Produced Wastewater Report Appendix

The following table contains detailed information about oil and gas extraction NPDES permits to discharge wastewater to waters of the U.S. for states in the U.S. where permits were found during a systematic search. It includes general (G) and individual (I) permits.

Note: 

When searching for general permits, it was not clear which permits were specific to oil and gas extraction operations; therefore, the numbers available in the table are not conclusive. 

For individual permits, an asterisk * was added to states where permits were not found due to procedural deficiencies or lack of transparency, thus it is possible that additional permits exist that were not found during this exploratory search. Finally, some permits found for coastal and offshore discharges were kept in the appendix even though the focus of the search was onshore discharges.

Alabama

Permiting agency

Permits

General permits

Individual permits can be found by name of facility.

Number of permits found

  • G 2 offshore
  • I 0*

 

Alaska

Permiting agency

EPA issues NPDES permits for:

  • Federally-owned facilities located in Denali National Park
  • Facilities operating outside state waters (three miles offshore)
  • Facilities that have been issued Clean Water Act Section 301(h) waivers
  • All permits on tribal lands
  • More information here

Remaining permits are issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water 

Permits

General permits 

Information on EPA issued can be found here

Information on State issued can be found here

  • AKG315100 - Mobile Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities in State Waters in Cook Inlet GP
  • AKG315200 - Cook Inlet Exploration, Production, and Development Facilities GP (Under Development - 09/06/2018)
  • AKG2831000-Geotechnical Surveys in State Waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas GP

Individual permits 

Search function allows searching by several fields. Two individual permits were found searching with the word “oil” but there may be more. Unable to filter by SIC code. 

  • AK0053690-Sabre Oil and Gas Exploration Project
  • AK0053309-OSPREY PLATFORM - Cook Inlet Energy

Number of permits found

  • G 3
  • I 2*

 

California

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits can be found here.

General permits 

  • CAG280000
  • No permits found for tribal lands. 
State issued permits. 
  • General permits can be found here.
  • No general permits found 
Individual permits can be obtained by searching the Regulated Facility Report here

Employing the following filters: 

  • Region: All (left blank)
  • Program: NPDES
  • Related permit status: Active
  • Facility type: Oil and gas extraction
  • Waste type: drilling brine waters

2 offshore facilities were found 

  • CA0105996
  • CA0106828

Number of permits found

  • G - 0

    I- 0

    Offshore - 2

Colorado

Permiting agency


 

Permits

EPA issued permits can be found here.

  • Not organized by industry. No oil and gas permits found.

State issued permits 

Individual permits 

An excel with a full list of NPDES permits can be found here. The excel can be filtered by SIC code and then by type of permit, eliminating stormwater and treatment permits. Once permit numbers are obtained, they need to be searched one by one here with the quick search box on the left hand corner. 

  • CO0047767-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC 
  • CO0047776-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC 
  • CO0048003-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC 
  • CO0048054-Timber Creek Operating LLC
  • CO0048062-Timber Creek Operating LLC
  • COG900006-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC

Number of permits found

  • G - 1
  • I - 6

 

Florida

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits 

General Permits 

State issued permits 

Individual permits 
  • A search tool is available here but an option for NPDES- wastewater is not available.

Number of permits found

  • G - 1 offshore
  • I - 0*

 

Indiana

Permiting agency

Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Permits

General permits are listed here.No oil and gas general permits were found

Individual permits 

There is an excel file with a list of all NPDES permits and it is organized by SIC codes here. 

  • IN0062758-JERICHO LLC - SULLIVAN COUNTY CBM FIELD

There is also a search site here. Look for Program: OWQ Wastewater, Document type: Permit, Alternate field: NPDES, ID # permit number.

Number of permits found

  • G - 0
  • I - 1

 

Lousiana

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits

State issued permits 

General permits can be found here for offshore category. 

  • LAG260000-Discharges from oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities located within territorial seas of Louisiana.
  • LAG330000-Discharges from oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities located within coastal waters.

