Regulatory Decision 043: Storing contaminated waste waters from gas pipelines
This Regulatory Decision (RD) is valid until 31 July 2026 by which time it will be reviewed. You should check back at that time to ensure the RD is still valid.
NRW can withdraw or amend this RD before the review date if we consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RD relates to has not changed.
Regulatory Decision
This RD does not change your legal requirement to obtain an environmental permit for a waste operation when you store more than 1,000 litres of contaminated waste waters removed from gas pipelines.
This RD applies where water has got into a gas pipeline and needs to be removed. The water may be classed as hazardous waste (code 16 10 01* aqueous liquid wastes containing dangerous substances). You can remove the contaminated waste water into a tanker.
This RD applies when you need to store more contaminated waste water from gas pipelines than the 1,000 litres of liquid waste allowed by Non Waste Framework Directive exemption 3 (NWFD 3).
Conditions you must comply with
You must:
- only store contaminated waste water at a place controlled by the gas grid operator or their authorised contractor
- store contaminated waste water in a secure place – you must take reasonable precautions to make sure that the waste cannot escape and it cannot be accessed by members of the public
- store contaminated waste water in a place with secondary containment – this means using a bund or other system to prevent any waste that leaks from a primary container escaping from the place where it is stored · comply with hazardous waste requirements, including registering as a hazardous waste producer where necessary and disposing of hazardous waste properly
- keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RD and make these records available to the NRW on request
If you use a bund as secondary containment it must have:
- an impermeable lining
- a capacity of 110% or more of the original container’s storage capacity
If there is more than one container within the containment system, the bund’s capacity must be the larger of either:
- 110% or more of the largest container’s storage capacity
- 25% of their aggregated storage capacity
You must take reasonable measures to maintain these capacities at all times.
You must not:
- store more than 17,000 litres of contaminated waste water at any one time
- store contaminated waste water for more than 3 months
Enforcement
This RD does not change your legal requirement to have an environmental permit for a waste operation when you are storing contaminated waste waters from gas pipelines.
However, NRW will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with the need for an environmental permit if you meet the requirements in this RD.
In addition your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and must not:
- cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
- cause a nuisance through noise or odours
- adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest