FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Colorado State Parks is expected to seek two oil wells at St. Vrain State Park near Longmont.
The Loveland Reporter-Herald reported () that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is looking at wells on the boundaries of the 604-acre park in northern Colorado. The decision was discussed last week at a wildlife commission meeting in Fort Collins.
Theo Stein, a spokesman for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission said the wells would be operated only in the fall to minimize wildlife disruption.
“The resources are going to be drilled anyway,” he said.
Unlike other state parks, the state owns 439 acres of mineral rights below St. Vrain, giving it the opportunity to tap the resource and make an estimated $400,000 per year. The newspaper reports that the money would help the strapped state parks and wildlife system.
“I think it is important folks understand we are looking at a unique situation here,” said Bob Streeter, commission member from Fort Collins. “We’re not making a broad recommendation about mineral development in state parks. We’re moving forward to make sure we maintain control of the process.”
Wildlife commissioners said that if the state doesn’t drill under St. Vrain, a private company will.
The resources could be accessed from neighboring land, and if that happened, the state would have no say.
However, the state’s proposal could cause some environmental concern. The newspaper reports that the horizontal drilling procedure the state is looking at entails fracking, a practice the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday may have caused groundwater pollution in Wyoming.
The state hopes to apply for a drilling permit within the next couple months from the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission with hopes of drilling by next winter.
If approved, St. Vrain would be the second state park to have wells drilled, but the only one in which the state owns the mineral rights.
“It’s unlikely this will set a precedent because (state parks) do not own a lot of mineral rights,” Stein added.
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Information from: Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald,
