BLM Royal Gorge Field Office Releases Draft Environmental Assessment for Oil and Gas Wells in Northern Weld County
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CANON CITY, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management Royal Gorge Field Office released a draft environmental assessment on a proposal from Noble Energy, Inc. (Noble) to develop up to 89 oil wells from 14 new multi-well pads and one existing well pad from which multiple wells would be drilled in the Denver Julesburg Basin in northern Weld County.
The project area is comprised of 7,986 acres, of which approximately 6,389 acres are private surface and 1,597 acres are within the Pawnee National Grasslands administered by the United States Forest Service. The project would result in approximately 305 acres of initial surface disturbance which would be reduced to approximately 141 acres long term disturbance after interim reclamation, for the production life of the wells. Noble Energy is not proposing any surface disturbance activities in the Pawnee National Grassland.
Noble is proposing to construct well pads and associated infrastructure, including roads, pipelines, centralized production facilities (called EcoNodes) and water supply wells needed to horizontally drill their leases within the project area. Of these wells, 63 new wells would target a combination of private and/or federal mineral estate and 26 new wells would target only private mineral estate.
The project area falls within a region of the DJ Basin that contains oil and gas development spanning several decades. The draft environmental assessment, as well as any associated maps of the area, is located online atwww.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/nepa/rgfo/rgfo_2014_nepa_archive.html.
You can mail your comments to the BLM Royal Gorge Field Office, Attn: Aaron Richter, 3028 East Main Street, Canon City, CO 81212; or email to: rgfo_comments@blm.gov. Comments are due by close of business August 28, 2015.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.