, including the following:
A.
Name and address of the applicant and date of the
application.
B.
Where applying for a proposed original well:
(1)
A block map of the fifteen acres surrounding the drill
site, including thereon the location of the proposed well and distances
therefrom to all existing dwelling houses, buildings or other structures,
designed for the occupancy of human beings or animals, within three
hundred feet of any such well, and the location of all existing oil,
gas or fresh water wells within such fifteen acre tract.
(2)
The names of the mineral, surface and lease owners.
(3)
A copy of the approved drilling permit from the oil
and gas commission and a copy of the staking plat.
(4)
A drilling prognosis, to specify in detail the amount,
weight and size of conductor pipe and surface pipe and the procedures
to be used for cementing such. Plugging procedures to be used in the
event production is not established shall also be specified.
(5)
A statement of the provisions for water for the drilling
rig.
(6)
The name and address of the person within the state
upon whom service of process upon the applicant may be made within
the state; and in the case of any nonresident person who has no such
service agent within the state, there shall be attached to the application
the designation of such a service agent resident in the county and
a consent that service of summons may be made upon such person in
any action to enforce any of the obligations of the applicant hereunder.
(7)
A verification of the application, under oath.
C.
Where the application is one for the reentry of an abandoned well, such application shall contain all of the information required by subsection B of this section, with the exception that the oil and gas inspector may vary the requirements thereof to suit the application before him; provided, that such application for a permit to reenter an abandoned well shall provide the following information in every case:
A.
The oil and gas inspector's office, within thirty
business days after the filing of an application for a permit under
this chapter, shall determine whether or not such application complies
in all respects with the provisions of this chapter and applicable
federal and state law and, if it does, shall recommend to the mayor
and City council that the permit be issued. Each permit issued under
the terms of this chapter shall:
(1)
By reference have incorporated therein all of the
provisions of this chapter, with the same force and effect as if this
chapter were copied verbatim therein.
(2)
By reference have incorporated therein all of the
provisions of applicable state law and the rules, regulations and
standards adopted in accordance therewith relating to the protection
of human beings, animals and natural resources.
(3)
Specify that the term of such permit shall be for
a period of one year from the date of issuance thereof, and for like
periods thereafter upon the successful inspection of the permittee's
well and operations, as is provided for elsewhere in this chapter.
(4)
Specify such conditions imposed by the oil and gas
inspector as are by this chapter authorized.
(5)
Specify that no actual operations shall be commenced
until the permittee shall file and have approved the required bonds
and certificate of insurance in the appropriate amounts as provided
for elsewhere in this chapter.
B.
If the permit is issued, it shall, in two originals,
be signed by the oil and gas inspector and the permittee and, when
so signed, shall constitute the permittee's license to drill and operate
in the City and the contractual obligation of the permittee to comply
with the terms of such permit, such bonds as are required and applicable
state law, rules, regulations, standards and directives. One executed
original copy of such permit shall be retained by the oil and gas
inspector; the other shall be retained by the permittee and shall
be kept available for inspection by any City or state law enforcement
official who shall demand to see the same.
C.
If the permit is refused, or if the applicant notifies
the oil and gas inspector in writing that he does not elect to accept
the permit as tendered and wishes to withdraw his application, or
if the bonds of the applicant are not approved, the cash fee filed
with the application shall be refunded to the applicant; except, that
there shall be retained therefrom by the City five hundred dollars
as a processing fee.
In the event a permit is issued by the oil and
gas inspector, no actual operations shall be commenced until the permittee
shall file with the City bonds and a certificate of insurance, as
follows:
A.
