A 30-day public comment period started Thursday on a proposal from BP American Production Company to conduct horizontal drilling operations in an area east of Bayfield.
According to a U.S. Forest Service news release, BP is proposing to drill 16 horizontal wells on eight existing well pads in the Sauls Creek area on Forest Service land in the HD Mountains.
Because BP is conducting operations on existing well pads, there will be minimal surface disturbance. A new 1.6 mile pipeline would be constructed within existing pipeline corridors.
All methane development activities would be conducted from spring through fall, abiding by seasonal wildlife closures in the area.
Traffic on U.S. Highway 160, county roads 526 and 527, as well as Forest Service roads 608, 131 and 755 will see an uptick in traffic during operations.
The Forest Service said road maintenance, as well as the application of magnesium chloride for dust control, will occur in May. Long-term trucking is not anticipated, the news release said.
“Vertical drilling to achieve the same gas-reservoir drainage would have resulted in approximately 30 to 40 acres of new disturbance, whereas under the current plan, only 1.4 acres of long-term surface disturbance will occur. BP proposes to hydraulically fracture up to four of the 16 wells more than 1,000 vertical feet below the deepest fresh-water aquifer in the area.”
Written input may be submitted by Wednesday, May 31, to Columbine Ranger District, P.O. Box 439, Bayfield CO 81122, by fax at (970) 884-2428, via email to wabrown@fs.fed.us, or by hand delivery to 367 S. Pearl Street, Bayfield, on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays.
