SILT, Colorado – The Bureau of Land Management seeks public comment on a proposal from BOPCO L.P. to construct a facility 20 miles west of Meeker that would treat produced water from oil and gas wells on the Piceance Basin and discharge it into Yellow Creek.

The proposed Yellow Creek Produced Water Treatment Facility would treat up to 1 million gallons of produced water from BOPCO’s Yellow Creek natural gas field and discharge up to 756,000 gallons into Yellow Creek each day.

BOPCO has acquired a surface discharge permit from the state of Colorado for this project. If approved, construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in 2013.

The proposal includes construction of buried pipelines, a powerline, a six-acre facility and associated structures along Rio Blanco County Road 20 on land owned by BLM and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The six-acre facility would be entirely on BLM land. About 1.2 miles of the proposed 1.4-mile pipeline right of way would be on CPW land; and about 1.1 miles of the proposed 1.5-mile powerline right of way would be on CPW land.

A separate agreement authorizing the pipelines and powerline across state land would be required between BOPCO and Colorado Parks and Wildlife before the project would be approved.

Before BLM begins an environmental assessment of this proposal, it wants to hear any issues or concerns from the public. When the environmental assessment is drafted, it will also be made available for public review and comment.

Copies of the proposal, including maps, are available online at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo/index.html, or by contacting the White River Field Office in Meeker, (970) 878-3800.

Written comments can be mailed to Janet Doll, BLM WRFO, 220 E. Market St., Meeker, Colo. 81641 or sent via email to jdoll@blm.gov. Please note “Yellow Creek Produced Water Treatment Facility” in the subject line for all emails. Comments are requested by March 6.