A bond in the principal sum of at least one hundred
thousand dollars, such bond to be executed by a reliable insurance
company authorized to do business in the state, as surety, and with
the applicant as principal, running to the City for the benefit of
the City and all persons concerned, conditioned that the permittee
will comply with the terms and conditions of this chapter in the operation
of the well for either natural or artificial production, injection
or disposal. Such bond shall become effective on or before the date
the same is filed with the City and remain in force and effect for
at least twelve months subsequent to the expiration of the permit
term; in addition the bond will be conditioned that the permittee
will promptly pay fines, penalties and other assessments imposed upon
the permittee by reason of his breach of any of the terms, provisions
and conditions of this chapter; that the permittee will promptly restore
the streets, sidewalks and other public property of the City which
may be disturbed or damaged in the permittee's operations to their
former condition; that the permittee will promptly clear all premises
of all litter, trash, waste and other substances and will, after abandonment,
grade level and restore such property to the same surface condition,
as practicable as is possible, as existed prior to commencing operations;
and, further, that the permittee shall indemnify and hold harmless
the City from all liability attributable to granting the permit.
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If, after the completion of a producing well,
the permittee has complied with all of the provisions of this chapter,
such as removing the derrick and clearing the premises, he may apply
to the oil and gas inspector to have such bond reduced to a sum of
not less than fifty thousand dollars for the remainder of the time
such well produces without reworking. During reworking operations
the amount of the bond shall be increased to the original amount.
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B.
In addition to the bond required in subsection A of this section, the permittee shall obtain a bond in the principal sum of at least one million dollars; or policies of public liability insurance, including contractual liability, which policies in the aggregate shall provide a minimum coverage of at least one million dollars; or, with the City council's prior approval, a letter of indemnity of not less than one million dollars. No policy shall include any exclusion for property damage caused by explosion hazard, collapse hazard, blowout and cratering or underground property damage, or for damage resulting from discharge, dispersal, release or escape of other oil or petroleum substance or derivative into or upon any watercourse or body of water. Such bond or insurance policy shall be executed by a reliable insurer licensed to do business in the state. Such bond, insurance policy or letter of indemnity shall run to the benefit of the City and all persons concerned, conditioned that the permittee will comply with every applicable federal and state and local law, rule, ordinance, regulation, standard or directive relating to the maintenance of the safe and beneficial physical, chemical and biological properties of any natural waters of the City; that the permittee shall obtain the necessary permits from the City and state with regard to any operations which have the potential of rendering such waters harmful or detrimental or injurious to the public health, safety and welfare; that the permittee shall bear all the costs necessary and incidental to the correction of any pollution to such waters caused by the permittee or the permittee's agents, servants, employees, subcontractors or independent contractors; that the permittee shall pay all fines, penalties, assessments or judgments resulting directly or incidentally from the permittee's activities and which result in pollution of City waters; and that the permittee shall indemnify and hold harmless the City from all liability attributable to granting the permit or from the operation of such well.
C.
In addition to the bonds required in subsections A and B of this section, the permittee shall carry policies of standard comprehensive public liability insurance, including contractual liability covering bodily injuries and property damage, naming the permittee and the City, issued by an insurer authorized to do business within the state. Such policies, in the aggregate, shall provide for the following minimum coverage: (1) Bodily injuries, five hundred thousand dollars per person; one million dollars per accident; (2) Five hundred thousand dollars.
(1)
The permittee shall file with the City certificates
of such insurance as above stated and shall obtain the written approval
thereof of the oil and gas inspector, who shall act thereon promptly
after the date of such filing.
(2)
Such insurance policies shall not be canceled without
written notice to the oil and gas inspector at least thirty days prior
to the effective date of such cancellation. In the event such policies
are canceled, the permit granted shall immediately thereupon terminate,
without any action on the part of the oil and gas inspector, and the
permittee's rights to operation under such permit shall cease until
the permittee files additional insurance as provided herein.
(3)
If, after completion of a producing well, the permittee
has complied with all of the provisions of this chapter, such as removing
derricks, clearing premises and the like, he may apply to the oil
and gas inspector to have such insurance policies reduced as follows:
Bodily injuries, two hundred fifty thousand dollars per person and
five hundred thousand dollars per accident; and property damage, two
hundred fifty thousand dollars.
A.
No person shall convert any well from natural or primary
production to a use for enhanced recovery or disposal without first
obtaining the necessary permit therefor.
B.
No person shall reenter any abandoned well or drill
an original well to be used for enhanced recovery without first obtaining
the necessary permit therefor.
A.
