A. If the well operator and the objecting coal owners who are present or represented at a hearing to consider the objections to the proposed drilling unit or location are unable to agree upon a drilling unit or location for a new well within 2,500 linear feet of the location of an existing well or a well for which a permit application is on file, then the permit or drilling unit shall be refused.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1612

  • Drilling unit: means the acreage on which one gas or oil well may be drilled. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
  • Well: means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug into the earth or into underground strata for the extraction, injection, or placement of any gaseous or liquid substance or any shaft or hole sunk or used in conjunction with such extraction, injection, or placement. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600

B. The distance limitation established by this section shall not apply if (i) the proposed well will be drilled through an existing or planned pillar of coal required for protection of a preexisting well drilled to any depth and (ii) the proposed well will neither require enlargement of the pillar nor otherwise have an adverse effect on existing or planned coal mining operations.

1982, c. 347, § 45.1-319; 1990, c. 92, § 45.1-361.12; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 1 Contents