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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.07 Ursa BM PUD Project Narrative NTC Revisions 08-06-15Article 4-203.B.4 Project Description Ursa Operating Company and Battlement Mesa Partners Major Impact Review Application Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I BMC B OAProject No. 014-1829 OLSSON ASSOCIATES Article 4.203.6.5 — Project Description Ursa Operating Company and Battlement Mesa Partners Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I BMC B SECTION 4-203.6.5 PROJECT DESCRIPTION Ursa Operating Company, LLC (Ursa) and Battlement Mesa Partners (BMP) request a Garfield County (GarCo) Special Use Permit (SUP) and approval for construction of a natural gas well pad (BMC B) within the Battlement Mesa PUD (PUD). Ursa is requesting this SUP as directed in GarCo Resolution 82-121 recorded October 20, 1982 creating the PUD which specifies that extraction and processing natural resources is an allowed special use. The proposed facility will allow for the drilling of up to 24 wells to extract natural gas within the PUD on Ursa owned natural gas leases. Ursa will transport gas from the well pad to a consolidated sales point outside the PUD through gas pipelines. Produced water pipelines will be trenched in the same right-of-way with the gas pipelines to transport water away from the well pad for disposal at Ursa's permitted water disposal facilities. Proposed pipelines will be 8 to 16 inches in diameter and approximately 2.5 miles in length. This application is written using the Garfield County 2013 Land Use and Development Code with some references to the 1979 Zoning Code. The submittals, standards, and public noticing for a Major Impact Review are being followed for this Special Use Permit. In order to provide for a thorough disclosure of the project's potential impacts and mitigations, Ursa has taken into consideration the Garfield County Colorado Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for Battlement Mesa. A matrix addressing Ursa's response to the HIA will be available prior to the Planning Commission hearing. The proposed well pad will be a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) permitted well pad. All of Ursa's surface disturbances including interim and final reclamation requirements are covered under a statewide reclamation bond held by COGCC. The site for the proposed Ursa BMC B well pad is located within the Battlement Mesa PUD zone district Public, Semi -Public, and Recreational (PSR) adjacent to the Battlement Mesa PUD Water Treatment Plant. The proposed well pad is off of River Bluff Road (CR 307) in the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 18, Township 7 South, Range 95 West of the 6th P.M. on GarCo parcel number 240913406004. The parcel is approximately 15.1 acres. The surface is owned by Battlement Mesa Partners. Ursa and Battlement Mesa Partners, et al, have a Surface Use Agreement allowing Ursa to develop the natural gas resources within the PUD. The proposed well pad will 760 Horizon Road, Suite 102 TEL 970.263.7800 Grand Junction, CO 81506 FAX 970.263.7456 www.olssonassociates.com Ursa Operating Company Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I — BMC B be operated exclusively by Ursa. The surface area of the proposed project is approximately 4.4689 acres. Facility Operations Ursa conducts its natural gas operations in five sequential stages; Construction, Drilling, Completion, Production, and Final Reclamation. Construction: Prior to commencing any surface -disturbing activity, Ursa will install erosion and sediment control measures to prevent any site degradation or impacts to surface waters during the construction process. The BMC B site will be cut and graded as required to construct the proposed 250 ft by 350 ft pad surface. Topsoil will be stripped prior to the major earthmoving activity. It will be re -used to achieve stormwater and landscaping objectives. An access road will be constructed, and stormwater and drainage control structures will be installed in accordance with COGCC and CDPHE regulations and permit requirements. The pad surface will be graveled to a depth of approximately 1 foot to prevent damage to the surface of the pad from vehicle use and equipment installation. Ursa will implement best practices which have been deemed acceptable to Garfield County to mitigate dust during all construction phases. Dust control is typically accomplished via the application of fresh water and/or saline solutions (often utilizing magnesium chloride). In order to mitigate potential noise impacts to local residents and prior to the initiation of the Drilling Phase, Ursa may install an appropriately sized sound wall and conduct sound output monitoring as well as noise impacts analysis during the activities detailed below. Ursa's utilization of temporary sound walls during natural gas drilling and production has proven to provide effective mitigation and significant reduction in noise