UPSS Groundwater monitoring wells

Sourced from www.epa.nsw.gov.au 14/11/2013

 All new and significantly modified UPSS must have groundwater monitoring wells installed and tested. NSW Office of Water approval for the installation of groundwater wells may be required.

Old UPSS must have groundwater monitoring wells in operation at the site by 1 June 2011.

The UPSS Regulation requires the wells to be:

• located, installed and sampled appropriately
• tested at least every six months for the presence of groundwater contamination from any UPSS on the site
• sampled and analysed in a laboratory for the presence and concentration of specific chemicals within 30 days of;
  • the installation of the wells
  • the discovery that groundwater may be contaminated by petroleum
  • the discovery of a leak through loss monitoring for tanks and piping, inventory control, discrepancy or loss investigation, or some other method.

Only a suitably qualified person experienced in designing and/or installing groundwater monitoring wells, such as an environmental consultant or groundwater well driller, should undertake the following installation tasks:

• positioning of wells onsite
• construction of wells to ensure that groundwater is intercepted
• initial sampling and analysis.

‘Appendix B: Installation and testing of groundwater monitoring wells’ has more detailed guidance on the installation and testing of groundwater monitoring wells and also outlines procedures for record keeping when undertaking groundwater testing, sampling and analysis.

In accordance with clauses 17 and 18 of the UPSS Regulation, the person responsible for a UPSS must ensure a duly qualified and experienced person designs and/or installs a groundwater well and provides them with a written groundwater monitoring well report. This should outline final construction details, the industry standards met in the installation and confirm that the well’s design, location and installation satisfy industry best practice requirements.

The person responsible must retain this documentation for seven years from the date of decommissioning of the UPSS, in accordance with clauses 19(2)(f) and 26 of the UPSS Regulation.

The person responsible must also keep all groundwater monitoring well test results and associated reports for a minimum of seven years from the date they are created.

Where the person responsible changes (such as through sale, transfer of ownership of the site or business or contractual changes), all documents must be transferred to the new person responsible, in accordance with clause 27 of the Regulation.