botminds.aiRequest a demo
WorkflowEnvironment, Emissions & Regulatory

Spill Reporting

Spill reporting that turns a field operator's first message into each report owed, with the rule cited and the clock started when the release was found.

See the demoBook a demo
Follow one release from 06:52 to 08:12 ↓
The problem

The spill reporting clock starts when the operator finds the leak

The operator on the pad finds the leak, stops the pump and calls it in. From that minute one clock is running, perhaps several, and which ones depends on facts nobody has yet: how much came out, whether it left the pad, whether it reached a ditch carrying water, whether there is a sheen.

The coordinator pieces those facts together by phone and text, then opens the binder for that site type and each agency's thresholds. At night the person on call is rarely the one who wrote the rules, and a single photo can turn one report into three, one of them due now.

Deciding that nothing is owed is the riskiest call in the process, and it is usually made alone, with no record of the facts behind it. A year later, audit tries to rebuild the timeline from texts and emails.

Built forEnvironmental coordinatorsHSE managersField operatorsRemediation leadsInternal auditors

The Problem Today

A few facts decide which agencies are owed a report and by when, and they arrive in pieces from the field.

2–16%
of hydraulically fractured wells reported a spill each year published
Any
amount of oil showing on water can owe a report published

Gathered by phone and binder

  • Photos
  • Rule books
  • Calls
  • Deadlines
  • Calls left unprovedWho answered and the reference live on paper
  • Not owed, decided aloneThe riskiest call is often one person at night

The Solution

  1. Asks the fieldOnly the next fact a rule needs, from the operator's phone
  2. The tree flipsEach answer lights a branch of your own rule set, rule cited
  3. A clock for each reportStarted at discovery, with the one fact that would change it
  4. A person callsThe coordinator calls each agency and logs who answered

Built-in controls

  • Agents never call or submit to an agency
  • The HSE manager checks each not-owed call
  • Each value cites its message, photo, meter or lab

What You Get

Each report a release owes carries its rule, its clock and the person who called, where audit can find it.

  • Clocks from discoveryEach starts when found, even when a report syncs later
  • Cleanup to closureTruck loads and samples tracked to a signed closure
  • Forms from cited factsEach agency's written report drafted, each field sourced
One release, by the clock

06:42 to 08:12: oily produced water on a pad shoulder, then a ditch

A threaded coupling on a fiberglass water line leaks at a low spot on the pad, about 40 ft from the lease road ditch. The operator stops the pump at 06:47 and reports from his phone.

demoThe pad, the crew, the rule set and each number shown are sample data.

  1. 0106:52

    One report owed, and the water clock already counting

    Environmental coordinator

    The first message says about 6 bbl, oily, outside the tank containment, nobody hurt. On that alone one report is owed: notice in 24 hours, then a written report in 10 days. The water report is not owed yet, but its 2 hours already count from discovery, with 1 h 45 m left, and the agent has asked the two facts that would change the answer.

  2. 0206:52

    About 6 by eye, 6.4 bbl by the meters

    Environmental coordinator

    Behind the volume sits the meter balance from the pad to the water transfer station, hour by hour. Three quiet hours show gaps of 0.2 bbl or less; then 2.9 and 3.5 go missing. That makes 6.4 bbl, with a range of 6.1 to 6.7, so the coordinator sees the sum before it is tested against the 5 bbl rule.

  3. 0306:58

    One reply about the ditch turns one report into three

    Field operator

    From his phone the operator answers, with a photo from the road: yes, it reached the road ditch, a rainbow sheen runs to the culvert, and snowmelt is flowing. The tree lights both branches at once. Three reports are now owed, and the call to the regulator's notification line is due immediately, against a company target of 15 minutes from when the sheen was known.

  4. 0407:00

    Take away the sheen and the immediate call drops out

    Environmental coordinator

    Before agreeing, the coordinator tries the other answer on the sheen branch. A banner marks it as a what if: nothing saved, the record and the clocks unchanged. Two reports stay owed and the notification line falls away, so the sheen is the one fact worth being sure of before picking up the phone.

