Section 18 AAC 60.432 - Drilling waste landfill(a) The owner or operator of a drilling waste landfill shall meet the operating requirements of this section. The owner or operator shall(1) accept only drilling waste that meets the exclusion criteria of 40 C.F.R. 261.4(b)(5), revised as of July 1, 1998 and adopted by reference, or other materials as authorized by the department;(2) keep to a minimum the introduction of extraneous liquids;(3) operate in accordance with a department-approved fluid management plan; and(4) operate with a minimum of two feet of freeboard.(b) The owner of operator shall ensure that the drilling waste landfill is designed to (1) contain the total volume necessary for drilling waste disposal and emergency relief volume;(2) prevent overflow from, or damage to, containment structures or other waste management areas, from operations, annual average precipitation, wind action, or wave action;(3) ensure that drilling waste, leachate, or eroded soil from the drilling waste landfill does not impact groundwater or surface water quality and establish a monitoring program in compliance with 18 AAC 60.810 - 18 AAC 60.860;(4) ensure that each containment structure will support and maintain the integrity of the liner throughout the life of the facility, including post-closure; and(5) ensure that any liner used (A) is designed and installed to remain in place during the active life of the drilling waste landfill and any post-closure care period;(B) will prevent drilling waste or leachate from escaping from the containment structure or other waste management area; and(C) is constructed of materials that are chemically, physically, and biologically compatible with the disposed drilling waste and its leachate.(c) The plans for the proposed design and construction of the drilling waste landfill and the fluid management plan must be signed and sealed by a registered engineer and approved by the department under 18 AAC 60.203 before construction.(d) The containment system for a new or lateral expansion of a drilling waste landfill, constructed after {effective date of regulations}, must(1) include a double liner consisting of two distinct geomembrane liners, each capable of independently containing waste, and that are each at least (A) 30 mils in thickness; or(B) 60 mils in thickness, if each liner consists of high density polyethylene (HDPE); and(2) be selected, constructed, installed, and maintained in accordance with industry standards, (e) The owner or operator shall install a system designed to detect fluids between the two layers of liner to detect any leakage of the primary liner.(f) In addition to meeting the requirements of (d) and (e) of this section, the owner or operator of a drilling waste landfill or facility sited in a permafrost region shall(1) ensure that it is designed such that the underlying permafrost will not thaw;(2) ensure that the liner is compatible with the range of temperatures present in the permafrost zone; and(3) install and monitor a subsurface thermal monitoring system designed to detect thawing of die permafrost.(g) The owner or operator of a drilling waste landfill shall(1) conduct visual monitoring as described in 18 AAC 60.800(a); and(2) sample and analyze groundwater or surface water as required under 18 AAC 60.810 - 18 AAC 60.860.(h) At the closure of a drilling waste landfill, except for an inactive reserve pit subject to 18 AAC 60.440, the owner or operator shall (1) remove all pumpable fluids, resulting in a waste mat is in a non-liquid condition;(2) take appropriate measures to ensure that the contents of a containment structure are of sufficient compressive strength to support a cap while maintaining the proposed design contour;(3) in accordance with a department-approved closure plan, construct a cap that is designed to (A) have a hydraulic conductivity less than or equal to the hydraulic conductivity of the containment liner;(B) withstand erosion, cracking, adverse effects of freeze-thaw cycles, frost heaves, and other events that might cause degradation or damage to the cap's barrier layer; and(C) include a geomembrane liner that is at least(i) 30 mils in thickness or(ii) 60 mils in thickness if the cap is constructed of high density polyethylene (HDPE); and(4) ensure that the cap is revegetated or otherwise treated in a manner appropriate to the long-term use of the facility.(i) After closure of the drilling waste landfill, the owner or operator shall (1) meet the closure demonstration and post-closure care requirements of 18 AAC 60.490;(2) prepare logs and submit written reports of inspections, with photographs of the disposal site;(3) maintain the integrity of the final cover, slopes, drainage structures, liners, caps, groundwater monitoring devices, and thermal monitoring devices;(4) if a containment structure or other waste management area is located in permafrost, ensure that the drilling wastes do not cause thawing of the permafrost; and(5) establish permanent markers or survey monuments, if there are no readily observable existing monuments or markers, from which the exact location of a facility and each closed waste management area in the facility can be determined.(j) After completion of the post-closure care period for a drilling waste landfill, the owner or operator shall certify to the department that post-closure care has been completed in accordance with the department-approved post-closure plan. The certification must be signed and sealed by a registered engineer and must be approved by the department.Eff. 10/27/2017, Register 224, January 2018; am 2/25/2022, Register 241, April 2022 Authority:AS 44.46.020
AS 46.03.010
AS 46.03.020
AS 46.03.100
AS 46.03.110
AS 46.03.800
AS 46.03.810
AS 46.06.080