Texas Molecular Deepwell Technology
Safe, Low Risk, and Effective Management of Hazardous Wastewaters
General Information
The use of deepwells has been documented as far back as 300 A.D. when the Chinese used the technology to extract salt. Deepwells for industrial disposal in the United States dates back to the 1930’s with the treatment of oilfield brine. Injection of industrial waste began to grow in the 1960’s and 70’s.
Regulation of deepwell injection started with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974. The SDWA was enacted to ensure the quality of drinking water and drinking water sources and establish requirements for drinking water quality. As part of the effort to protect groundwater, the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program was established in the 1980s. See the EPA Poster which celebrated the 30 year anniversary of their successful UIC program.
Today, Class I Hazardous Injection wells are among the most highly regulated disposal methods in the waste industry. Class I underground injection wells can only be sited in areas with stable geology and impermeable geologic formations above and below the injection zone. The injection zone must also be able to confine the waters being injected according to a strict federal definition. Class I Hazardous wells, such as those at TMDP, must also meet the rigorous requirements of an EPA “10,000 - Year No Migration Petition” which exempts deepwell wastes from Federal land ban prohibition. Hazardous deepwells are well regulated and very safe. There are no discharges to surface waters. As a matter of fact, the EPA has said in the past that “Class I underground injection wells are safer than virtually all other waste disposal practices” EPA Report 570/9-91-031.
Class I wells currently inject about nine billion gallons annually from over 160 locations. An overwhelming majority of these wells are operated by large industrial companies with the need for safe, low risk, compliant, and effective disposal of hazardous wastewaters. In the past 30 years over four trillion gallons have been safely managed by this technology. This is equivalent to 17 days flow of the Mississippi River.
Texas Molecular Deer Park Class I Hazardous Deepwell Information:
Texas Molecular has been under our current ownership for eight years and our Class I Hazardous Deepwells have operated for over 25 years. Our permitted injection zone extends to a depth of over 7300 feet and is a dense unconsolidated sand formation. The geology has an impermeable shale layer above and below the injection zone. The wells have multiple layers of concrete and steel down to the packer and are completed in Hastelloy.
TM Deer Park typically injects over 60,000,000 gallons per year. We are permitted to inject over 230,000,000 gallons annually and approved for a large list of Hazardous Waste codes. Our EPA “10,000 -Year No Migration Petition” allows us to inject wastes subject to Federal EPA land ban prohibition. Permits allow us to inject wastes and waters with pH 0 to 14 without neutralization.
We are regulated by The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for our surface facility permits and our underground injection permits. Class I Hazardous Deepwell regulations and permits require Mechanical Integrity Testing (MIT) annually. These series of tests are conducted with TCEQ personnel on site so they can independently verify the testing procedures and results. The MIT is in place to ensure the integrity of the long string casing and injection tubing. In addition to the annual MIT, we continually monitor injection and surface facility parameters including: injection pressure, tank volumes, annulus pressure, injection temperature, and flow rates.
Our facility has a large surface capacity for waste segregation, storage, filtration, and processing wastes prior to injection. We stabilize or solidify our own filter media on-site. Texas Molecular provides generators with safe, low risk, compliant, and effective disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste waters.
Value of Texas Molecular Waste and Wastewater Solutions
We provide generators of hazardous wastes and wastewaters with environmentally sound, low risk, and cost effective solutions.
Environmentally Sound - There are no discharges to surface water, as wastes are removed from the biosphere. Our technology has very low air emissions, and a very low Carbon (CO2) footprint compared to other technologies such as wastewater treatment and incineration.
Cost Effective - Texas Molecular solutions are cost effective when compared to many other off-site and on-site treatment technologies. We provide cost, risk, and capital expense reductions versus on-site management and on-site treatment systems.
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