impacts. Drilling Phase: After construction of the pad is complete, conductor casings will be set for the wells on the pad. Conductor casing is set and cemented at approximately 60 feet and helps prevent collapse of shallow dirt and unconsolidated material. Ursa will comply the COGCC Rule 317 regarding casings and cementing. Next, a small drilling rig will be moved to the location and rigged up. This small drilling rig will set the surface casing strings for the wells on the pad. Surface casing is set and cemented into place at approximately 1,700 feet. Surface casing serves to protect shallow groundwater and allows for drilling of the deeper section by supporting unstable shallow formations and anchoring well control equipment. A larger drilling rig is then moved to the location in multiple truck loads and assembled over the wells to be drilled. A rotating drill string and drill bit are used to create the borehole. A water-based drilling fluid (drilling mud) is used to cool and lubricate the drill bit and circulate drill cuttings out of the hole. Production casing is set and cemented in place after the well is drilled to total depth. The drilling process typically takes three to five days for each well. Because the pad size has been minimized in order to limit the overall surface impacts, the proposed 24 wells will be drilled and brought into production over the course of up to three drilling events. Each drilling event consists of drill rig delivery, installation, and drilling of up to eight wells. The rig will then be moved to another location while these wells are completed. This is necessary, because the size of the pad is restricted by the SUA. The pad is not large enough to drill and complete wells at the same time. Throughout the life of the wells, smaller workover rigs may be brought in to clean-out and maintain the wells. Project Description Page 2 Ursa Operating Company Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I — BMC B Cuttings Sampling and Stabilization: Both surface and production hole drill cuttings will be generated at each well pad. Raw cuttings (not stabilized) will be sampled and profiled at the location of generation in accordance with Ursa's Waste Management Plan. Once the raw cuttings are sampled, they will be stabilized (absorption/removing liquids) in a temporary area on the well pad. The cuttings will be stabilized using either native soils (preferable) or a commercially available inert adsorbent (sawdust, EZ Stabil, etc.). In some cases, relocation of cuttings to another location during drilling would be required due to the small pad size permitted by the previous operator. If the volume of cuttings on the well pad during drilling exceeds the capacity of the on-site temporary area, limits operational capabilities to complete drilling, or creates safety concerns, a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) Sundry Notice (Form 4) will be submitted for approval to relocate the cuttings to another location pending the results of sampling analytical results. Cuttings Management and Disposal: If sampling results for either surface or production hole cuttings meet COGCC Table 910-1 standards, they will be treated as non -waste (essentially soil material) and will be managed under one or more of the following options: 1) remain on site for pad stabilization/reclamation; 2) be relocated to another location for pad stabilization/reclamation; 3) made available as fill material to the general public; 4) be relocated to a COGCC approved cuttings management facility; or 5) disposed of at an approved waste facility. Options 2 — 4 would be in accordance with a COGCC approved Sundry Notice (Form 4). Disposal at an approved waste facility would be managed for Item 5 under an approved waste manifest in accordance with CDPHE regulations. If cuttings don't meet standards, then Ursa will implement one of two options: continued mixing to meet Table 910-1 standards for beneficial reuse/relocation or transport to an authorized waste facility in accordance with Federal and State (COGCC/CDPHE) regulations, including manifesting. Final decisions will be based on site-specific operations logistics. Drilling mud is stored in tanks on the well pad. The mud tankage capacity will be approximately 1,200 barrels (bbls). Approximately 1,200 bbl of fresh water will be stored on site during drilling. Completion Phase: Completions is the process of treating the wellbore to allow the extraction of economic quantities of hydrocarbon. In the case of the BMC B pad, the primary well completion process is hydraulic fracturing as is typical of wells in Garfield County. After drilling is completed and production casing has been installed and cemented in the well bore, the well is logged to determine which geologic zones (formations) will need to be accessed. These subject zones are then perforated and a combination of water and sand with chemical additives is pumped into the hole under high pressure. The pressure of the water is sufficient