The process of underground injection of fluids by means of injection wells is used extensively in many of today's industries. These establishments include petroleum, chemical, food and product manufacturing, geothermal energy development, and many small specialty plants and retail businesses.

Within the past few decades, the realization that subsurface injection could contaminate ground water has prompted several states to develop programs and methods to protect underground sources of usable water. A Federal Underground Injection Control (UIC) program has been established under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (SDWA) to protect groundwater. This federal program establishes minimum requirements for effective state UIC programs. Since groundwater is a major source of drinking water in the United States, the UIC program requirements were designed to prevent contamination of an underground source of drinking water resulting from the operation of injection wells.

Since the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, state and federal regulatory agencies have modified existing programs or developed new strategies to protect groundwater by establishing even more effective regulations to control the permitting, construction, operation, monitoring, and closure of injection wells.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has delegated primacy regulatory authority to some states for individual classes of injection wells.

Return to Main Menu

© Copyright