Railroad Commission geologists and engineers will work with environmental experts from other states to analyze an important agency program that protects underground sources of drinking water, a Thursday news release said.
The RRC has requested the Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC), a respected organization of national groundwater experts, conduct an independent peer review of its Class II Underground Injection Control (UIC) program.
Class II injection wells are used for oil and gas operations such as enhanced oil recovery, disposal of produced water (produced water is water that comes out of a well during oil and gas production), and underground hydrocarbon storage.
The GWPC is comprised of more than 30 ground water and environmental regulatory agencies in states spanning coast to coast. The GWPC conducts peer reviews of a state’s program at the request of that state; UIC programs in California, Kansas and New Mexico have been recently reviewed. The RRC has been a member of the GWPC since its inception in 1983.
The GWPC’s peer reviews include, but are not limited to, an evaluation of the state’s rules, permit application workflows, permit review criteria, protection of underground drinking water, well inspection practices, program funding, and data management.
The RRC’s UIC program has been commended by federal regulators in recent years. The Environmental Protection Agency’s annual evaluations have highlighted RRC’s strong oversight of injection wells in protecting underground sources of drinking water and our continuing efforts to mitigate seismicity in Texas
“The RRC has had success stories with our UIC program which began in 1982,” Paul Dubois, RRC Assistant Director of the Oil and Gas Division, said in the release. “One example is the significant steps we took to help mitigate earthquakes in West Texas by setting injection limits for produced water disposal. We even leveraged artificial intelligence for that work. It’s always good to have a new set of eyes on our mission, and having other states’ experts review our program will help further strengthen our important work.”
GWPC peer reviews are in-depth, and the Texas UIC peer review could take between six months to a year to complete.