to propagate small fractures through the target formation, creating a path for hydrocarbons to flow from the formation and into the wellbore (and ultimately to the surface equipment and pipelines for sales). The hydraulic fracturing process requires a large volume of water, and in order to handle this water, it is necessary to temporarily install mobile tanks on the pad surface. As a best management technique, Ursa utilizes closed-loop completion techniques on the BMC B pad, in which all fluids (both those initially pumped into the wellbore and those which ultimately flow back out) are recaptured in these mobile tanks and removed from the location for treatment and reuse in accordance with applicable regulations. The completions phase requires approximately 15,000 bbls of storage and working tank capacity on the well pad. Project Description Page 3 Ursa Operating Company Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I — BMC B Production Phase: Once 20-50 percent of fluids from the completion phase have been recovered from the wellbore, the well can enter production. In Production Phase, a mixture of natural gas, liquid hydrocarbons, and water flows from the wellbore to the surface. The mixture will be separated into its components by unmanned, automated separator equipment. The liquid hydrocarbon component is referred to as condensate and will be stored in tanks on the pad until removed by truck and transported to a point of sale. Ursa expects that the site will be visited approximately once every one or two weeks to collect the separated hydrocarbons. The water is referred to as produced water and will be stored in tanks on the pad until pumped via water line to a point of disposal. Produced water will be trucked off of the pad only in the event of an upset condition on the pad or along the pipeline. The natural gas will enter Ursa's pipeline infrastructure and will be transported offsite to a point of sale, where it will eventually enter the market. Starting when the BMC B pad enters the production phase, it will be an unmanned facility except for daily visits by Ursa staff and contractors to conduct regular inspections, pump tanks and perform needed maintenance. Once the facility enters production, all surface disturbance not needed for production activities will be reclaimed, and the pad surface will be reduced to the minimum extent required to service the wells and associated equipment. The reclaimed area will be graded and recontoured, covered with topsoil, and seeded with an appropriate seed mix. The BMC B pad site is projected to occupy approximately 2 acres once interim reclamation has been completed. During the Production phase, the well pad will house storage capacity for approximately 3,000 bbls of production water. There will be approximately 6 tanks, 15 feet in diameter, 9 feet high. There will be 5 separators, 12 ft W x 22 ft L x 15 ft H. Additionally, there may be a solar powered communication antenna for transmitting telemetry data for remote monitoring and operations of the well pad. There may also be a combustion unit. The combustor is a self-contained unit averaging 4 ft x 4 ft x 10 ft that combusts potential volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions generated from the produced water or condensate tanks. These are authorized by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) as an effective emissions control device. VOCs are piped to the combustor from the production tanks. Once they reach the combustor, they are burned off with a destruction efficiency of 95 to 99 percent in accordance with CDPHE regulations. Combustors are equipped with an auto ignition device to keep the pilot light burning. The combustor to be used on this site has an internal flame so there is no visible flare when it is in use. Other appurtenant equipment may include electric pumps, pipeline meters and valves, and launchers. The pumps will be housed in a pump house sized appropriately for the number and size of pumps used on the well pad. Additional Drilling Events: In locations such as the BMC B where a large number of wells are planned, Ursa typically completes development of the gas resources via a series of drilling events. During each event, up to eight wells will be drilled to target depth consecutively, at which point the rig will be removed from the pad. The recently drilled wells will then be completed and connected to production equipment, and the rig will then return to the location to drill another eight wells. This series of drilling events is necessary because Ursa limits the size of its well pads to the smallest practicable dimensions, as a best management practice to minimize surface disturbance. With a proposed pad surface area of 250 ft by 350 ft, there is not sufficient space on the BMC B pad to accommodate the drill rig and completions facilities simultaneously. Therefore, Project Description Page 4 Ursa Operating Company Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I — BMC B Ursa will use