North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan

NORTH FORK MANCOS MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN UPDATE – MARCH 2019

The BLM and USFS are requesting comments on Gunnison Energy’s updated North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan (NFMMDP). The NFMMDP, which was submitted in 2017, originally stated that Gunnison Energy (GE) would use a nitrogen foam material to hydraulically fracture their 35 wells. GE now plans to use the more common and water-intensive “slickwater” to frack the wells. According to Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, “The change means the water required to frack each well could increase from around 30,000 barrels to about 500,000 barrels.” 500,000 barrels is equivalent to 21 million gallons, or 65 acre feet of water. The BLM and USFS are now seeking public input on the proposed changes.

CLICK HERE FOR WSCC’S FACT SHEET ON THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE NFMMDP

You can view the revised proposal and preliminary environmental assessment  online at https://go.usa.gov/xQBaq. Comments must be received by April 1, 2019, via mail to the BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652, via email to [email protected] or online at https://go.usa.gov/xQBaq.

Click here for an article on the plan updates in The Daily Sentinel

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Here is the full press release from BLM & USFS:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2019

Contact:          Steven Hall (BLM), (303) 239-3672
Kim Phillips (USFS), (970) 327-4261

BLM and Forest Service provide additional opportunity for comments on revised oil and gas development proposal northeast of Paonia, Colorado

MONTROSE, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Uncompahgre Field Office and Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests are seeking public comments on a revised oil and gas proposal  about 12 miles northeast of Paonia.

Gunnison Energy has revised its North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan, which proposes drilling up to 35 oil and gas wells from five pads, to use a more common and effective hydraulic fracturing method.

The proposed wells would be on national forest system lands managed by the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Paonia Ranger District, and private land. Wells could produce up to 700 billion cubic feet of natural gas over the 30-year life of the project. The proposal estimates that approximately 122 workers would be employed during development of the wells, which would occur over four years.

“Gunnison Energy changed its proposal to use the slickwater method of hydraulic fracturing instead of the previously proposed nitrogen foam method. It is important for the public to have the opportunity to review the modified proposal and provide comments specific to the new aspects of this proposal,” said BLM Uncompahgre Field Manager Greg Larson. “If approved, this project has the potential to make additional energy reserves available for the American public while bringing additional jobs to our local communities.”

The State of Colorado receives 49 percent of revenues from leases issued on public lands in Colorado, which could result in up to $27 million in payments over the life of the project.

The proposal and preliminary environmental assessment can be viewed online at https://go.usa.gov/xQBaq. For comments to be considered, submissions must be received by April 1, 2019, via mail to the BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652, via email to [email protected] or online athttps://go.usa.gov/xQBaq.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

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NORTH FORK MANCOS MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN – MARCH 2017

35 new natural gas wells have been proposed for the upper North Fork of the Gunnison watershed, posing significant impacts to local drinking and irrigation water, viewsheds, and wildlife.

Please submit scoping comments to the BLM indicating your concern before the deadline on March 22, 2017. The public will have the opportunity to provide additional response to the plan, but this is the best opportunity to make sure the BLM fully analyses the possible impacts of this development.

Check out maps created by Rocky Mountain Wild to provide an overview of the proposal and possible impacts to wildlife and other resources.

NFMMDP_Regional Overview

NFMMDP_Game Animals

NFMMDP_Development Context

TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMENT:

• Request the BLM to consider impacts from all potential development associated with the plan, totaling up to 108 wells on 13 pads, rather than the first 35 wells on 5 pads
• Ask for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will provide more thorough analysis of possible impacts, rather than an Environmental Assessment (EA)
• Ask the BLM to consider cumulative impact from all current and projected oil and gas within the region, including the 146-well Bull Mountain project occurring in the immediate vicinity

TO SUBMIT COMMENT:

Email to: [email protected]

cc: [email protected]

 

BLM provided this news release upon announcement of the proposal:

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Borders, BLM Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 240-5399
Lee Ann Loupe, GMUG Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 874-6717
Jan. 18, 2017

BLM and Forest Service seek public comment on natural gas
development proposal north of Paonia

MONTROSE, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) are seeking public comment on a natural gas development proposal about 12 miles north of Paonia, Colo.

Gunnison Energy LLC’s North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan proposes drilling up to 35 horizontal wells from four new well pads and one existing well pad over the next three years. Three new well pads would be on National Forest System lands and one on private. The existing pad is on private land drilling into federal minerals.

The project area is accessed via Gunnison County Road 265. The proposal includes upgrading up to 2.2 miles of roads and construction of up to 4.6 miles of new roads. Total initial surface disturbance associated with the project would be approximately 26 acres on Federal lands and 10 acres on private lands. Of these totals, about 17 acres of Federal lands and 3 acres of private lands would remain disturbed over the long-term. Gunnison Energy estimates the wells could produce 700 billion cubic feet of natural gas over 30 years.

The GMUG and BLM are asking the public to identify comments, concerns and issues before they begin drafting the environmental assessment analyzing this proposal.
“We require companies to provide a multi-year Master Development Plan proposal so that we can better analyze and mitigate potential impacts from oil and gas development,” said Joe Meyer, BLM Southwest District Manager.

“Public involvement is an important part of our analysis of this proposal,” said Scott Armentrout, GMUG Forest Supervisor. “Comments specific to the proposed action will be the most effective.”

The proposal and associated maps are available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/gmug/landmanagement/projects or the BLM project website at http://bit.ly/2jkGD3K.
Comments need to be received by Feb. 21, 2017.

Written comments and questions should be directed to the Bureau of Land Management, Attn: North Fork Mancos MDP, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652 or submitted electronically to [email protected].

Before including your address, phone number, email address or other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.