An application for such permit as is required by section 16-8 shall be in the same form as that required for a permit to drill an original well and shall contain complete information required by the oil and gas inspector, including the following:
(1)
A block map of the well site, showing all equipment
to be used thereat, location of pipelines, access road and distances
from the well to all fences, public roadways and buildings within
a radius of three hundred thirty feet.
(2)
A block map of the project, showing the location of
all supply, disposal, injection and producing wells; all conduits;
tank battery, pumping station and appurtenant equipment; all wells
in the project area and those located in the sections immediately
adjacent, to include producing, abandoned, disposal and public or
private fresh water supply wells.
(3)
Evidence that all wells in the area of the project
and adjacent sections are adequately plugged.
(4)
All wells associated with the project shall be indicated
by statu (e.g., P and A, injection, SW, oil, etc.), and show the following
additional information:
(a)
Footage location (surface).
(b)
DF or KB elevation.
(c)
Drilled total depth.
(d)
PBTD.
(e)
Size, depth and quality of surface and production
casing.
(f)
Location of all plugs, packers, cement plugs, tubing
anchors, etc., with the well bore.
(g)
Depth and nature of all cement squeeze jobs.
(h)
Formation name and depth of all open perforations
producing open hole.
(i)
Volume and type of cement used on surface and production
strings.
(j)
Top of cement.
(5)
One copy of all electric, mechanical, sample and driller's
logs, if available.
(6)
Fee and operation name for each well.
(7)
One copy of all cement bond logs and production logs.
(8)
One copy of all work performed on the well.
(9)
Copies of all information supplied to the oil and
gas commission, and such commission's approval of the project.
(10)
Copies of oil and gas commission orders, indicating
successful pressure testing of each injection well at a pressure greater
than the maximum proposed for the project, or if no such order has
been entered, sufficient evidence of the successful pressure testing
of each injection well.
B.
Upon the completion of the application required hereunder,
the oil and gas inspector shall have thirty business days to review
the same and make a recommendation of approval or disapproval to the
mayor and City council.
C.
A fee of one thousand dollars shall be submitted along
with every application required hereunder.
D.
Injection lines shall be buried in a trench of a depth
no less than four feet and shall be pressure tested (static) annually
at a minimum of one hundred fifty percent of the pressure normally
encountered at the injection pump discharge for a period of hours
to be fixed by the oil and gas inspector. The oil and gas inspector
shall be notified five days in advance of such test and may supervise
the same. Test results shall be filed with the City upon completion.
E.
Fresh water wells located within a radius of one-quarter
mile of any enhanced recovery or disposal well shall be tested semiannually
for the presence of deleterious substances, such as chlorides, sulphates
and dissolved solids. Such testing is the responsibility of the permittee
and at the permittee's expense, to be conducted by a person approved
by the oil and gas inspector. The oil and gas inspector shall be notified
five days in advance of such testing and may be present therefor.
Test results shall be filed with the City upon completion; provided,
that if the permittee is not able to obtain permission from the owner
of such wells to test the same, such failure to test shall not be
considered as a violation of this chapter.
An annual inspection fee is hereby levied upon
each well operated or maintained under a permit issued by the City.
Such fee shall be in the amount of one thousand dollars, payable to
the City on or before the annual anniversary date of the issuance
of any permit under this chapter. No permit for any well shall be
considered valid for any year for which the annual fee has not been
paid.
A.
Every permittee under this chapter shall make sufficient
provisions for the safe disposal of salt water or other deleterious
substances which he may bring to the surface of the earth. Such disposal
shall not result in pollution of the waters of the City and shall
not result in any other environmental hazard and shall incorporate
the best available techniques and equipment.
B.
In the event of any leakage or spillage of any pollutant
or deleterious substance, whatever the cause thereof, the permittee
shall cause the oil and gas inspector to be notified thereof promptly.
If, in the judgment of the oil and gas inspector, such leakage or
spillage presents a potential environmental hazard, he may issue whatever
corrective orders he deems appropriate and may require the appropriate
testing of the surface and subsurface for pollutant incursion, the
cost of such tests to be borne by the permittee.
