Section 16. Requirements for Destroying Cathodic Protection Wells.

General requirements for well destruction are contained in Section 23 of the Water Well Standards. Special considerations for cathodic protection wells are as follows:

1. Preliminary Work. A cathodic protection well shall be investigated before it is destroyed to determine its condition, details of its construction and whether conditions exist that will interfere with filling and sealing.

   The well shall be sounded immediately before it is destroyed to make sure that no obstructions exist that will interfere with filling and sealing. The well shall be cleaned before destruction, as needed, to ensure that all undesirable materials, including obstructions to filling and sealing, debris, and pollutants and contaminants that could interfere with well destruction are removed for disposal. The enforcing agency shall be notified as soon as possible if pollutants and contaminants are known or suspected to be in a well to be destroyed. Well destruction operations may then proceed only at the approval of the enforcing agency. The enforcing agency should be contacted to determine requirements for proper disposal of materials removed from a well to be destroyed.

2. Filling and Sealing Conditions. The following minimum requirements shall be followed when various conditions are encountered.
   
   
   1. Wells that only penetrate unconsolidated material and a single "zone" of groundwater. At a minimum, the upper 20 feet of the well casing and the annulus between the well casing and borehole wall (if not already sealed) shall be completely sealed with suitable material. Sealing material shall extend to a minimum depth of 50 feet below land surface if the well to be destroyed is located in an urban area, or is within 100 feet of any potential source of pollution or contamination. Additional sealing material may be needed if adverse conditions exist. The remainder of the well below the minimum surface seal shall be filled with suitable granular fill material, such as clean sand or pea gravel, or with sealing material.
   
   
   
   2. Wells that penetrate several water-bearing strata. The upper portion of the well casing and annular space shall be filled with sealing material as described in Item 1, above. Strata encountered below the surface seal that contain poor-quality water, pollutants, or contaminants that could mix with and degrade water in other strata penetrated by the well, shall be effectively isolated by sealing the well bore and annulus within intervals specified in Section 10, above. The remainder of the well shall be filled with suitable granular fill or sealing material.
   
   
   
   3. Wells penetrating fractured rock. Sealing material shall be installed as outlined in Items 1 and 2, above. Cement-based sealing material shall be used opposite fractured rock. The remainder of the well shall be filled with fill or sealing material, as appropriate.
   
   
   
   4. Wells in nonfractured consolidated strata. Sealing material shall be installed as outlined in Items 1 and 2, above. The remainder of the well shall be filled with fill or sealing material, as appropriate.
   
   
   
   5. Wells penetrating water-bearing zones or aquifers of special significance. The enforcing agency may require that specific water-bearing zones be sealed off for well destruction.


3. Placement of Material. The placement of sealing materials for cathodic protection well destruction is generally described in Section 23 of the Water Well Standards and Appendix B (Bulletin 74-81). The following additional requirements shall be observed in destroying cathodic protection wells.

   Casing, cables, anodes, granular backfill, conductive backfill, and sealing material shall be removed as needed, by redrilling, if necessary, to the point needed to allow proper placement of sealing materials within required sealing intervals. Removal of some or all well materials will likely be required for cathodic protection wells that were not constructed in accordance with these standards, or standards adopted by the Southern California Cathodic Protection Committee in December 1969.

   Casing that cannot be removed shall be adequately perforated or punctured at specific intervals to allow pressure injection of sealing materials into granular backfill and all other voids that require sealing.

   The following requirements shall be observed in placing fill and sealing material in cathodic protection wells to be destroyed.

   1. Placement Method. The well shall be filled and sealed with appropriate material upward from the bottom of the well using a tremie pipe or equivalent.

      Sealing material shall be placed by methods (such as by the use of a tremie pipe or equivalent) that prevent freefall, bridging, or dilution of the sealing materials, or separation of aggregates from sealants. Sealing materials shall not be installed by freefall unless the interval to be sealed is dry and no deeper than 30 feet below ground surface.

   2. Timing of Placement. Sealing material shall be placed in one continuous operation (or "pour") from the bottom to the top of the well unless conditions in the well dictate that sealing operations be conducted in a staged manner and prior approval is obtained from the enforcing agency.
   
   
   
   3. Groundwater Flow. Special care shall be used to restrict the flow of groundwater into a well while fill and sealing material is being placed, if subsurface pressure causing the flow of water is significant.
   
   
   
   4. Sealing Pressure. Pressure required for placement of cement-based sealing material shall be maintained long enough for the cement-based sealing material to set.
   
   
   
   5. Verification. Verification shall be made that the volume of sealing and fill material placed in a well during destruction operations equals or exceeds the volume to be filled and sealed. This is to help determine that the well has been properly destroyed and that no jamming or bridging of the fill or sealing material has occurred.


4. Sealing Material. Materials used for sealing cathodic protection wells for destruction shall have low permeabilities so that the volume of water and possible pollutants and contaminants passing through them will be of minimal consequence. Sealing material shall be compatible with the chemical environment into which it is placed and shall have mechanical properties compatible with present and future site uses.

   Suitable sealing materials include neat cement, sand-cement, concrete, and bentonite, as described in Section 9 of the Water Well Standards. Sealing materials used for isolating zones of fractured rock shall be cement-based, as described in Subsection B, above. Drilling mud or drill cuttings shall not be used as any part of a sealing material for well destruction. Concrete may be used as a sealing material at the approval of the enforcing agency.

5. Fill Material. Many fill materials are suitable for destruction of cathodic protection wells. These include clean, washed sand or gravel or sealing material. Fill material shall be free of pollutants and contaminants and shall not be subject to decomposition or consolidation after placement. Fill material shall not contain drilling mud or cuttings.



6. Additional Requirements for Destruction of Cathodic Protection Wells in Urban Areas. The following additional requirements shall be met at each well site in urban areas, unless otherwise approved by the enforcing agency:

   (1) The upper surface of the sealing material shall end at a depth of 5 feet below ground surface, and,

   (2) If the casing was not extracted during destruction and sealing operations, a hole shall be excavated around the well casing to a depth of 5 feet below ground surface after sealing operations have been completed and sealing materials have adequately set and cured. The exposed well casing shall then be removed by cutting the casing at the bottom of the excavation. The excavation shall then be backfilled with clean, native soil or other suitable material.

7. Temporary Cover. The well borehole and any associated excavations shall be covered at the surface to prevent the entry of foreign material, water, pollutants, and contaminants and to ensure public safety whenever work on the well is interrupted by such events as overnight shutdown, poor weather, and required waiting periods to allow setting of sealing materials and performance of tests. The cover shall be held in place or weighted down in such a manner that it cannot be removed except by equipment or tools.

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Last modified: June 19, 2002
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