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Garfield County may end up intervening in a proposal by Antero Resources, a gas drilling company that wants to drill wells in and around the Battlement Mesa community in the western end of the county.
But the “intervention,” as it is formally called, would strictly be aimed at Antero's request to be allowed to drill wells at a higher density than currently is permitted, in an area that apparently is outside the boundaries of Battlement Mesa.
The Board of County Commissioners agreed on Monday to take the first formal step to intervene with three “down-spacing” applications, meaning efforts to increase the number of wells allowed per section in a certain area. The applications were filed recently with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Two applications, by Antero, are for well locations that seem to be close to or touching the boundary line of the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development, a community of some 5,000 residents near the town of Parachute, according to the county's oil and gas liaison, Judy Jordan.
Antero has announced plans to build 10 well pads, and to sink up to 200 wells into the ground within the roughly 3,200-acre PUD, although no formal proposals have been submitted to the COGCC or to Garfield County.
The county normally has no authority over drilling operations, but the original PUD documents, approved in the late 1970s, require a special use permit from the county for any mineral extraction operations.
Jordan said the two applications now before the COGCC do not appear to be linked with the 10-pad proposal, although she was not certain that is the case.
Efforts to reach Antero representatives on Monday were not successful.
The third down-spacing proposal is by the Dejour Enterprises drilling company, concerning a parcel of land in the Garfield Creek area southeast of Silt, within the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area.
In all three cases, county officials said, the formal step of initiating an “intervention” acts to preserve the rights of Garfield County residents to speak up about the gas companies' plans.
Jordan explained that the county has the legal standing to request a public hearing regarding applications for drilling permits and other issues before the COGCC, whereas the general public does not.
According to Antero's applications, the company is asking for permits to drill one well per 10 acres, as opposed to the current permitted density of one well per 320 acres, which were set forth in a permit issued in 1990.
Jordan told the commissioners that the requested well density also is “more than is currently allowed in the PUD.”
The Dejour drilling request currently is the subject of talks between the company and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, which is concerned about the effect of drilling activities on the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area.
Jordan, talking with Dejour officials after the meeting, said that if the company and the wildlife agency can come to a mutually acceptable agreement, Garfield County may simply stay out of the issue entirely.
jcolson@postindependent.com
But the “intervention,” as it is formally called, would strictly be aimed at Antero's request to be allowed to drill wells at a higher density than currently is permitted, in an area that apparently is outside the boundaries of Battlement Mesa.
The Board of County Commissioners agreed on Monday to take the first formal step to intervene with three “down-spacing” applications, meaning efforts to increase the number of wells allowed per section in a certain area. The applications were filed recently with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Two applications, by Antero, are for well locations that seem to be close to or touching the boundary line of the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development, a community of some 5,000 residents near the town of Parachute, according to the county's oil and gas liaison, Judy Jordan.
Antero has announced plans to build 10 well pads, and to sink up to 200 wells into the ground within the roughly 3,200-acre PUD, although no formal proposals have been submitted to the COGCC or to Garfield County.
The county normally has no authority over drilling operations, but the original PUD documents, approved in the late 1970s, require a special use permit from the county for any mineral extraction operations.
Jordan said the two applications now before the COGCC do not appear to be linked with the 10-pad proposal, although she was not certain that is the case.
Efforts to reach Antero representatives on Monday were not successful.
The third down-spacing proposal is by the Dejour Enterprises drilling company, concerning a parcel of land in the Garfield Creek area southeast of Silt, within the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area.
In all three cases, county officials said, the formal step of initiating an “intervention” acts to preserve the rights of Garfield County residents to speak up about the gas companies' plans.
Jordan explained that the county has the legal standing to request a public hearing regarding applications for drilling permits and other issues before the COGCC, whereas the general public does not.
According to Antero's applications, the company is asking for permits to drill one well per 10 acres, as opposed to the current permitted density of one well per 320 acres, which were set forth in a permit issued in 1990.
Jordan told the commissioners that the requested well density also is “more than is currently allowed in the PUD.”
The Dejour drilling request currently is the subject of talks between the company and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, which is concerned about the effect of drilling activities on the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area.
Jordan, talking with Dejour officials after the meeting, said that if the company and the wildlife agency can come to a mutually acceptable agreement, Garfield County may simply stay out of the issue entirely.
jcolson@postindependent.com