No person shall drill an original well or reenter
an abandoned well for any purpose, or permit to exist any well, structure,
equipment, pipeline, machinery, tank or other appurtenance, in violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter or other City ordinances
as may be applicable, or the laws, rules, regulations, operative standards
or directives of the state.
A.
Surface casing shall be set a minimum of two hundred
feet below the deepest fresh water zone found in the eight sections
adjacent to the wellsite section. A resistivity and porosity electric
log shall be run in the surface hole before surface pipe is set, a
copy of which will be filed with the oil and gas inspector. Surface
pipe shall have a centralizer on the shoe joint, a centralizer within
fifty feet of the shoe joint and centralizers no more than two hundred
feet apart above the second centralizer.
B.
Surface pipe shall be cemented by attempting to circulate
good cement to the surface by normal displacement practices. If cement
cannot be circulated to the surface due to washed out hole or lost
circulation, the existing cement shall not be over-displaced, and
a plug shall be left in the bottom of the casing string to be drilled
out once the surface is set. The remaining open hole behind the surface
pipe shall be cemented by running a tubing string between the conductor
string and surface pipe until the top of the cement is tagged. The
remaining uncemented annular space will then be cemented until good
cement is circulated to the surface.
C.
Where an existing well is to be used as an injection
or disposal site, the existing casing and cement shall be of such
integrity and depth as to adequately and safely isolate fresh water
producing zones from the seepage or bleeding of injection fluids or
disposants. Where additional protective operations are undertaken
to comply with this subsection, the oil and gas inspector shall be
notified thereof sufficiently in advance in order for him to be present
for such operations.
If any well is to be abandoned, or has otherwise
been determined by the permittee to be useless for his purposes, the
permittee shall give notice to the City thereof, and in a proper case,
the City shall have the right, if it so chooses, to acquire the well
or any portion thereof for use as a fresh water supply well, at a
price determinable by its cost to the permittee. No well shall be
plugged before the City has first, in writing, declined to obtain
such well as a source of fresh water, any other provision of this
chapter notwithstanding.
Whenever any well is abandoned, it shall be
the obligation of the permittee and the operator of the well to set
a two hundred foot cement plug in the bottom of the surface casing,
with the bottom of the plug one hundred feet below the surface casing
section, and to set a fifty foot cement plug in the top of the surface
casing. No surface or conductor string of casing may be pulled or
removed from a well. During initial abandonment operations it will
be the obligation of the permittee and operator to flood the well
with mud-laden fluid, weighing not less than ten pounds per gallon,
and to circulate this mud until stabilized, and the well shall be
kept rifled to the top with mud-laden fluid of the weight herein specified
at all times; mud-laden fluid of the above specifications will be
left in the well bore below and between cement plugs. Any additional
provisions or precautionary measures prescribed by the state or the
oil and gas commission of the state in connection with the abandonment
and plugging of a well shall be complied with by the permittee.
A.
No person shall move or cause to be moved over, upon
or across any paving, paved street or alley within the City any piece
of machinery of extreme weight which may crack or injure such pavement,
except as provided in this section.
B.
Prior to the moving of any such machinery over, across
or upon any paved street or alley within the City, application shall
be made to the City clerk and approved by the oil and gas inspector.
No permit shall be issued for the drilling of an original well or the reentry of an abandoned well in other than L-I, H-I or A-1 zones, after obtaining a conditional use permit as required by chapter 24 of this Code, and at any location which is nearer than two hundred feet from any permanent residence or commercial building, or which is closer than three hundred feet to a producing fresh water well.
Any person who completes any well as a producer
shall have the obligation to enclose such well, together with its
surface facilities, by a fence sufficiently high and properly built
so as to ordinarily keep persons and animals out the enclosure, with
all gates thereto to be kept locked when the permittee or his employees
are not within the enclosure; provided, that in non-platted areas
the oil and gas inspector, at his discretion, may waive the requirement
of any fence or may designate the type of fence to be erected. Fences
must be kept locked at all times workers of the permittee are not
present; a duplicate set of keys to such lock shall be filed with
the oil and gas inspector.