a series of drilling events, as described above, to allow for the initial wells to be completed and placed into production without delay. This will allow Ursa to evaluate the effectiveness of its drilling and completions procedures under the particular conditions found at BMC B, and to make any necessary adjustments to the wells drilled in later events. Final Reclamation: Natural gas wells of the type proposed for the BMC B typically have a productive life span of approximately 20 to 30 years. When the amount of gas produced by a well declines to the point that it is no longer economical to continue operations, the well is plugged and abandoned. The plugging process involves the installation of permanent, impermeable concrete in the well bore, sufficient to prevent any movement of water, oil, or gas in accordance with applicable COGCC and CDPHE Rules. The abandonment process involves the removal of all surface equipment and the backfilling of all excavation, in accordance with applicable COGCC and CDPHE Rules. When all the wells at BMC B have reached uneconomic levels of production and have been plugged and abandoned, the site will enter Final Reclamation, in accordance with applicable COGCC and CDPHE Rules. All equipment will be removed, and the pad and associated infrastructure (roads and pipeline rights-of-way) will be closed, graded, recontoured, and seeded with appropriate seed mix. The Final Reclamation process is considered complete when vegetative cover over the entire site reaches 80% of pre -disturbance levels. This determination is made by the COGCC and includes only desirable vegetation, not weed species. Development Timeline and Employee Numbers The typical timeline for the development and production of the well pad is: Table 1. Development Timeline Phase Duration No. of Employees Pad Construction 21 days 6 contractors per day Drilling 80 days (4 days per well) 20 contractors per day Completions 200 days (10 days per well) 35 contractors per day Production 30 years 1 employee per day Final Reclamation 14 days 6 contractors per day The anticipated construction schedule will be approximately one month beginning in the second quarter of 2016. Construction start is dependent upon weather conditions. Grading and/or construction sequence, including the installation and removal of erosion and sediment control measures, and the estimated duration of exposure of each area prior to the completion of temporary erosion and sediment control measures will follow Ursa's CDPHE approved Stormwater Management Plan and Permit and COGCC Rules for interim and final reclamation and the SUA. The cost of the soil erosion control measures is $10,000 for the pad. Hours of Operation Preliminary construction of the well pad generally takes place during daylight hours. These hours are restricted by the SUA to between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm. Drilling and completions activities will take place 24 hours a day as allowed in the SUA. Once the pad enters the Production phase, it Project Description Page 5 Ursa Operating Company Battlement Mesa PUD Phase I — BMC B will be an unmanned facility with periodic visits by Ursa personnel and contractors for routine inspections and maintenance between the hours of 7:00 am and 8:00 pm. Parking Lot and Access Road No formalized parking lot will be developed as part of the BMC B well pad. Only authorized personnel will be on the site during any part of the operation of the well pad. No public access will be allowed. Employees and contractors will be directed to park in specific areas based on safety needs during each phase of the pad's operation. The access road is approximately 982 feet from River Bluff Road to the proposed well pad site. The first part of the road also serves the vehicle, RV and boat storage area for the PUD. The road will be graveled and gated after the entrance to the PUD storage area to keep unauthorized personnel from entering the site. The access is designed to channel stormwater off the road and around the well pad site, while controlling erosion and sedimentation. Table 2. Summary of Required Permits Permit Required Responsible Regulatory Agency Status Land Use Change Permit —Major Impact Review Garfield County Application submitted June 2015 Stormwater Permit CDPHE Permit COR03K66 issued 5/21/2013, and administratively continued 5/21/2013, included in this permit. Air Quality CDPHE Air Permit Application will be submitted no later than ninety days following the date of first production. Form 2 — Application for Permit to Drill COGCC Permit Application in process Form 2A — Location Assessment COGCC Permit Application in process Access/Driveway Permit Garfield County Ursa will obtain any required access permits within 30 days prior to construction Pipeline Special Use Permit Garfield County Application submitted June 2015 Building Permits Garfield County No building permits are anticipated to be required, but Ursa will obtain as necessary. Project Description Page 6