Groundwater Protection Unit :: Underground Injection Control Program
Purpose
The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program protects groundwater quality by preventing illegal waste disposal and by regulating the construction and operation of wells used for injection, recharge, and other activities.
What Does Injection Mean?
Emplacement or discharge into the subsurface of a solid or fluid substance or material. This definition excludes drilling fluids, grout used in association with well construction or abandonment, and fluids used in connection with well development, rehabilitation or stimulation.
What Is An Injection Well?
Any excavation that is cored, bored, drilled, jetted, dug, or otherwise constructed, whose depth is greater than its largest surface dimension and which is used, or intended to be used, for the injection of fluids or solids into the subsurface or groundwaters.
Legal Injection Wells
In North Carolina, the most common legal types of injection wells include wells used for:
In-Situ Groundwater Remediation
Geothermal Heating and Cooling
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR)
Most of these wells require permits for construction and operation. For more information about these types of injection wells, click on the links above.
Illegal Injection Wells
Waste disposal via any excavation that is deeper than its greatest surface constitutes illegal injection. The only exception to this is wells used for injection of treated groundwater as part of a closed-loop groundwater remediation system. Enforcement against illegal disposal via wells is generally conducted by the Aquifer Protection Section's regional offices as spill or contamination incidents or as well construction violations.
Septic Systems
The US EPA's definition of “injection well” includes septic systems with a capacity to serve more than 20 persons per day and septic systems used for disposal of industrial process wastewater. In North Carolina, septic systems are regulated by the Onsite Wastewater Section of the Division of Environmental Health and the county health departments. The UIC Program of the Division of Water Quality does not regulate these septic systems but is compiling a statewide inventory of their locations.
Applicable Regulations
- General Statutes
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G.S. 87-88(j) Requires permission from the Environmental Management Commission prior to using a well for recharge or injection.
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G.S. 143-214.2(b) Prohibits disposal of wastes via wells, with the exception of closed-loop groundwater remediation systems.
- Administrative Code
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15A NCAC 2C .0200 Contains injection well construction standards and rules for permitting injection wells.
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