  5. 0507:09

    The call script reads from the record, and the log keeps the reference

    Environmental coordinator

    Agreeing at 07:03, with the reason facts confirmed by photo, opens the calls. The script lists each fact beside its source, gives the volume as about 6.4 barrels with its range, and says the cause is under investigation. The log will not save without who answered and the reference: call taker 63, NL 250415-117, made 07:09, on time.

  6. 06After the call

    Three empty fields hold the written report back from approval

    Environmental coordinator

    The written report to the oil and gas regulator is already drafted in the agency's layout, each filled field marked with its source. Volume recovered and the two notices still to make read not known yet, in red, and each blocks approval, as does the unchecked determination. The draft fills in nothing it cannot source.

  7. 0708:12

    Checked at 08:12, with all three calls made on time

    HSE manager

    By 07:48 the coordinator has called the environmental regulator and made the online notice, both on time. The HSE manager opens the record, which the check requires, and checks the determination: matches the facts and the rule. The record names who decided at 07:03 and who checked at 08:12, with a timeline drawn from the audit trail.

  8. 08After 07:52

    41 bbl in the vacuum truck, 3.1 of them from the release

    Remediation lead

    The truck took ditch water mixed with release fluid. The remediation lead records the load, 41 bbl at 6,640 mg/L chloride, and the release share follows from the ditch background and the pad's own water: 7.5%, so 3.1 bbl. Digging out about 22 cu yd stays blocked until a person records the permit and line locate.

  9. 0908:12

    With a source on each field, one person prepares and another approves

    HSE manager

    With the recovered volume and the three notices in, the report reads 3.1 bbl recovered plus about 2.6 bbl held in pad soil, to be excavated. The coordinator prepares it, the HSE manager approves it, and the preparer is named on the form. Recording the submission stays a person's job, on the agency's own site.

Three rules owed on the ditch release, four not, and what flips each one

For each rule in the sample rule set, owed or not, the tree shows the one fact that would change the answer.

RuleOn this releaseClockWhat would change it
Sheen on waterOwed after the replyImmediately; company target 15 minutesA sheen on water. Without water or a sheen it is not owed
Reached waterOwed after the reply2 hours from discoveryWhether it reached water or a ditch carrying water
5 barrels outside containmentOwed from the first message24 hours, then a written report in 10 daysThe volume and where it landed. Inside lined containment it is not owed
Near a water wellNot owed24 hoursA water well or intake within 1,000 ft. The nearest is 2,310 ft
Listed substanceNot owed on what is knownImmediatelyA lab result showing a listed substance at its reportable amount
Fire, injury or road closedNot owedImmediatelyAnyone hurt, a fire, an evacuation or a public road closed
Release to seaDoes not apply24 hoursWhether anything reached the sea. The pad is onshore

demoSample data, from the working solution. The rule set is a sample; the customer loads its own rules and forms.

Where the 6.4 barrels went: truck, soil and ditch

The truck load, worked through from chloride, set against the meter balance.

Release fluid in the 41 bbl truck load7.5% at 6,640 mg/L chloride: (6,640 − 48) / (88,400 − 48), ditch background against the pad's water3.1 bbl
Held in pad soilfrom the wetted area of 392 sq ft, used as a floor2.6 bbl
Accounted foragainst 6.4 bbl lost by meter balance; the rest diluted down the ditch to the boom5.7 bbl

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the release

The year's releases, the queue, the rules and the phone behind them

Six more from the same morning and the releases around it, each shown full size on a click.

Releases this year122 releases logged this year across 310 sites, 17 reportable and owing 24 agency reports. Search by number, site, material or cause, and see which rules each owes.
Audit trailEach step by people and agents, newest first, with the reason given for each decision. Entries cannot be edited or removed, and the auditor exports them as CSV.
The checker's queueNot-owed decisions first, each on its own clock, then written reports, closures and rule changes. A maker never checks a decision of their own.
The rule setSpill reporting requirements as the customer's own sample rule set, version 7: each rule with its agency, its clock, what would change it and how often it applied.
The operator's phoneSaved with no signal at 05:34 and sent at 06:39, the report keeps its found time, so each clock uses 05:34.
Closure on lab resultsAn older release on another pad: 64 cu yd excavated and six samples under the chloride and hydrocarbon targets. Closure waits until the checker opens the lab report.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Five people on one release, and who may agree, call, check or close

People decide, call and sign; the agents prepare what they read.

