West Virginia
Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program
West Virginia Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program
The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is designed, WVDEP says, to ensure that fluids injected underground will not endanger drinking water sources. It is split among three WVDEP offices by the kind of well.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name state injection well records among its standard record sources. They matter because an injection well puts fluids into the ground at the property itself. Which office to ask depends on the well. WVDEP divides the wells this way:
| Wells | WVDEP office |
|---|---|
| Class 5, non-mining | Division of Water and Waste Management |
| Class II (disposal and enhanced recovery) and Class III (solution mining) | Office of Oil and Gas |
| All mining injection permits | Division of Mining and Reclamation |
Three more details shape the search.
- Class 5 wells are ordinary site features. WVDEP says they include agriculture drainage wells, improved sinkholes, industrial disposal wells, stormwater wells, and septic systems with the capacity to serve 20 or more people. On an industrial or commercial property, ask whether any drain, sump or large septic system discharges to the ground and whether it was permitted.
- A Class 5 permit carries other paper. The Division of Water and Waste Management's forms include separate permit applications for industrial and commercial wells, stormwater wells and sewage wells, a UIC groundwater protection plan, a Class V annual report form, and applications to modify or transfer a permit. WVDEP says permit applications and permit obligations will be submitted and managed in its Permitting, Inspection, and Enforcement (PIE) system.
- Deep wells are handled apart. The same division's permit page gives a separate contact for deep well permits, which it labels Class 1 and Class 6, and posts a Class 6 well application.
The rules WVDEP cites are 47CSR13, Underground Injection Control, with the fee schedules in 47CSR9 and 47CSR55.
Where to look a site up
- For oil and gas injection wells, the Office of Oil and Gas has a UIC Well Search and a UIC Injection Volumes search, which it describes as a search of active Class IID injection volumes. Its database page also links pending UIC permit applications, available for viewing, download and public comment.
- For Class 5 wells, the pages read post no list. WVDEP links PIE for submissions, and the pages read do not say whether the public can search it. WVDEP says permits for the Division of Water and Waste Management are searchable through the e-Permitting Applications Search.
- For mining injection permits, see the Mining permits and mine reclamation page.
Getting the file
The UIC pages name no records route of their own. The main pages of the Division of Water and Waste Management and the Office of Oil and Gas both link the agency's Request Information page for a Freedom of Information Act request, which can also be emailed to depfoia@wv.gov. Say which class of well you are asking about, so the request reaches the right office. See the Application Enhancer page.
Sources
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: