Draco Well Pad Hearing Postponed with Location Analysis Underway

Civitas Resources is required by ECMC ruling to consider an alternate location within the Town of Erie.

The Draco Well Pad, a 26-well project that would break ground in Weld County just outside of the Town of Erie and drill 5 miles horizontally into Boulder County, has been postponed indefinitely while Civitas Resources, Inc. conducts an alternative location analysis. 

The hearing scheduled for March 13 is now rescheduled for March 26. Those who wish to submit public comment can do so here under docket number 240100004 for the Draco Pad Oil and Gas Development Plan. 

The Energy and Carbon Management Commission ordered an indefinite stay on the Draco Oil & Gas Development Plan in November 2024, requiring the developers to pursue rezoning of Alternative Location 4 within Erie, south of the closed Denver Regional Landfill and west of the active Front Range Regional Landfill. 

The rezoning would give Erie jurisdiction over whether to approve or deny an application for the Draco Oil & Gas Development Plan. Because the current proposal is technically outside Erie town limits, the town has no sitting authority on the Draco pad, though it is the proximate local government, and has some influence on how the project proceeds. 

Prior to submitting an application for the site in January 2024, Extraction Oil and Gas — a subsidiary of Civitas Resources — evaluated 4 alternative locations in Boulder County and Erie but “determined that there were no feasible locations that were allowed by local regulations.” This included Alternative Location 4, which is back under consideration per the November ECMC ruling.  

Turnout from November’s ECMC hearing.

If Civitas comes to the conclusion that Alternative Location 4 is still infeasible, the Town of Erie will be requesting that the Draco OGDP be denied unless specific Conditions of Approval are ordered by the Commission, according to a March 5 statement from the Town of Erie. 

Erie has concerns about the safety and viability of both the current proposed site, which is in close proximity to Erie residents and Alternative Location 4, which is in an area with several pre-existing oil and gas pads and could have a cumulative impact on the nearby community, said Environmental Director David Frank. 

“What we’re really talking about is a pretty experimental site,” Frank told Yellow Scene Magazine. “These are the longest laterals ever attempted, they run under some 5000 homes there in western Erie.” 

According to a Prehearing Document from Civitas Resources, Extraction Oil and Gas met with Town of Erie Staff on Dec. 16, 2024, to discuss Town of Erie regulations, including how quickly the alternative location could be rezoned to approve drilling, which is ongoing as both parties gain more information about the site. 

“I would like to see proximal local governments have more involvement and more say in these locations that are immediately outside of our boundaries because we’ll get all of the effects with none of the control and oversight,” Frank said. 

Erie residents and town officials alike are worried about air quality impacts, disruptions from heavy machinery, and the use of extreme-reach horizontal wellbores at the site. 

The original proposal for the Draco Well Pad is also within 1,500 feet of five homes in the Westerly Neighborhood. In the next three years, 72 additional homes will be built within 2,000 feet of the Draco Well pad, which creates a time constraint that could push Civitas to try to complete drilling on an expedited timeline. 

2000 foot area affected by the proposed site.

Jeff Annable, Manager for Well and Location Permitting at Extraction Oil & Gas, submitted a Consolidated Public Comment Response in August 2024 that addresses water use, the existence of 49 plugged and abandoned wells in the proposed drilling site, air quality, extreme-reach wellbores and other health and quality of life concerns. 

The document largely points to Civitas Resources’ expertise in oil and gas drilling, adherence to state and local regulations, and additional strategies that would be used at the Draco site to offset negative impacts, such as a 32-foot full-wrap sound wall to reduce aesthetic and noise pollution. 

“We’ll see what the commission says. We’ve done the best we can with the hand we were dealt to try to serve our residents and safeguard their health and well-being and quiet enjoyment of their homes,” Frank told YS. 

The hearing can be attended here with Meeting ID: 814 1297 9750