Energy, Utilities & Water  August 26, 2015

Erie OKs new drilling pact with Encana

ERIE — The Erie Board of Trustees approved a new agreement with Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. on Tuesday night but delayed a vote on proposed changes to the town’s oil and gas codes until its Sept. 8 meeting.

The operator agreement, which includes 18 “best management practices” that supplement existing state requirements, replaces a previous memorandum of understanding with Encana that had been adopted by the town board three years ago but was set to expire later this month.

The agreement calls for a minimum of 1,000 feet between an existing building and a well pad, nearly double the state requirement. It calls for noise of a drilling operation to be reduced to a maximum of 60 decibels – five decibels below the maximum level permitted by Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulations – and monthly detection of repair of well leaks by Encana – a provision that also exceeds state requirements.

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The company agreed to build a central gathering and storage facility to reduce air emissions, use steel-rimmed berms instead of sand or soil berms to contain fluids and other materials, use downcast lighting to mitigate light pollution and spillover onto surrounding areas, and not to develop “class II” underground-injection control wells within the boundaries of the agreement.

The pact covers an area that extends south of Oxford Road to Baseline Road and east from U.S. Highway 287 to Interstate 25.

Encana also agreed to recycle and reuse water at its pad sites, use nearby water resources when possible to reduce truck traffic, and maintain financial assurance to make sure it can meet its obligation to repair any road damage its equipment causes.

A vote on new guidelines for future operators that employ hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas also had been scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting but was put off until the Sept. 8 session at the request of industry representatives, including one from Anadarko Petroleum Inc., which also has expressed interest in forming an agreement with the town.

ERIE — The Erie Board of Trustees approved a new agreement with Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. on Tuesday night but delayed a vote on proposed changes to the town’s oil and gas codes until its Sept. 8 meeting.

The operator agreement, which includes 18 “best management practices” that supplement existing state requirements, replaces a previous memorandum of understanding with Encana that had been adopted by the town board three years ago but was set to expire later this month.

The agreement calls for a minimum of 1,000 feet between an existing building and a well pad, nearly double the state…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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