United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
THE UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM
30 Years Protecting Ground Water Through the Safe Drinking Water Act
District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico,
U S Virgin Islands
The Underground Injection
Control (UIC) Program
On December 16, 1974, President Ford signed
the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) into law.
An original provision of the SDWA established
the UIC Program to protect underground
sources of drinking water from unsafe injection
practices. This regulatory program ensures
that injection activities: are performed safely;
protect current underground sources of
I water that supply 90% of all public
water systems; and preserve future
underground water resources. Today, the UIC
Program regulates more than 800,000
injection wells.
ell classes
that are in operation.
These five classes of
injection wells protect source waters by:
Class I
Class II
Isolating hazardous,
industrial and municipal
waste through deep injection.
US facilities produce billions of
galions of hazardous, industrial
and municipal waste every year
Some of this waste is injected
deep below any drinking water
source, protecting the public.
In the 30 years of the SDWA,
Class I wells have isolated more
than 4 trillion gallons of waste
fluid- the amount of water that
flows down the Mississippi River
into the Gulf of Mexico every 17
days.
United Stales
Envifortmental
Protection Agency
Preserving drinking water
resources by injecting oil and
gas production waste.
Each gallon of oil produced in the US
results in an average of ten gallons of
wastewater (bnne). Most brine, about
1 trillion gallons a year, is injected back
into oil-bearing formations, preserving
streams and rivers, and shallow
drinking water resources.
In the 30 years of the SDWA, Class II
[_, Mr wells have injected 30 trillion gallons
of brine, which would fill enough 55
gallon oil drums to stretch from Earth
to Mars 10 times.
Class
Class IV
Minimizing environmental
impacts from solution
mining operations.
Solution mining operations
produce 50% of the salt used in
the US as well as uranium,
copper and sulfur. These
injection wells provide needed
minerals while limiting the impact
to the environment.
In the 30 years of the SDWA,
Class III wells have safely mined
330 million tons of salt, or
enough salt to fill a salt shaker
7 times higher than the Statue
of Liberty.
Class V
Preventing ground
water contamination
by prohibiting the
shallow injection of
hazardous waste
(except as part of an
authorized cleanup).
Shallow injection wells used by large and small
businesses to dispose of hazardous and
radioactive waste threaten drinking water
resources. About 50% of Americans rely on
ground water for drinking water, and the need for
safe, reliable sources in the future is increasing.
Therefore, Class IV injection is prohibited
outside approved remediation programs
For more information contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline
at 1-800-426-4791 or visit www.epa.gov/safewater/uic
Managing the
injection of all
other fluids to
prevent
contamination of
drinking water
resources.
I More than 600,000 shallow injection wells are
used for disposal, ground water storage and
prevention of salt water intrusion. When properly
I managed, these wells offer communities an
option for wastewater disposal.
In the 30 years of the SDWA, the Class V
Program has identified and managed more
than 300,000 injection wells. The challenge for
the future is to identify the remaining wells and
I work with their owners to keep injection safe.
Office of Water
EPA BT6-H-05-C
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