Agenda Title: Amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Agenda Title: Amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production"

Eustacia Dean
5 years ago
Views:

TOWN OF MILLIKEN TOWN BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM To: Chairman Ekwall and Members of the Planning Commission From: Karen Bryant, Associate Planner Meeting Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Via: Steve

1 TOWN OF MILLIKEN TOWN BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM To: Chairman Ekwall and Members of the Planning Commission From: Karen Bryant, Associate Planner Meeting Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Via: Steve House, Community Development Director Agenda Item # Action: x Discussion: Information: Agenda Title: Amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Attachments: Draft Article IX: Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Referral Agency Letters Milliken Fire Protection District Kerr McGee/Anadarko Corporation Noble Energy Corporation PURPOSE To review and make a recommendation(s) to the Town Board regarding amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production. BACKGROUND The Town of Milliken is located within the Greater Wattenberg Area (GWA). The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) passed regulations allowing for a greater number of wells to be drilled within the GWA than in other areas. Due to State and Federal Regulations the Town has little influence over whether a well is drilled. We can however impose requirements mitigating the impacts of them i.e. landscaping, noise restrictions etc. Staff has developed draft amendments to the Oil and Gas Regulations with the major changes being: 1. Streamlining the process by having the Planning Commission review and approve the Permits thereby making the process more efficient and requiring less Town Board and staff time involved. The Planning Commission review will include a Public Hearing.

2 2. Elimination of discrepancies between the oil and gas regulations and the remainder of the land use code; including changing the formatting and application process as well as correcting definitional problems. 3. Amending the submittal requirements to include more detailed information to allow staff, referral agencies and the Commission to better understand the impacts and the mitigation efforts. 4. Add new language to address twinning (two (2) wells in close proximity) and refracing (re-drilling an existing well) of wells, and directional drilling (bottom hole and top hole are not in a vertical line). 5. Add language that allows the Town to permit and regulate existing wells within the Town limits. REFFERAL AGENCY COMMENTS Comments from the following referral agencies were received and their comments are attached: Milliken Fire Protection District Noble Energy Corporation (Noble) Kerr McGee/Anadarko Corporation (Anadarko) The, Milliken Fire Protection District and Anardarko have minimal comments regarding the amendments. Noble has a significant number of comments regarding the amendments, specifically with regard to either a duplication of the State s requirements, the amendments make the requirements stricter than the State s or conflicts between the Town s and the State s regulations. BUDGET IMPLICATIONS If approved the Town would receive additional fees to permit existing wells that currently exist but are not regulated by the Town. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Planning Commission recommend approval of the amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production to the Town Board of Trustees. SUGGESTED MOTION I move to recommend to the Town Board of Trustees approval of the amendments to Article IX of the 2003 Land Use Code Oil and Gas Drilling and Production.

11 Town Of Milliken Karen Bryant 1101 Broad St., Drawer 290 Milliken, CO Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas OnShore LP A subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation th Street Denver, CO (720) RE: Project Referral Oil and Gas Regulations Amendments Dear Ms. Bryant, Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to review the proposed amendments to the Town of Milliken s Oil and Gas Regulations. We have read the proposed changes and have the following comments/suggestions: Section (b) Propose striking this section and addressing the issue of a Special Use Permit on existing wells at the time of recompletion or other similar operations. Section (d) Propose striking this section in favor of a larger application fee to be paid up front as other municipalities have done. Section (h) Extend the permit expiration to one year in order to accommodate certain needs of the surface owner such as crops. Section (a3) Allow for all wells within a section to be included in one application packet and structure fees on a per well rather then per application basis. This would be cost effective in that staff would review multiple wells on one application. Section (c) - Propose striking this section in favor of a larger application fee to be paid up front as other municipalities have done. Section (b11) Landscaping should be coordinated between the surface owner and the operator based on the needs or uses of the land. Section (7&8) Propose including all information on one engineered map similar to Weld County s or the Town of Erie s requirements. General Comments: We would suggest that the Town of Milliken continue with the theme of reiterating the requirements set forth by the COGCC. Generalizations rather then specifics would allow for interpretation on a case by case basis as it relates to a specific project. For example in regards to landscaping specific requirements for landscaping could negatively impact the land owner in their current or future uses of the property. Another example would be the requirement for electric motors; this may not be practical or economically feasible in certain areas or on certain projects. We would also suggest that the Town look into the Town of Frederick s administrative approval process for oil and gas as it has thus far been successful in streamlining the process. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to comment and we look forward to continued involvement in this process. Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact Robert Spencer at (720) or robert.spencer@anadarko.com or me at (720) or kimberly.mendozacooke@anadarko.com Sincerely, KERR-MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP Kim M. Cooke

BEFORE THE OIL & GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) APPLICATION

BEFORE THE OIL & GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF KERR-MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP FOR AN ORDER POOLING ALL INTERESTS IN THE CODELL AND NIOBRARA FORMATIONS