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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.0 Extension Request 03.24.2011Chevron %MO March 24, 2011 Julie Justus Regulatory Specialist MldContinent/Alaska SEW Mr. Fred Jarman Garfield County Building and Planning 108 8th Street, Suite 401 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 Chevron North America Exploration and Production Company (A Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Division) 760 Horizon Drive Suite 401 Grand Junction, Colorado 81506 Telephone: 970.257.6042 Email: jjustus @chevron.com Re: Request for Board of County Commissioner Approval to extend term of use - Chevron Temporary Produced Water Management Facility; 598 -35BV Dear Mr. Jarman: Chevron U.S.A. Inc. ( "Chevron ") is seeking approval to amend its existing Temporary Produced Water Management Facility Special Use Permit (Resolution 200941, SUP 18908) to extend the term of the existing permit for a period of the earlier of one year from the date of permit expiration or the date wherein facility upgrades, to be proposed under separate application, can be permitted, installed and commissioned for service. This proposal is made in the interest of continuous and uninterrupted produced water handling. The installation and operation of the Temporary Produced Water Management Facility was approved by the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners on June 15, 2009 (See attached Resolution 2009 -41, SUP 18908 and Land Use Change Permit to amend approval conditions). Chevron previously applied for a permit extension for the subject facility in 2010 and received Garfield County approval for an additional 12 months with a revised expiration date of July 7, 2011. At the time of that request, Chevron anticipated, and was planning for the installation of a permanent Produced Water Management Tank Facility to replace the Temporary Water Management Facility. However, due to a generally unfavorable economic outlook for the near -term natural gas market, the project funding for the permanent facility will not be made available at this time. Consequently, the Temporary Produced Water Management Facility will necessarily be in use longer than expected. The Temporary Produced Water Management System was designed for short -term use and as such will require tank and technology upgrades for use over the longer term. Chevron is proposing to replace the existing 500 bbl frac tanks with five (5) 1,000 bbl upright tanks that can be equipped with vapor recovery and remote monitoring and control technologies (e.g., SCADA) and is currently in the process of preparing the permit application documents for these site modifications. Location Description The Temporary Produced Water Management Facility is located in the central portion of the Clear Creek Valley approximately 2.5 miles north northwest of the terminal end of County Road 211 and within the Chevron Piceance Basin Natural Gas Development area (See attached Vicinity Maps). The facility occupies approximately 0.86 acres of an existing 3.4 acre well pad which lies in portions of Tracts 110 and 111 of Parcel 2137- 321 -00 -008 within the Gentle Slopes and Lower Valley Floor (RLGS) sub - district of the Resource Lands Zone District. The subject parcel and adjacent parcels have historically been used for cattle grazing, mining and natural gas extraction as it is today. The subject facility is constructed on a portion of the existing SKR- 598 -35 -BV well pad located in the SE1 /4NE1 /4 of Section 35, Township 5 South, Range 98 West of the 6th P.M., in Garfield County, Colorado, and currently consists of twenty four (24) 500 barrel (bbl) (21,000 gallon) frac tanks (10 for storage and 14 for emergency overflow capacity) and a pump and filter system to manage produced water storage, recycle and disposal. Change to Existing Approved Land Use Chevron offers the following to address the definition of Substantial Change as written in the Garfield County Unified Land Use Resolution of 2007. Garfield County defines Substantial Change as a change to an existing approved land use resulting in one or more of the following: 1. A change in land use category: This amendment proposal is consistent with the purpose and intended use of the permitted facility and does not purport to change the permitted land use. 2. A change in site design which increases: a. The number of dwelling units: No dwelling units are permitted at this facility or proposed in this amendment application. b. The maximum square footage of structures less than 10,000 sq. ft. over 100% and structures over 10,000 sq. ft. by 10 %, if a maximum has been specified in a permit approval: No changes to the existing facility are proposed in this amendment application. c. Projected traffic such that a highway access permit or an amendment to a highway access permit is required as a result of the change: This amendment proposal does not constitute a change in site design or facility operation which would increase the projected traffic or change the access requirements. The permitted facility is accessed by private road and no highway access permit is required. d. The size of the land which is the subject of the permit or approval: No surface disturbance is proposed in this application.