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Drilling hearing postponed

John Colson
Post Independent staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – A hearing before state officials about gas drilling on Silt Mesa, originally set for next week, has been postponed for more than a month at the request of Antero Resources, the company that started drilling wells on the mesa last summer.

In a letter to the Garfield County commissioners dated Jan. 5, Antero vice president Kevin Kilstrom explained that more time is needed for talks with concerned residents, before the company goes ahead with two requests to drill at a density of one well per 10 acres in two sections of Silt Mesa.

The current allowable well density is one well per 40 acres.



The Antero request, and a Garfield County intervention based on residents’ objections to the request, were to be heard during a two-day session of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Jan. 13-14.

In the letter, Kilstrom noted that the company signed on to a Rifle, Silt and New Castle Community Development Plan in 2006, which took 10 months to complete and was intended “to provide a framework for future drilling activity in the area of Silt Mesa.”



Given how long that process took, Kilstrom wrote, “we believe additional time may be necessary to adequately discuss our plans with the community.”

The company filed a motion to continue the COGCC hearing until the commission’s Feb. 22 hearing, and the motion was granted on Jan. 5, according to Kilstrom’s letter.

jcolson@postindependent.com


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