Individual permits. This website lists all LPDES permits issued by quarter in a PDF document. It is not possible to sort by industry type or SIC code. A document  finder here appears to contain permits but cannot filter by wastewater or industry. A state employee stated that in order to obtain individual permits a public record request form needs to be submitted here. 

Number of permits found

  • G - 3 Offshore/coastal
  • I - 0*

 

Montana

Permiting agency

Permits

No oil and gas wastewater permits found.

State issued permits

General permits are listed here.

Individual permits are listed here but cannot be filtered by industry.  Email and call requests were not answered.

Number of permits found

  • G -1
  • I - 0*

 

New York

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits: No oil and gas permits are listed. 

State issued permits: 

The state is in the process of developing an electronic system to access permits. At the moment, permits are made available via dropbox and organized according to region, county, municipality and facility name. A state representative returned an excel with all permits corresponding to oil and gas extraction SIC codes through an internal search. 

  • NY0102067-PLANTS AND GOODWIN INC 
  • NY0102091-PLANTS AND GOODWIN INC
  • NY0105945-THE RICHARDSON PETROLEUM CORPORATION 
  • NY0107310- CARL A MCCRACKEN, III
  • NY0107352-ROGER   KLEIN, JR 
  • NY0242845- CASE BROTHERS INC
  • NY0243531-CASE BROTHERS INC
  • NY0243566- SIMON OF BOLIVAR ENTERPRISES INC 
  • NY0269379-DAVID J ROOT
  • NY0275336-NATHAN PETROLEUM CORP

Number of permits found

  • G - 0
  • I - 10

 

Utah

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits in Navajo Nation: 

State issued permits: 

  • General permits are listed here. No general permits found. 

Individual permits are listed here but cannot be sorted by industry or SIC code. Request by call was not returned.

Number of permits found

  • G 1
  • I 0*

 

Wyoming

Permiting agency

Permits

EPA issued permits are listed here.

Some permits found are: 

  • WY-0000779-Marathon Oil Company – Maverick Springs
  • WY0000469-Wesco Operating, Inc. – Maverick Springs
  • WY0020338- Eagle Oil and Gas Company – Sheldon Dome Field-
  • WY-0024945 Phoenix Production Company – Rolf Lake Unit

State issued permits 

General permits are found here.  No oil and gas general permits found.  

Individual permits are listed here but cannot be sorted by SIC or industry. 

  • Per state agent a request needs to be placed here. 
  • Request was placed requesting current, in effect NPDES permits for oil and gas extraction facilities to discharge produced water to surface water for SIC codes 1311, 1321, 1381, 1382, 1309. Request returned an excel file with 645 permits in effect available on the request website. 149 of these permits are classified as Coal Bed Methane.

Some permits found are: 

  • WY0025011-Beartooth Oil & Gas Company
  • WY0000299- Ranch Oil Company
  • WY0095915-Bataa Oil, Inc.
  • WY0025721 -Black Bear Oil Corporation
  • WY0096296-BTA Oil Producers, LLC
  • WY0036196-Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company, Inc.

Number of permits found

  • G - 0
  • I - 649
Posted on January 22, 2020
States/Regions
Related Priorities
Related Campaigns
Protect Water and Communities from Oil and Gas
Strengthening Clean Water Protections

Related Publications

Putting Drinking Water First to Address Nutrient Pollution

Nutrient pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus runoff is one of the most pervasive water quality problems in the U.S. and there is increasing concern about their impact on drinking water.

Carbon Capture and Release

Injecting captured carbon underground to produce more oil is promoted as a climate mitigation policy. This 2018 report exposes these oversight failures and challenges the assertion that federal subsidies for carbon used in enhanced oil recovery could ever be considered an effective climate mitigation policy.

Factsheet | Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR)

As a known threat to drinking water sources, enhanced oil recovery is regulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control program. Our research has found this program to be inadequate in protecting groundwater, relying on outdated rules, and insufficient data collection and staffing levels to ensure safety.
Search Clean Water