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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