Section 380. Incidents, spills and unpermitted discharges

A. Incidents. A permittee shall, by the quickest available means, notify the division in the event of any unplanned off-site disturbance, fire, blowout, pit failure, hydrogen sulfide release, unanticipated loss of drilling fluids, or other incident resulting in serious personal injury or an actual or potential imminent danger to a worker, the environment, or public safety. The permittee shall take immediate action to abate the actual or potential danger. The permittee shall submit a written or electronic report within seven days of the incident containing:

1. A description of the incident and its cause;

2. The date, time and duration of the incident;

3. A description of the steps that have been taken to date;

4. A description of the steps planned to be taken to prevent a recurrence of the incident; and

5. Other agencies notified.

B. On-site spills.

1. A permittee shall take all reasonable steps to prevent, minimize, or correct any spill or discharge of fluids on a permitted site which has a reasonable likelihood of adversely affecting human health or the environment. All actions shall be consistent with the requirements of an abatement plan, if any has been set, in a notice of violation or closure, emergency or other order issued by the director.

2. A permittee shall orally report on-site spills or unpermitted discharges of fluids which are not required to be reported in subsection A of this section to the division within 24 hours. The oral report shall provide all available details of the incident, including any adverse effects on any person or the environment. A written report shall be submitted within seven days of the spill or unpermitted discharge. The written report shall contain:

a. A description of the incident and its cause;

b. The period of release, including exact dates and times;

c. A description of the steps to date; and

d. A description of the steps to be taken to prevent a recurrence of the release.

C. Off-site spills. Permittees shall submit a written report of any spill or unpermitted discharge of fluids that originates off of a permitted site with the monthly report under 4VAC25-150-210. The written report shall contain:

1. A listing of all agencies contacted about the spill or unpermitted discharge; and

2. All actions taken to contain, clean up or mitigate the spill or unpermitted discharge.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR480-05-22.1 § 1.38, eff. September 25, 1991; amended, Volume 15, Issue 02, eff. November 11, 1998; Volume 29, Issue 03, eff. November 8, 2012; Volume 30, Issue 01, eff. October 10, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§§ 45.1-161.3 and 45.1-361.27 of the Code of Virginia.