1. (a) It is the responsibility of the owner and/or operator to plug or have plugged, under standards set forth in this section, a Class V well which is to be permanently discontinued or abandoned.
2. (b) Closure shall be accomplished by removing all of the removable casing and the entire well shall be pressure filled via a tremie pipe with cement from bottom to the land surface.
3. (c) As an alternative to the procedure in subsection (b) of this section, if a Class V well is not completed through zones containing undesirable groundwater, water that is injurious to human health and the environment or water that can cause pollution to land or other waters, the well may be filled with fine sand, clay, or heavy mud followed by a cement plug extending from land surface to a depth of not less than ten feet below the land surface.
4. (d) As an alternative to the procedure in subsection (b) of this section, if a Class V well is completed through zones containing undesirable groundwater, water that is injurious to human health and the environment or water that can cause pollution to land or other waters, either the zone(s) containing undesirable groundwater or the fresh groundwater zone(s) shall be isolated with cement plugs and the remainder of the wellbore filled with bentonite grout (9.1 pounds per gallon mud or more) followed by a cement plug extending from land surface to a depth of not less than ten feet below the land surface.

Source Note:The provisions of this §331.133 adopted to be effective May 13, 1986, 11 TexReg 1988; amended to be effective June 25, 2000, 25 TexReg 5908.