All oil operations, drilling and production
operations shall be conducted in such a manner as to eliminate, as
far as practicable, dust, noise, vibration or noxious odors and shall
be in accordance with the best accepted practices incident to exploration
for, drilling for and production of oil, gas and other hydrocarbon
substances. Proven technological improvements in exploration, drilling
and production methods shall be adopted as they become, from time
to time, available, if capable of reducing factors of nuisance and
annoyance.
All lease equipment shall be painted and maintained
in a good state of appearance and shall have posted in a prominent
place a metal sign no less than two feet square in area upon which
the following information shall be conspicuous: Permittee's name;
lease name; location of the drill site by reference to the United
States survey; identifying number of the permit issued by the City.
A.
Crude oil storage tanks shall not be constructed,
operated or used, except to the extent of two steel tanks for oil
storage, not exceeding five hundred barrels capacity each and so constructed
and maintained as to be vapor tight; provided, that additional tankage
may be approved by the oil and gas inspector.
B.
A permittee may use, construct and operate a steel
conventional separator and such other steel tanks and appurtenances
as are necessary for treating oil, with each of such facilities to
be so constructed and maintained as to be vapor tight. Each oil and
gas separator shall be equipped with both a regulation pressure relief
safety valve and a bursting head.
Adequate fire fighting apparatus and supplies
approved by the City fire department shall be maintained on the drilling
site at all times during drilling and production operations. All machinery,
equipment and installations on all drilling sites within the City
limits shall conform with such requirements as may from time to time
be issued by the fire department.
Steel mud or circulating pits shall be used.
Such pits and contents shall be removed from the premises and the
drilling site within sixty days after completion of the well. No earthen
pits shall be allowed, unless small and temporary and approved in
writing by the oil and gas inspector.
The motive power for all well pumping equipment
shall be electricity, unless specific approval is given by the oil
and gas inspector for an alternate source of power.
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any
person to use or operate in connection with the drilling, reentry
or reworking of any well within the City any wooden derrick or any
steam powered rig, and all engines shall be equipped with adequate
mufflers approved by the oil and gas inspector. Permitting any drilling
rig or derrick to remain on the premises or drilling site for a period
of longer than sixty days after completion or abandonment of a well
is hereby prohibited.
A.
All open hole formation testing shall be done during
daylight hours, with advance notification thereof made to the oil
and gas inspector, adequate to enable him to be present if he so chooses.
B.
All open hole formation testing shall be done into
steel tanks, or flared properly in the case of gas.
All drilling, reentry and operations at any
well performed under this chapter shall be conducted in accordance
with the best practices of the reasonably prudent operator. All casing,
valves and blowout preventers, drilling fluid, tubing, bradenhead,
Christmas tree and well head connections shall be of a type and quality
consistent with the best practices of such reasonably prudent operator.
Setting and cementing casing and running drill stem tests shall be
performed in a manner and at a time consistent with the best practices
of such reasonably prudent operator. Any permittee under this chapter
shall observe and follow the recommendations or regulations of the
American Petroleum Institute and the oil and gas commission. A copy
of all electric, production, cased hole and cement bond logs shall,
if requested by the oil and gas inspector, be filed with the oil and
gas inspector.
No well shall be drilled, and no permit shall
be issued for any well to be drilled, at any location which is within
any of the streets or alleys of the City; and no street or alley shall
be blocked or encumbered or closed in any drilling or production operation,
except with the written approval of the oil and gas inspector, and
then only temporarily.
All produced gas shall either be sold or flared,
with the flaring procedures being approved by the oil and gas inspector
and the chief engineer of the fire department.
In the completion of an oil and gas, injection,
disposal or service well, where acidizing or fracturing processes
are used, no oil, gas or other deleterious substances or pollutants
shall be permitted to pollute any surface or subsurface fresh waters.
In swabbing, bailing or purging a well, all
deleterious substances removed from the bore hole shall be placed
in appropriate tanks or pits, and no substances shall be permitted
to pollute any surface or subsurface fresh waters.
In the event a rupture, break or opening occurs
in the surface or production casing, the permittee or the operator
or drilling contractor shall take immediate action to repair it and
shall report the incident to the oil and gas inspector promptly.
