The latest showdown between competing Northern Colorado priorities - oil and gas development and expanding residential communities - has ended in a stalemate, at least for now.
A controversial new fracking project near Erie was halted by state oil and gas regulators at a last week, but the proposal isn鈥檛 dead. The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) neither approved nor rejected the application for Extraction Oil and Gas鈥� Draco Pad, rather opting for an indefinite stay, pending further analysis and resubmittal.
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The Commissioners鈥� objections focused on the site of the proposed well pad, given its proximity to existing and long-planned residential development.
鈥淭he proposed location is within 2,000 feet of five existing homes and 72 planned homes that are very, very clearly going to be occupied by residents,鈥� said Commissioner Trisha Oeth during public deliberations. 鈥淭here is a park within 2000 feet, a trail, and 鈥� potentially also a school.鈥�
In the unanimously approved motion, commissioners directed Extraction Oil and Gas to work with the town of Erie to evaluate an alternative site for the well pad within city limits. That parcel, dubbed 鈥淎lternative Location 4鈥� in the , is already home to several well pads and is part of a Superfund site that has been deemed inappropriate for residential development.
Officials at Extraction Oil and Gas, which is part of Civitas Resources, were hoping for a thumbs up to drill in an unincorporated part of industry-friendly Weld County about two miles from Erie High School. The proposed wells would be drilled down about 7,000 feet, then run horizontally about five miles underground to siphon natural gas resources in Boulder County, where oil and gas development is so tightly restricted that no new permit applications have been approved in more than a decade. Weld County Commissioners approved the plan early this year.
Community pushback
The Draco pad provoked significant . Residents of Erie, which straddles Weld and Boulder counties, are concerned about the adverse climate, noise and air quality impacts of the project. Local activist Sami Carroll said she chose to live in Boulder County specifically because she did not want to live near drilling and calls the plan an unfair loophole.
鈥淓xtraction is running out of places to find oil and gas resources within the Front Range and they chose to go west into Boulder County as a middle finger to Boulder County and their regulations,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey still see Weld as the Wild West and not the growing community of 39,000 people that Erie has become.鈥�
Skylar Wieitzel, who also lives in Erie, said he was worried about the risks of so many horizontal wells running through an area already densely drilled with aging and retired vertical wells.
鈥淲e've got these old, abandoned health liabilities scattered all across the proposed drilling area. There's a lot of combustible chemicals underground,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat type of potential dangers are going to be dug up when they're trying to navigate those existing vertical wells as they're trying to tap into Boulder County's oil and gas reserves?鈥�
But during public deliberations, ECMC commissioners made it clear that public input did not sway their decision to stay the application.
鈥淚 want to make sure that the public is aware that we do read those (comments) and we do appreciate what you're saying,鈥� said Commissioner Michael Cross. 鈥�(But) I don't know that any of the concerns specifically addressed the rules.鈥�
Those rules that guide the commissioners stem from , the landmark legislation passed in 2019 that reoriented the state鈥檚 oil and gas policy to prioritize public health and welfare over expanded development.
Defining the indefinite
While the ECMC did not allow the Draco Pad application to move forward as-is, it was not immediately clear how long the indefinite stay would last.
鈥淭hat stay could be for five weeks or five years,鈥� said local activist Christiaan van Woudenberg, who opposes the Draco Pad development. 鈥淭he stay means nothing to me at all. There's no 鈥榳in column鈥� for us. There's the 鈥榣ose column,鈥� and then there's 鈥榳e didn't lose.鈥� That's as good as good as it gets.鈥�
Van Woudenberg, who uses he/them pronouns, said even if Extraction is required to relocate the Draco Pad to the alternative site, they wouldn鈥檛 count that as a win because that site is also near residential neighborhoods. Van Woudenberg鈥檚 own house sits just outside the 2,000-foot setback from where the pad would be located at the alternative site.
鈥淚t's 2,050 feet. So, everybody can say, 鈥榊ay, there's no homes within 2,000 feet,鈥欌�� van Woudenberg said. 鈥淏ut there are hundreds and hundreds of homes that have previously been gravely impacted by oil and gas operations within 2,300 feet.鈥�
According to van Woudenberg, the state鈥檚 oil and gas regulations need to be strengthened to protect the growing neighborhoods on the Front Range from the ravages of fossil fuel development.
鈥淩esidential drilling shouldn't be a thing,鈥� they said. 鈥淓ither you can have a thriving community, or you can have an oil field, but you can't do both.鈥�
