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BATTLEMENT MESA, Colorado — Members of the state body that oversees oil and gas development in Colorado got their fill of opinions and suggestions on Wednesday night in a two and a half hour meeting about plans for gas wells in the Battlement Mesa community.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission normally meets in Denver, but this week a delegation from the COGCC, consisting of two commission members and several staffers, met with Battlement Mesa residents on the residents' home turf to discuss plans by Antero Resources to drill up to 200 wells within the community's boundaries.
The COGCC officials mostly described how their commission does its work and talked about “mitigation” of any negative impacts that gas drilling might have on the locals.
Some of the locals, however, had their own ideas.
“I'm not that interested in mitigation,” Battlement Mesa resident Tom Stroop said to a room filled with perhaps 140 people. “I'm interested in stopping it.”
His remark was met with applause from most in the room.
The meeting, held at the Battlement Mesa Activity Center, was generally decorous, as COGCC Executive Director Dave Neslin described the workings of the commission and fielded questions from the audience.
He pointed out, several times, that Antero had yet to submit a formal “comprehensive drilling plan,” which Neslin said would lay out the company's plans and establish a framework for consulting with state and local authorities on how to address the impacts of that plan.
Submission of a CDP, as they are known, is a voluntary matter and typically is the format “to address projects of this scale,” Neslin said, “to determine if the project can be undertaken in a way that protects public safety and welfare.”
Neslin pledged that the public will have “a couple of opportunities” to be heard on the CDP, as well as during the subsequent review process for the actual drilling permits, which he said is a separate process.
Among the questions put to Neslin and his team was one by Peggy Rawlins, formerly of Battlement Mesa but now living in Grand Junction, who wanted to know where Antero would be getting the water it plans to pipe to its 10 well pads in the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development.
The company has said it will not be using trucks to transport water needed for the drilling process, in order to cut down on traffic impacts in the neighborhood.
Rawlins, who also wanted to know if the company had arranged easements for the pipelines and scheduled for pipeline construction, said she has repeatedly asked the questions of Antero officials, “And I didn't get an answer.”
Several residents asked why the company needed to set up its drilling pads so close to homes and facilities in the neighborhood, when “there is open land all around,” in the words of one woman.
“Why can't the drilling be done in other areas, away from the community?” she demanded, again prompting sustained applause from the audience.
Neslin said that until the COGCC gets a look at Antero's formal application, he could not grapple with questions like that.
Other topics covered the state rules that permit wells to be within 150 feet of a residence; whether a petition of Battlement residents might sway the COGCC's thinking on allowing the drilling at all; whether other communities in Colorado have had difficulties with drilling in their midst and whether the gas drilling will mean jobs returning to the area.
“If this company wants to come in and provide jobs, I think it should be welcomed with open arms,” said Eric Foot. “We should be able to go back to work.”
But someone else said she had heard that all of Antero's crews will come from outside the area, and Neslin said he knew nothing about the matter.
Neslin agreed to, after prompting by Garfield County Commissioner Mike Samson, see if further meetings about Antero's plans could be held at Battlement Mesa.
jcolson@postindependent.com
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission normally meets in Denver, but this week a delegation from the COGCC, consisting of two commission members and several staffers, met with Battlement Mesa residents on the residents' home turf to discuss plans by Antero Resources to drill up to 200 wells within the community's boundaries.
The COGCC officials mostly described how their commission does its work and talked about “mitigation” of any negative impacts that gas drilling might have on the locals.
Some of the locals, however, had their own ideas.
“I'm not that interested in mitigation,” Battlement Mesa resident Tom Stroop said to a room filled with perhaps 140 people. “I'm interested in stopping it.”
His remark was met with applause from most in the room.
The meeting, held at the Battlement Mesa Activity Center, was generally decorous, as COGCC Executive Director Dave Neslin described the workings of the commission and fielded questions from the audience.
He pointed out, several times, that Antero had yet to submit a formal “comprehensive drilling plan,” which Neslin said would lay out the company's plans and establish a framework for consulting with state and local authorities on how to address the impacts of that plan.
Submission of a CDP, as they are known, is a voluntary matter and typically is the format “to address projects of this scale,” Neslin said, “to determine if the project can be undertaken in a way that protects public safety and welfare.”
Neslin pledged that the public will have “a couple of opportunities” to be heard on the CDP, as well as during the subsequent review process for the actual drilling permits, which he said is a separate process.
Among the questions put to Neslin and his team was one by Peggy Rawlins, formerly of Battlement Mesa but now living in Grand Junction, who wanted to know where Antero would be getting the water it plans to pipe to its 10 well pads in the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development.
The company has said it will not be using trucks to transport water needed for the drilling process, in order to cut down on traffic impacts in the neighborhood.
Rawlins, who also wanted to know if the company had arranged easements for the pipelines and scheduled for pipeline construction, said she has repeatedly asked the questions of Antero officials, “And I didn't get an answer.”
Several residents asked why the company needed to set up its drilling pads so close to homes and facilities in the neighborhood, when “there is open land all around,” in the words of one woman.
“Why can't the drilling be done in other areas, away from the community?” she demanded, again prompting sustained applause from the audience.
Neslin said that until the COGCC gets a look at Antero's formal application, he could not grapple with questions like that.
Other topics covered the state rules that permit wells to be within 150 feet of a residence; whether a petition of Battlement residents might sway the COGCC's thinking on allowing the drilling at all; whether other communities in Colorado have had difficulties with drilling in their midst and whether the gas drilling will mean jobs returning to the area.
“If this company wants to come in and provide jobs, I think it should be welcomed with open arms,” said Eric Foot. “We should be able to go back to work.”
But someone else said she had heard that all of Antero's crews will come from outside the area, and Neslin said he knew nothing about the matter.
Neslin agreed to, after prompting by Garfield County Commissioner Mike Samson, see if further meetings about Antero's plans could be held at Battlement Mesa.
jcolson@postindependent.com