No person shall deposit, drain or divert into
or upon any public highway, street or alley, drainage ditch, storm
drain, sewer, gutter, paving, creek, river, lake or lagoon any oil
or oily liquid with petroleum content or any mud, rotary mud, sand,
water or salt water, or in any manner permit, by seepage, overflow
or otherwise, any of such substances to escape from any property owned,
leased or controlled by such person and flow or be carried into or
upon any public highway, street or alley, drainage ditch, storm drain,
sewer, gutter, paving, creek, river, lake or lagoon within the City.
Persons drilling, operating or maintaining any
well shall use all necessary care and take all precautions which shall
be reasonably necessary under the circumstances to protect the public.
The provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be the minimum requirements
for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare, and
compliance with the terms hereof shall not be deemed to relieve any
person of any additional duty imposed by law.
Copies of all applications, notices, forms,
records, logs and the like filed by the permittee with the oil and
gas commission shall, if requested by the oil and gas inspector, be
filed with the City. The oil and gas inspector shall keep confidential
all submitted material which the state requires to be kept confidential.
In the event a fresh water supply well is drilled
to provide water for drilling muds, and upon the completion of operations
for which such well is required, the City shall have the right to
purchase such well at a price determinable by the cost of completion.
If the City, in a proper case, does not make such purchase, any such
well shall be properly plugged after notice of intention to so plug
is provided the oil and gas inspector, who may supervise the operation.
A.
The City engineer, with the approval and consent of
the mayor and City council, shall employ an oil and gas inspector,
whose duty it shall be to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
B.
The oil and gas inspector shall have the authority
to issue such orders or directives as are required to carry out the
intent and purpose of this chapter and its particular provisions.
Failure to abide by any such order or directive shall be a violation
of this chapter.
C.
The oil and gas inspector shall have the authority
to go upon and inspect any premises covered by the terms of this chapter
to ascertain whether this chapter and the applicable laws, rules,
regulations, standards or directives of the state are being complied
with. Failure to permit access to the oil and gas inspector shall
be deemed a violation of this chapter.
D.
The oil and gas inspector shall have the authority
to request and receive any records, logs, reports and the like relating
to the status or condition of any well or project or the appurtenances
thereof within the City. Such material shall remain confidential where
such confidentiality is usually granted by the state. Failure to provide
any such requested material shall be deemed a violation of this chapter.
Upon request of the oil and gas inspector, service
companies or other persons shall furnish and file reports and records
showing perforating, hydraulic fracturing, cementing, shooting, chemical
treatment and all other service operations on any site covered by
this chapter. Such furnished material shall remain confidential where
such confidentiality is usually granted by the state. Failure to provide
any such requested material shall be deemed a violation of this chapter.
The oil and gas inspector shall have the authority
to require the immediate shutting in or closing of any well if he
finds that there exists, within a one hundred foot radius of any well,
any gas or gasoline vapor in a quantity sufficient to constitute,
in his judgment or in the judgment of the chief engineer of the City
fire department, a fire hazard. The well shall remain shut or closed
in until the hazard and its cause are removed.
The oil and gas inspector shall inspect all
pressure lines in use at any well or at any project to assure that
tubing, fittings, equipment or connections are reasonably tight, safe
and free from leaks.
Lease roads shall be maintained in such manner
as to safely and comfortably allow for ingress and egress of City
or state personnel traveling in a common passenger motor vehicle.
A.
If the oil and gas inspector finds that, in his judgment,
a hazard to life or natural resources exists, he shall order immediate
rectification of the cause. If the permittee takes no immediate measure
to reduce the hazard, or if the situation is so perilous as to constitute
an imminent threat to safety, he may order the prompt cessation of
activity and, if necessary, the clearance of the premises.
B.
The oil and gas inspector shall apply to the City
engineer and administrative assistant for a hearing upon such order,
which hearing shall be held not longer than twenty-four hours after
the issuance of such order by the oil and gas inspector. The City
engineer and administrative assistant shall determine if proper cause
existed and, if not, shall order the permittee's activity to resume
without delay. If the City engineer and administrative assistant determine
that proper cause did exist for the order to cease activity to issue,
they shall make whatever ruling is proper to assure rectification
of the cause of the peril. Such ruling and compliance with it by the
permittee shall not be construed to absolve the permittee of any liability
for any violation of this chapter for any damage or injury caused
thereby.