Field operator
Sees
Today's reports and the one question the agent asks next
Signs
Nothing; reports what was found and answers from the pad
Environmental coordinator
Sees
The tree, the clocks and the fact that would change each answer
Signs
Agrees or disagrees with a reason, makes each call and prepares the written reports
HSE manager
Sees
Not-owed decisions first, then written reports, closures and rule changes
Signs
Checks each determination, approves written reports and closes cleanups
Remediation lead
Sees
Cleanup steps, truck loads and samples against the closure plan
Signs
Records each step and result, and requests closure
Internal auditor
Sees
Each record, read only, with its evidence file
Signs
Nothing; exports the trail and the evidence
The agents

Six agents work the release, and none of them picks up the phone

The agents ask, estimate, apply and draft; each stops short of the agency.

Field intake

Takes the phone report, photos and rough volume, and asks one question at a time, only for a fact a rule needs.

  • Never guesses a fact
  • Never tells anyone how to stop, isolate, open or repair equipment
Reportability

Walks the customer's rule set, lights the tree and cites the rule and the fact behind each branch.

  • Never decides alone that nothing is owed
  • Never relaxes a rule
Volume estimator

Balances the meters, reads tank gauges and the wetted area, and gives a range with its sum.

  • Never uses the low end for the rules without a person's reason
Deadline keeper

Starts each clock at the time of discovery and escalates as time runs down.

  • Never calls an agency
Report drafter

Writes call sheets and written reports in each agency's form, with a source on each field.

  • Never sends anything
  • Never fills a field with no source
  • Never states a cause as final
Cleanup tracker

Tracks recovery, excavation and samples against the targets, up to the closure request.

  • Never closes a release
  • Never starts excavation before the permit

What environmental coordinators ask about spill reporting

What is spill reporting?

Spill reporting is working out, after a release, which agencies must be told, by when and in what form, then making those calls and keeping the proof. Here agents ask the field for the facts the rules need and show each report owed on its own clock; people make the calls and the checks.

How does it handle spill reporting requirements that differ by site and agency?

It applies the customer's own rule set, with each agency's thresholds, clocks and forms loaded by the customer. A release is judged on the version in force when it was found, and a rule change needs the HSE manager's signature.

Is a reportable quantity the only test for oil?

Not always. Published regulator guidance says oil reporting can turn on a visible sheen, whatever the amount: a few gallons in a ditch can owe an immediate call, while ten barrels inside lined containment may owe none.

What if the operator cannot answer yet?

A rule that could be owed gets a provisional clock from discovery. On the sample release the water report's clock was counting while the agent waited for word on the ditch, so its deadline was on screen before anyone knew it applied.

Does an agent ever call or submit to an agency?

No. Agents draft the call script and the written report from cited facts. The coordinator makes each call and logs who answered and the reference, and a person submits on the agency's own site.

What happens to a report saved with no signal?

It keeps the time the release was found, and the clocks count from that time rather than from when the coordinator first heard.

How does this fit with environmental incident reporting and cleanup?

The same record carries recovery, the excavation permit, confirmation samples against the closure plan and the closure request. Only the HSE manager closes a release, and only after opening its lab results.

Who checks a decision that nothing is owed?

The HSE manager. A not-owed decision waits in that queue on its own clock and is not final until a second person checks it.

Environment, Emissions & Regulatory

More environment, emissions and regulatory solutions

All 7 solutions →
Flaring and Venting Compliance

Every spike on the flare meter has a log, a cause a person confirmed and a notice on time.

1-min demoPermit Condition Compliance

Conditions read as written, with the proof tested against their own words.

1-min demoPetroleum License Compliance

Ask before the work: every consent, date and duty tied to its clause.

1-min demo

Bring a release
you reported last year.

We’ll walk one of your own releases through your own rule set, from the first field message to the last call.

Book a demoBrowse solutions