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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

More wells approved in Battlement Mesa

Courtesy of www.garfield-county.com

The state approved 22 oil and gas wells in a Battlement Mesa residential community late last week.

The well pad, which sits within 1,000 feet of a subdivision, is the second development to be approved under the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s new rules about drilling in urban areas.

The location of this well pad was contested by neighbors because of its proximity to the community’s water intake on the Colorado River.

 

“We feel that we have a rigorous process that this permit went through and that our rules and the conditions will be protective of public health, safety, and the environment,” said Matt Lepore, director of the state commission.  

A hearing about this well pad had been postponed several times since July, and because of the approval, it will no longer be held.

Representatives with the group Battlement Concerned Citizens decried the decision and say they will continue to push for local and state regulations for drilling in residential neighborhoods.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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