Whitewater Unit Oil Exploration and Development Project EA

Transcription

1 Whitewater Unit Oil Exploration and Development Project EA

2 Whitewater Unit General Location Mesa and Delta Counties, Colorado The Whitewater Unit is located approximately 15 miles south of the City of Grand Junction

3 NEPA process Present purpose and need BLM must respond to operator s plan to develop lease Put initial project plan out for scoping up to discretion of field office GJFO decided: Public meeting Letters to interested parties (people who commented on first project Local municipalities, CPW, etc

4 Whitewater Project Area Surface/Mineral Ownership Fed/Fed 72.38% Pri/Pri 12.63% GJ/GJ 7.96% Pri/Fed 6.62% Fed/Pri 0.41%

5 Existing Oil and Gas Development 20 Existing well pads* 6 on federal lands 14 on private lands Fram drilled wells* 2 wells in wells in wells in 2011 Current production* Approximately 30 barrels of oil per day *Source: Fram Americas MDP and Personal Communication

6 Proposed Action Year 1 4 Proposed Well Pads All federal/federal Year 2 8 Proposed Well Pads 7 on federal/federal 1 on private/federal Up to 108 Wells

7 Proposed Action Well Pad Disturbance Dimension: 300 ft x 300 ft Area: 3.5 acres each (drilling) 0.8 acre each (production) Total temporary disturbance 42.0 acres Total long-term disturbance 9.6 acres

8 Proposed Action Roads and Pipelines Greater than 92 percent of proposed roads are existing Use of County Road (collector) Upgrade existing two-track roads (local and resource roads) Oil/Water gathering lines adjacent to roads

9 Fram MDP Design Features Closed Loop Drilling Systems Water Gathering System Remote Telemetry Stormwater BMPs Gold Book Standards Green Completions Combustion Unit

10 Water Resources Grand Junction Watershed 54,548 total acres Watershed/Whitewater Unit 3,259 acres 6 percent of Watershed in Whitewater Unit One existing well pad No proposed well pads

11 T&E and Sensitive Species Surveys Identified and Mapped Species Located Raptor Nests and Habitat Documented Invasive and Non-native Plant Species Identified Waters of the U.S. and Wetlands Documented Birds of Conservation Concern Characterized Vegetation/Habitat Potential T&E Species Canada Lynx Endangered Colorado River Fish Greenback Cutthroat Trout Colorado Hookless Cactus* DeBeque Phacelia BLM Sensitive Species Kit Fox and White-tailed Prairie Dog Overall Ranges Prairie Dog Colonies* Burrowing Owl Nest* Golden Eagle Active Nest Sites * Documented within the Project Area

12 Wildlife Big Game Ranges * Mule Deer Critical Winter Range 8,511 acres 9 existing pads/1 proposed pad Elk Winter Concentration Area 10,667 acres 0 existing pads/1 proposed pad Pronghorn Winter Concentration Area 2,231 acres 0 existing pads/0 proposed pad All ranges combined 19,745 acres 9 existing pads/2 new pads * COGCC rules

13 Visual Resources VRM Class II 1,761 acres No existing well pads No proposed well pads VRM Class III 18,962 acres 6 proposed well pads (6 federal surface) 12 existing well pads (6 federal/6 private)

14 Special Management Areas SMAs Near Whitewater Unit Adobe Badlands WSA Dominguez-Escalante Natural Conservation Area Dominguez Canyon Wilderness

15 Received over 300 pages of comments EA is in the analysis stage Substantive comments will be addressed or incorporated into the proposed action Examples of issues raised which will be incorporated into the proposed action: listed cactus all disturbance will be outside of 20m buffer CPW concerns watershed

16 Colorado Parks and Wildlife comments regarding big game winter range

17 City of Grand Junction Comprehensive comments received from Grand Junction regarding watershed issues FRAM has committed to incorporating BMPs identified developed through collaborative effort by stakeholders Watershed Plan for the town of Palisade and the City of Grand Junction August 2007

18 back to NEPA The residual effects to various resources will be analyzed in the EA (Effects remaining after mitigation is included)

19 Fram Whitewater Unit Tank Battery with Combustion Unit Drill Cuttings Lined Containment Tank Battery with Lined Containment Pumping Unit