A.
Upon the consideration of any application for a permit
required by the terms of this chapter, the oil and gas inspector shall
recommend approval or disapproval thereof to the mayor and City council,
who shall review the matter at a regularly scheduled meeting and thereupon
uphold or reverse the recommendation, with or without the addition
of any conditions thereto.
B.
Any permittee aggrieved by any order, directive or
ruling issued by the oil and gas inspector or by any ruling by the
City engineer and administrative assistant may appeal the same to
the City council, which shall hear the matter at its next scheduled
meeting. The lodging of such appeal shall not stay the enforcement
of any of the provisions of this chapter. The City council, upon hearing
the matter, may issue whatever ruling or order is appropriate; provided,
that such ruling or order is in keeping with the spirit and purpose
of this chapter.
A.
No permittee shall make any excavations or construct
any lines for the conveyance of fuel, water or minerals on, under
or through the streets and alleys of the City, without first having
obtained a permit therefor upon application to the City engineer.
B.
The City engineer shall prescribe the forms to be
used for such application and the information to accompany it.
C.
Each application for a permit under this section shall
be accompanied by a nonrefundable filing fee in the amount of two
hundred fifty dollars.
D.
The City engineer shall, within twenty days of receipt
of the properly executed application, either grant or deny the request.
E.
The granting of any such permit shall not be construed
to be the granting of a franchise.
This chapter shall apply to any person drilling
an original well, reentering an abandoned well, conducting natural
or artificial production projects or operations or maintaining a disposal
well within the City on May 7, 1981, and every such person shall have
no longer than ninety days to come into compliance with this chapter;
provided, that:
A.
No initial permit fees shall be charged such persons
as would otherwise apply.
B.
No penalties shall be sought against any activity
violative of this chapter, where such activity preexisted the adoption
of this chapter and was otherwise in compliance with the applicable
federal, state or City laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, standards
or directives.
C.
The oil and gas inspector may allow for reasonable
extensions or variations for compliance with this chapter where to
do so would be in the interests of fairness.
In case any oil or gas facility or operation
is or is proposed to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, changed,
maintained or used, or any land is proposed to be used, in violation
of any provisions of this chapter or any amendment thereto, the City
council or any owner of real estate within the City, in addition to
other remedies provided by law, may institute injunction, mandamus
or abatement to enjoin, prevent, abate or remove such unlawful use.
Appeals from the judgments rendered in any action instituted to enforce
this chapter shall be permitted and shall be in accordance with the
general appeal provisions of applicable law.
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any
person to violate or neglect to comply with any provisions of this
chapter, irrespective of whether or not the verbiage of each section
hereof contains the specific language that such violation or neglect
is unlawful and is an offense. Any person who shall violate any of
the provisions of this chapter or any of the provisions of a drilling
and operating permit issued pursuant hereto, or any condition of the
bond filed by the permittee pursuant to this chapter, or who shall
neglect to comply with the terms hereof, shall be deemed guilty of
an offense and shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not
more than seven hundred fifty dollars, and the violation of each separate
provision of this chapter, and of such permit and of such bond, shall
be considered a separate offense, and each day's violation of each
separate provision thereof shall be considered a separate offense.
In addition to the foregoing penalties, it is further provided that
the City council, at any regular or special session or meeting thereof,
may, provided ten days' notice has been given to the permittee that
revocation is to be considered at such meeting, revoke or suspend
any permit issued under this chapter and under which drilling or producing
operations are being conducted in the event the permittee thereof
has violated any provision of such permit, such bond or this chapter.
In the event the permit is revoked, the permittee may make application
to the oil and gas inspector for reissuance of such permit, and the
action of the City thereon shall be final. Any continuing offense
shall be considered a public nuisance, the remedies for which under
law shall be in addition to those hereinbefore enumerated.
