Routine maintenance work on oil wells located in Erie Community Park has some local residents upset and embarrassed this week.
In a mailer sent out to nearby neighborhoods, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation explained the work, which uses a work over rig and heavy equipment, would take up to three weeks to complete.
“Just like your car every few thousand miles, Anadarko periodically performs routine maintenance on existing wells,” the mailer stated. The procedure is regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Though crews will only be working weekdays, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., residents expressed frustration at the work over rig’s visibility and increase in traffic — between seven and 10 water and cement trucks in the area per day.
“It’s so embarrassing,” wrote Kyle Roth, a member of the Pratt & WC Well Monitoring by the Community Facebook group. “I wonder what parents from other towns think when they take their kids to soccer field or baseball fields by the community center to play a game.”
Spanning 41 acres, the centrally-located park is home to The Ballpark at Erie and the Erie Community State Park.
“I’m concerned about the working being done. . .because we don’t really know what is being performed at the well site and the health risks involved,” Roth said. “What also frustrates me is the fact that the town’s Unified Development Code allows developers to build 150 feet away from exiting wells.”
That means at some point, homes built within 150 feet of these wells will also have to deal with well maintenance, explained Roth.
“This makes me very uncomfortable and unfortunately for Erie residents, we are going to see much more of this ‘maintenance’ activity close to our homes, schools, and parks.”
Erie has long been a flashpoint town when it comes to oil and gas drilling.
In late January, the Erie Board of Trustees voted to reject an “emergency” one-year moratorium on new drilling permits within the town’s borders.
Born out of news that Encana Corp., a Calgary-based oil and gas company, had filed plans to drill 13 wells on two pads between two affluent subdivisions, trustees promised to work on crafting memoranda of understanding with oil and gas companies to address community concerns about noise, truck traffic, and home values.
