Petrogulf
Compressor Unanimaously Approved!
by Mike Garrett
The Pueblo Chieftain
Published: Wednesday October 15, 2003
TRINIDAD - Las Animas County commissioners unanimously
approved Petrogulf
Corp.'s permit for three natural gas compressor engines.
The compressors will be built on a 2.52-acre site on
land leased from the
state in the Wet Canyon area 30 miles northwest of Trinidad.
The commissioners attached a number of conditions to
the permit, however,
after neighbors expressed fears about noise.
The approval process took three months to resolve when
nearly 20 Wet Canyon
area residents voiced their disapproval of the project.
Evergreen Resources
officials also publicly objected to the approval, largely
because they felt
Petrogulf didn't have to abide by the same environmental
impact restrictions
as Evergreen has, particularly in terms of constructing
larger noise buffer
zones.
Petrogulf sought the compressor station to begin transmitting
natural gas
pumped from its nine nearby well sites into Colorado
Interstate Gas'
regional transmission pipelines.
The Denver-based natural gas development company plans
to develop hundreds
of coalbed methane natural gas well sites over the next
25 to 30 years,
according to Petrogulf engineer John Whisler. He indicated
Petrogulf would
begin site construction "as soon as possible."
Under the terms of the permit, Petrogulf will be allowed
to build only one
gas compressor at a time to ensure that each complies
with established sound
measurement readings and state decibel level requirements.
The company will have to build a sound-deadening earthen
berm around the
site and fully enclosed building using sufficient insulation
materials over
the mechanical components.
Petrogulf will have to submit visual mitigation and
emergency preparedness
plans and satisfy all L.A. County land use coordination,
environmental
quality and surface disturbance standards.
Commissioner Jim Montoya summed up the issue when he
noted that the board
felt the proposed Wet Canyon compressor site was probably
not the best or
most suitable location "but their application is
in full compliance with all
state (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission)
rules and regulations."
Petrogulf lawyer Chris Hayes said the resolution stipulations
shouldn't be
that difficult for compliance "although I have some
different legal opinions
about which of their land-use regulations apply in certain
circumstances.
But all the things they asked us to do are things that
we were contemplating
doing."
As for the noise issues, Hayes said the company wouldn't
guarantee that area
residents couldn't hear compressor engine noises and
object to them.
"But
the record we submitted in this application and all
the work we've done
shows that this should be a very quiet facility," said
Hayes. "In addition,
the county has asked that we do more mitigation work
than is really needed
in this situation. But it fits our operational design
plans anyway and I
think when all the site testing and noise monitoring
and analysis is done,
it will be very quiet. That doesn't mean no one is going
to hear this thing
ever."
Hayes noted that the nearest house to the compressor
site is six-tenths of a
mile away and it's not occupied continuously. "We
think the nearest
continuously occupied house is more than a mile away."
Whisler estimated initial construction costs at close
to $14 million and the
company will employ 25 to 75 company contractors and
outside subcontractors
at the site during construction. He said Petrogulf has
currently leased
7,000 acres from the Colorado Land Board for future coalbed
methane gas well
site development with an option for 7,000 more, and anticipates
the company
will drill around 200 wells over the next two years.
"We
know that the gas is in the ground out there waiting
for us to develop,"
he said.
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