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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.22 Traffic SummaryTPR 176-25 Underground Injection Control Well Traffic Summary Article 4 Section 203.L. CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 Houston, TX 77056 September 2022 CPX TPR 176-25 UIC Well Article 4 Section 203.L. – Traffic Summary Administrative Review 1 CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC Garfield County, Colorado 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 2022 Houston, TX 77056 INTRODUCTION CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC (CPX), the Applicant, is pursuing an Administrative Review (AR) in Garfield County, Colorado for the development of an underground injection control (UIC) well, the TPR 176-25 UIC Well. The following Traffic Summary addresses the requirements for the Traffic Study under Article 4 Section 203.L. of the Garfield County Land Use and Development Code (LUDC). The Traffic Summary summarizes the findings of a traffic impact analysis performed by CPX for the TPR 176-25 UIC well. The Traffic Summary provides traffic projections for development and operation of the proposed UIC well. Use of the proposed TPR 176-25 UIC well will result in a reduction in vehicles accessing county and public roads to haul produced water. Therefore, a waiver has been requested for Article 4 Section 203.L.1.c., Study Preparation. CPX proposes to convert an existing drilled but uncompleted (non-producing) natural gas well, TPR 176-25, to a Class II UIC well. The TPR 176-25 UIC well’s function will be for disposal of produced water from natural gas wells operated by CPX. There will be no third-party commercial use of the well. The UIC well is expected to operate for 30 years. The location is Parcel #245306100005 in Garfield County, Colorado. The proposed Class II UIC well will be located on a portion of CPX’s privately-owned Tepee Park Ranch (TPR). TPR is 4,352 acres. It is in an unpopulated, remote rural area of Garfield County. The proposed UIC well will be located on an existing oil and gas location owned by CPX, approximately 12 roadway miles south of Rifle, Colorado and approximately 3.5 miles from County Road 317. The legal description of the site is SW¼SE¼, Section 25, Township 7 South, Range 94 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, in unincorporated Garfield County (Vicinity Map – Attachment 1). CPX proposes to drill new natural gas wells at three potential well pad locations (Attachment 2) on TPR before 2024. The purpose of the proposed UIC well is to allow CPX to efficiently and safely manage produced water from well completions and significantly reduce truck traffic otherwise needed for disposal of produced water. The proposed UIC well will reduce the cumulative impacts from well development by providing water management and disposal within CPX’S TPR, rather than hauling water off site on public roads to commercial disposal facilities. This will reduce impacts from truck traffic and will also reduce the chance for spills and vehicle accidents associated with water disposal. • Vicinity Map – Attachment 1 • Proposed TPR Well Pad Location Figure– Attachment 2 • Public Access Map – Attachment 3 • Garfield County Traffic Count Study – Attachment 4 EXISTING ROAD NETWORK Trips to the UIC well location will use the I-70 exit (Exit 90) at Rifle, Colorado. Vehicles will drive west on 7th Street in Rifle, then south on Garden Lane (0.5 miles). Vehicles will proceed west on County Road (CR) 320 (Rifle-Rulison Road) for approximately 2.8 miles. At the intersection of CR 320 and CR 317 (Beaver Creek Road), vehicles will continue south onto CR 317 for approximately 5.4 miles. CR 317 transitions to Forest Service Road 824 (FS 824) for 1.7 miles to the end of FS 824. From this point, travel is on a private road, owned and maintained by CPX, for approximately CPX TPR 176-25 UIC Well Article 4 Section 203.L. – Traffic Summary Administrative Review 2 CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC Garfield County, Colorado 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 2022 Houston, TX 77056 0.8 miles to the UIC well location. The Public Access Map (Attachment 3) displays the access route for the UIC well. According to the Garfield County Road and Bridge Department, CR 317 and CR 320 are preferred haul routes. Both are used to access ranches and agricultural operations, rural residences, oil and gas operations, and public lands. County Road 320 Rifle-Rulison Road CR 320 (Rifle-Rulison Road) is a two-lane hard surface roadway with graveled shoulders. The posted speed limit is 35 mph with reduce speeds of 15 mph on some curves. Garfield County Road & Bridge conducted county-wide traffic counts (Attachment 4). Daily traffic was counted for county roads in 2014 and 2019. The 2014 traffic count study was conducted in June and concluded that the average daily traffic (ADT) was 236 vehicles per day (vpd) on CR 320 (West End) at that time. The 2019 traffic county was conducted in April and concluded that the average daily traffic (ADT) was 133 vehicles per day (VPD) on CR 320. County Road 317 Beaver Creek Road CR 317 (Beaver Creek Road) is hard surfaced for the first mile on the north end and then becomes an unpaved road maintained by Garfield County. The Garfield County Road & Bridge Department provided data that was collected on County Road 317 (Beaver Creek Road) during the September 2014 traffic counts. This data indicates that CR 317 had an average of 768 VPD at that time. The 2019 traffic study, conducted in April, concluded that CR 317 had an average of 102 VPD. Background Traffic Volumes Background traffic volume counts from 2014 and 2019 are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Garfield County Traffic Count Studies – Average Daily County (ADC) County Road Road Name 2014 ADC Actual 2019 ADC Actual 2022 ADC Estimated Average1 CR 320 Rifle-Rulison Road 236 133 185 CR 317 Beaver Creek Road 768 102 435 1The estimated average normalizes the seasonal variation in data collected by the county and considers variation in road use corresponding to peak and off-peak oil and gas traffic. TRIP GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION The Applicant/Operator reviewed and analyzed vehicles necessary for activities and operations for the proposed UIC well. Subject to permit approval and equipment availability, conversion of the existing TPR 176-25 into a Class II UIC well is planned to occur in Q1 2023. There will be 2 stages during the life of the UIC well. The stages and estimated timeframe for each stage are listed below: • Conversion of the Existing Uncompleted Well into a Class II UIC Well – 6 days over a 14-day span • Operation of the Class II UIC Well – 30 years CPX TPR 176-25 UIC Well Article 4 Section 203.L. – Traffic Summary Administrative Review 3 CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC Garfield County, Colorado 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 2022 Houston, TX 77056 During well conversion, personnel will access the site daily. During operation, however, inspection and maintenance will be conducted by personnel otherwise on site performing similar activity for other operations on TPR. The vehicle trips would be accounted for within the background traffic volume on TPR. The UIC well does not require dedicated personnel or truck trips during operation. UIC Well Conversion The existing uncompleted well will be converted to a UIC well. The well, located on an existing well pad, was previously drilled but never completed. No grading activities will be associated with the UIC well conversion because the well is located on an existing well pad. UIC well conversion is anticipated to require 6 days of activity, spread non-consecutively over approximately 14 days. During this phase, activities will include transport for frac equipment, cement equipment, and wireline, and the delivery of UIC well and well head equipment. Vehicles will consist of large transport vehicles and vehicles for installation and support equipment. There will be 56 large vehicle transport trips and 34 light duty pickup trips during well conversion, or 90 trips total. The resulting trips per day is 15 trips per day of conversion. Operation The operations phase of the UIC well is up to 30 years, depending on CPX’s well pad production. Produced water will be transported to the UIC well by pipeline from CPX well pads. Truck trips will not be used to transport water to the well. Personnel truck trips are part of the normal background daily inspection and maintenance occurring on TPR for natural gas wells and pads. Reclamation/ Final Grading Activities CPX does not have a specific estimate for plugging and abandonment of the UIC well. On average, a UIC well may be used for 30 years to support natural gas wells. Reclamation standards at the time of closure will influence vehicular traffic and timeline associated with reclamation activities. CPX anticipates that vehicles will access the site from public access roads. Vehicle activities utilized during reclamation activities will consist of large equipment transportation vehicles and pick-up trucks. Vehicle Trips Table 2 summarizes the expected vehicle trips for the UIC well that will access the well from public roads. Trips reflect a vehicle accessing the site from a public road (one trip) and vehicle leaving the site to access a public road (one trip); therefore, one vehicle, round-trip, will count as two trips in the table below. Table 2. Estimated Traffic Projections – Public Roadway Access Operational Phases Estimated Trips* Accessing Public Roads Projections Per Activity Activity Duration Large Equipment Transportation Trips Pickup Truck Trips Total Trips* VPD** Accessing Public Roads UIC Well Conversion 6 days 56 34 90 15 Operations Phase 30 years * One vehicle equals two trips. **VPD= Vehicles (trips) Per Day, averaged over number of days of activity. CPX TPR 176-25 UIC Well Article 4 Section 203.L. – Traffic Summary Administrative Review 4 CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC Garfield County, Colorado 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 2022 Houston, TX 77056 UIC well conversion is anticipated to require 6 days of activity, spread non-consecutively over approximately 14 days. During operation, the UIC well will be staffed by personnel operating CPX natural gas wells on Well Pad 25A. The UIC well does not require dedicated staff and traffic. An average of one pick- up truck will access the location from within the TPR operations area during operations, which includes inspection and maintenance activities. Using the proposed UIC well avoids hauling produced water from TPR to a commercial disposal facility. The average water-hauling truck can haul 150 barrels. CPX estimates that use of the UIC well avoids approximately 30,000 large vehicle hauling trips for produced water on county roads during pre-production, with avoidance of additional haul trips during production. County Road 320 – Rifle-Rulison Road Tables 3 and 4 show the expected percentage of increased trips for UIC well conversion on CR 320 and CR 317. The expected increase is 8.1% during 6 days of well conversion on CR 320 and 3.4% on CR 317. There will be no measurable increase during operation because the UIC well is served by pipeline. An operator is otherwise on location daily supporting TPR natural gas wells and locations. Table 3: CR 320 Trip Increase CR 320 Est. ADC Year VPD During Conversion Generated Increased Percent Resulting from VPD Average 185 2023 15 8.1% Table 4: CR 317 Trip Increase CR 317 Est. ADC Year VPD During Conversion Generated Increased Percent Resulting from VPD Average 435 2023 15 3.4% ROADWAY ANALYSIS Existing Parcel Current land use on the subject parcel is primarily natural gas development. The majority of existing traffic on CR 317 is related to natural gas development activities, agricultural activities, low density rural residential uses, and public lands. Railroad Crossings The roadway access to this site does not cross any active railroad right-of-way. Forest Service Road 824 Forest Service Road 824 was reconstructed by CPX in 2018 after the USFS conducted a 2-year National Environmental Policy Act environmental assessment to approve relocation of the road away from Beaver Creek, the commercial use of the road, and the installation of buried gas, water, and condensate pipelines. The road was constructed to CDOT specifications with improved stormwater controls and adequate width, grade, and visibility for commercial use. CPX uses the road under an operation and maintenance agreement and annual operating plan with the Forest Service. CPX TPR 176-25 UIC Well Article 4 Section 203.L. – Traffic Summary Administrative Review 5 CPX Piceance Holdings, LLC Garfield County, Colorado 34 S. Wynden Drive, Suite 240 2022 Houston, TX 77056 SUMMARY Based on the expected trip generation rates discussed above, average daily traffic will increase slightly on CR 320 and CR 317 during 6 days in 2023. The traffic increase during UIC well operation is expected to be insignificant and subsumed with current traffic for the operator accessing TPR for daily natural gas well inspection and maintenance. Use of the UIC well will avoid an estimated 30,000 large vehicle hauling trips for produced water on county roads during pre-production, with avoidance of additional haul trips during production.