Concerned about drilling oil wells close to a new Erie housing development, state regulators asked Civitas Resources to look at an alternative site. When the company came back and said there wasn’t an alternative it got a greenlight Wednesday on its original plan.
The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission approved Civitas’ plan to drill 26 wells, which would extend 5 miles underneath Erie from a 19-acre location in Weld County just outside city limits.
The so-called Draco site is next to the Southern Land Company’s planned 1,400-home subdivision, which would include 72 homes within the 2,000-foot health and safety setback established by the ECMC. There are also tentative plans for a park and school in the same area…