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Aspen Drilling punches a hole in the ground near Whitewater with the scar from the Trans-Colorado Pipeline seen in the background. The company has proposed drilling 174 new wells from 24 well pads east of U.S. Highway 50, and the BLM now seeks comments for an environmental assessment on the plan. This well is on private land.
GRAND JUNCTION - The Bureau of Land Management seeks comments from the public for an environmental study on a Denver-metro company’s proposal to drill wells on 91,150 acres of the Grand Mesa Slopes.
Aspen Operating, LLC, plans to drill 174 new natural gas wells from 24 well pads on federal lands within a 91,450-acre area near Whitewater, said Ben Miller, regulatory manager of the Aspen Operating. The environmental study will also consider impacts from an additional 40 wells to be drilled on private land by Aspen Drilling, an affiliated company to Aspen Operating.
The drill activity would take place off Lands End and Kannah Creek roads.
The wells should be spaced about a mile apart, Miller said.
The proposed program will “temporarily disturb” around 188 acres. That total includes land for three miles of new roads, 21 miles of improved roads and 28 miles of ground to bury new gas lines. The company plans to bury the lines under roads to minimize impacts to the land, Miller said.
Comments are due July 7.
The 30-day comment period “allows people time to identify issues that should be addressed in the environmental assessment,” which will look at cumulative impacts of the drilling, said Mel Lloyd, BLM spokeswoman.
“Only a little piece of it is in the watershed of Grand Junction,” Lloyd said.
Miller said that well is just over a knoll from the Grand Junction watershed, and not in it. Furthermore, the company will comply with watershed regulations by the city of Grand Junction, Miller said.
“We believe our watershed is outside their current plan,” said Grand Junction City Manager Laurie Kadrich.
The city’s water department staff has worked “very closely with the BLM and Aspen Drilling on this proposal. We feel we have been included in the process,” to the point of helping minimize the number of roads the company would need, Kadrich said.
“Given the fact that it is adjacent to our watershed, you’ll excuse me if I’m not that excited for them to find a resource there,” said Matt Sura, oil and gas organizer for the environmental group Western Colorado Congress.
“This project is yet another example of why we need new Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules,” Sura said. The commission is now considering rule changes to deal with impacts of drilling activity.
Duke Cox, WCC oil and gas committee chair, hopes people will educate themselves.
“If you’ve got an opportunity for the scoping process and you turn it down, you have no one to blame but yourself,” later on, if the drilling activity becomes problematic, Cox said.
The WCC hasn’t been asked by individual members to be involved in this issue, Cox said, and the group typically doesn’t take action unless requested.
The area Aspen Operating proposes to drill is rural, about three to four miles southeast of Whitewater.
Aspen Operating and Aspen Drilling plans to drill one vertical well from each well pad. Based on the production potential, other directional wells will be drilled from the same well pad, said Miller.
Aspen’s drill rigs differ significantly from the natural gas rigs in Garfield County, Miller said. Those rigs can drill up to 14,000 feet deep, while Aspen’s drills reach to 4,000 feet deep.
“The wells will be much lower in production than the giants you see in the Rifle and Parachute area,” Miller said. The drill rigs are much smaller, so they drive up to a site, set up, and start drilling. These drills affect three-quarters of an acre, much less than the two to five acres impacted by drill rigs in Garfield County, Miller said.
“In general, we actually don’t do any heavy construction or excavation,” Miller said.
“We would essentially drive out into a field or off the side of the road and we’ll stand our rig up right there, without any substantial earthwork.”
In the late 70s to early 80s, companies explored the area for oil, but found gas, Miller said.
“They didn’t care about the gas because the Trans-Colorado pipeline wasn’t there,” until the mid-’90s, Miller said.
“The economy of having the Trans-Colorado pipeline makes it worth pursuing.”
Aspen Drilling has operated for 20 years, he said, with Aspen Operating starting up to handle the Whitewater project.
The company now has 18 active drill pads in the Whitewater area, “primarily on private land,” with four on federal land, Miller said.
