Underground Injection Control (UIC) Permits
For the injection well classes listed below and regulated by DEQ, you may contact Hillary Young, Engineering Manager (405) 702-5100. For the injection wells regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), please contact the OCC Oil and Gas Division at (405) 521-2302 or on the web.
To increase ground water protection, a federal UIC program was established under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Since then, state and federal regulatory agencies have modified existing programs or developed new strategies to protect ground water by establishing even more effective regulations to control permitting, construction, operation, monitoring and closure of injection wells.
The UIC Program in the Land Protection Division writes permits for, and performs inspections of, injection wells used for the disposal of liquids in underground geologic formations, except for those wells that, by state statute, are regulated by the OCC. Permits issued by LPD are for a 10-year period. If a facility submits a renewal application before the permit expiration date, the injection well may continue operations under the terms of the expired permit until the new permit is issued. Delegation of the federal program to the State of Oklahoma can be found in 40 CFR 147, Subpart LL. Federal regulations for the UIC program can be found in 40 CFR 144-148. DEQ’s UIC rules can be found in Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 252:652.
The UIC program divides injection wells into five classifications. The classifications, and the agency with jurisdiction over them, are as follows:
CLASS I wells are used for injection of liquid hazardous and non-hazardous wastes beneath the lowermost underground sources of drinking water. DEQ has jurisdiction over these wells. Oklahoma currently has five Class I non-hazardous injection wells and no Class I hazardous waste injection wells.
CLASS II wells are used for injection of fluids associated with the production of oil and natural gas. The three types of Class II wells are enhanced recovery wells, disposal wells and hydrocarbon storage wells. OCC has jurisdiction over all Class II wells.
CLASS III wells inject fluids to dissolve and extract minerals such as uranium, salt, copper, and sulfur. Currently, there are no Class III injection wells in Oklahoma.
CLASS IV wells were used for injection of hazardous or radioactive wastes into or above an underground source of drinking water. In 1984, EPA banned the use of Class IV injection wells for disposal of hazardous or radioactive waste. Now, these wells may only be operated as a part of an EPA or state authorized clean-up action.
CLASS V wells are those not included in classes I – IV and are generally used for injection of non-hazardous fluids into or above an underground source of drinking water. DEQ has jurisdiction over the majority of these wells; however, OCC has jurisdiction over Class V wells used in the remediation of groundwater associated with underground or above ground storage tanks regulated by OCC.
Each UIC well with a permit issued by the Land Protection Division is identified below. Click the link for the facility of interest to view or download the permit. The permits displayed by these links are to ensure the public has greater access to the activities of the UIC Program but do not constitute official agency records. If you wish to review the official agency records, please contact DEQ’s Central Records office at (405) 702-1188 or email . While every effort has been made to ensure these web pages are up-to-date, if there is a discrepancy between the records presented on these pages and those in DEQ’s Central Records, the records from DEQ’s Central Records office will prevail.
Midway Environmental Services Inc.