StopDracoPad.com

FAQ

(Updated November 14, 2024):

  • The second day of deliberations will be on November 15th at 9am. Agenda & Zoom info here.
  • Read the Talking Points document

See below for the text from the official order, which also includes the timeline of activities to date.

ORDER GRANTING REQUEST FOR LOCAL PUBLIC HEARING

Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (Operator No. 10459) (“Extraction” or “Applicant”) filed an Application with the Commission for an order to approve an Oil & Gas Development Plan. Extraction’s Application had been set for hearing on August 28, 2024, and has been continued. No new hearing date has been set at this time.

On August 15, 2024, Flatiron Meadows Oil & Gas Monitoring Group (“FMOGMG”) [the group that runs this website] filed a request for a Local Public Hearing pursuant to Commission Rule 511. Extraction filed a response on August 20, 2024, opposing the request.

During the Commission’s regularly scheduled hearing on August 21, 2024, the Commission considered FMOGMG’s request and directed the group to file a reply to Extraction’s response no later than August 28, 2024.

On August 27, 2024, FMOGMG filed a reply to Extraction’s response and provided the names and addresses of multiple members of the organization.

During the Commission’s regularly scheduled hearing on September 3, 2024, the
Commission took up FMOGMG’s request for a Local Public Hearing and ordered as follows:
1. FMOGM’s request for a Local Public Hearing pursuant to Rule 511 is GRANTED.
2. A Local Public Hearing in this matter will be scheduled for a date to be determined in October 2024, depending on Commissioner availability. A new hearing date will be assigned once the Local Public Hearing date is selected.
3. The Local Public Hearing will be conducted in person at a location in or around Erie, Colorado. If an October, 2024 in-person hearing proves impracticable based on Commissioner schedules or other factors, the hearing may be conducted virtually and recorded, with the hearing video posted to the ECMC YouTube page.

###

Below are frequently asked questions that you may want to know about as well.

Wait! I thought this wasn’t allowed anymore

So did we.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that municipalities cannot ban fracking. In 2020, after the signing of SB19-181, Boulder County strengthened its regulations to hinder new drilling in unincorporated areas, but operators can still access minerals underground from remote locations. Erie also implemented stricter rules, but by locating drilling pads outside town boundaries in unincorporated Weld County, operators have been able to bypass them. This has led to concerns about the potential impact on the environment and public health.

Regarding the Draco Pad:

  • There are 26 proposed wellbores at the Draco pad that will run horizontally West from County Rd 7 to 287 and with a North/South boundary of Baxter Farms to Arapahoe Road
  • 87 existing wells are within the path of the Draco directional lines
  • Take a closer look at the number of wells within the Flatiron Meadows area on the Draco Map
  • The extraction company, Civitas, has confirmed they plan to use 541 million gallons of water to frac the 26 wells at Draco at 4,000 PSI.
  • These wellbores will be at 7,000 to 8,500 feet below the surface. You will note that many of the 87 wells in the path are deeper than these extraction wellbores. 
  • Each well has a designation – producing, shut-in, or plugged and abandoned (PA)
    • Producing means they are still producing oil & gas
    • Shut-in means “the faucet is off,” with no additional deeper containment
    • Plugged and abandoned (PA) means they have been plugged with concrete at different depths (see graphic below)
  • Directional lines are shown for directional and horizontal wells; vertical wells were drilled straight down.
  • The locations with the red dashed circles are of the most concern because they contain producing or shut-in wells.
  • The numbers next to each well indicate how deep they were drilled (in feet)
  • The dates next to each well indicate when the well was drilled
  • PA wells are also at some risk due to how PA wells are plugged (see next graphic)
  • Wells that were plugged more than 20 years ago are of greater concern as well due to advancements since then in plugging wells
  • Of note, but not within Flatiron Meadows are the 3 orphaned wells .5 miles away. These have not been shut in or plugged & abandoned because the operator has gone bankrupt

Is it too late? NO!

  • Plans are to start drilling in Fall 2025
  • Their plans have been approved by Weld County via the Weld County Oil & Gas Application (WOGLA) process. 
  • The plans have not been permitted by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). The hearing date will be November 6, 2024.
  • Applications, appeals, and advancements in state and municipal enforcement, as well as updated state regulations, are on our side, including the 511 Public Hearing request that we made on August 15, 2024, was GRANTED by ECMC and was held at Erie Middle School on October 29, 2024.
  • The Town of Erie and Southern Land Trust (Westerly development) have made demands of Civitas, the extraction company, which have not yet been met.
  • We must mobilize and build the movement to stop it as quickly as we can