Aspen Drilling has 80 employees living in the Grand Junction area.
The proposal can be found on www.blm.gov/co (select Grand Junction on the map). For information, call BLM employees David Lehmann at 244-3021, or Julia Christiansen at 244-3093.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
Aspen Operating, LLC, plans to drill 174 new natural gas wells from 24 well pads on federal lands within a 91,450-acre area near Whitewater, said Ben Miller, regulatory manager of the Aspen Operating. The environmental study will also consider impacts from an additional 40 wells to be drilled on private land by Aspen Drilling, an affiliated company to Aspen Operating.
The drill activity would take place off Lands End and Kannah Creek roads.
The wells should be spaced about a mile apart, Miller said.
The proposed program will “temporarily disturb” around 188 acres. That total includes land for three miles of new roads, 21 miles of improved roads and 28 miles of ground to bury new gas lines. The company plans to bury the lines under roads to minimize impacts to the land, Miller said.
Comments are due July 7.
The 30-day comment period “allows people time to identify issues that should be addressed in the environmental assessment,” which will look at cumulative impacts of the drilling, said Mel Lloyd, BLM spokeswoman.
“Only a little piece of it is in the watershed of Grand Junction,” Lloyd said.
Miller said that well is just over a knoll from the Grand Junction watershed, and not in it. Furthermore, the company will comply with watershed regulations by the city of Grand Junction, Miller said.
“We believe our watershed is outside their current plan,” said Grand Junction City Manager Laurie Kadrich.
The city’s water department staff has worked “very closely with the BLM and Aspen Drilling on this proposal. We feel we have been included in the process,” to the point of helping minimize the number of roads the company would need, Kadrich said.
“Given the fact that it is adjacent to our watershed, you’ll excuse me if I’m not that excited for them to find a resource there,” said Matt Sura, oil and gas organizer for the environmental group Western Colorado Congress.
“This project is yet another example of why we need new Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules,” Sura said. The commission is now considering rule changes to deal with impacts of drilling activity.
Duke Cox, WCC oil and gas committee chair, hopes people will educate themselves.
“If you’ve got an opportunity for the scoping process and you turn it down, you have no one to blame but yourself,” later on, if the drilling activity becomes problematic, Cox said.
The WCC hasn’t been asked by individual members to be involved in this issue, Cox said, and the group typically doesn’t take action unless requested.
The area Aspen Operating proposes to drill is rural, about three to four miles southeast of Whitewater.
Aspen Operating and Aspen Drilling plans to drill one vertical well from each well pad. Based on the production potential, other directional wells will be drilled from the same well pad, said Miller.
Aspen’s drill rigs differ significantly from the natural gas rigs in Garfield County, Miller said. Those rigs can drill up to 14,000 feet deep, while Aspen’s drills reach to 4,000 feet deep.
“The wells will be much lower in production than the giants you see in the Rifle and Parachute area,” Miller said. The drill rigs are much smaller, so they drive up to a site, set up, and start drilling. These drills affect three-quarters of an acre, much less than the two to five acres impacted by drill rigs in Garfield County, Miller said.
“In general, we actually don’t do any heavy construction or excavation,” Miller said.
“We would essentially drive out into a field or off the side of the road and we’ll stand our rig up right there, without any substantial earthwork.”
In the late 70s to early 80s, companies explored the area for oil, but found gas, Miller said.
“They didn’t care about the gas because the Trans-Colorado pipeline wasn’t there,” until the mid-’90s, Miller said.
“The economy of having the Trans-Colorado pipeline makes it worth pursuing.”
Aspen Drilling has operated for 20 years, he said, with Aspen Operating starting up to handle the Whitewater project.
The company now has 18 active drill pads in the Whitewater area, “primarily on private land,” with four on federal land, Miller said.
Aspen Drilling has 80 employees living in the Grand Junction area.
The proposal can be found on www.blm.gov/co (select Grand Junction on the map). For information, call BLM employees David Lehmann at 244-3021, or Julia Christiansen at 244-3093.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
