The town of Erie announced Friday it has been notified by Encana Oil & Gas that it plans to begin drilling operations in about a week on six wells at a controversial location in southwest Weld County.
The notice from Encana says the first phase of work will begin at the location, east of Vista Parkway and north of Weld County Road 4, the week of Nov. 10 and will last through March.
Operations there are expected to conclude by early summer.
“At this location, you’ll see sound mitigation around the perimeter of the pad, Encana will monitor mud and dust and mitigate it as needed, and adjust lights away from homes and maintain the approved access for this location,” the city advised in a release.
Erie’s town trustees in August unanimously approved 13 new hydraulic fracturing wells just west of the Front Range Landfill, despite their proximity to the Vista Pointe and Vista Ridge subdivisions.
Residents packed the Erie Town Hall for the Aug. 12 trustees meeting at which the drilling operations were approved, many of them voicing concern that Encana’s plans could be detrimental to health, property values and water quality.
Erie Mayor Tina Harris said the trustees’ authority was limited to considering the proposed wells on four specific criteria: whether setbacks between wells and existing structures met state guidelines, evaluating access roads to the sites, setting rules on fencing at the sites and establishing the color of the operational facilities.
“We know you’re not going to be happy, but we have to approve or disapprove based on those four criteria,” Harris said the night of the vote.
