The Garfield Board of County Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a permit request for the construction of almost 40 new gas wells outside of Rifle.

Proposed by TEP Rocky Mountain LLC, the development will include the construction of a new well pad on private property owned by Clough Sheep Company LLC, around five miles northwest of Rifle and on the south side of the Roan Plateau. The pad will support 39 new directionally drilled natural gas wells, according to the permit application, which will have a production phase of around 30 years. 

Additionally, TEP will construct an access road along the existing two-track road and a pipeline system needed to support the wells with existing infrastructure that can be used for produced water, natural gas and condensate transport. 

The pipeline system will include four new pipelines for the production of gas, produced water and condensate, according to a presentation given to county commissioners by three TEP employees on Monday.

The pad, access road and additional pipelines will be located in a Mule Deer Winter Concentration Area and Aquatic Sportfish Management Waters, the application states, with the access road and pipeline corridor in an additional  Mule Deer Severe Winter Range.

Construction of the pad would create around 13 acres of new surface disturbance within the Mule Deer Winter Concentration Area, according to the application. The new pad would also create around 1.3 acres of surface disturbance within the boundary of nearby Aquatic Sportfish Management Waters. Along with the new access road and pipeline corridor, the project will spread across about 46 acres. 

Construction for the pad and additional structures are expected to take around four months, with an anticipated start date of spring of 2026, according to the presentation. Drilling operations would be split into two chunks, with the first round beginning in 2027 and the second beginning in 2028. Interim reclamation of the pad is expected to start in 2029. After reclamation, around 2 acres of long-term disturbance will remain. 

TEP states in the application that the nearest residential building unit is over a mile from the proposed location, and that odor, emissions, noise, light and dust impacts on the public are not anticipated. 

However, the project’s drilling operations are expected to increase traffic at the intersection of Colorado Highway 13 and County Road 244 by more than 20%. TEP Rocky Mountain LLC obtained an access permit from the Colorado Department of Transportation for road improvements that include restriping the highway to install northbound deceleration left and right turn lanes, southbound left turn deceleration lane and new signs. 

The company will also seek a temporary living permit from Garfield County for the rig crew at the drill site, according to the presentation. 

Leslie Robinson, chair of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, expressed concerns about several aspects of the application during Monday’s meeting, touching on traffic and Man Camp sanitation issues and the visual impact of the pad. Robinson also requested commissioners delay approval of the permit until the effect of the Lee Fire on local mule deer populations and habitats is known. 

“We don’t think the county should be approving these roads, packed with danger for the drivers, as there will be hundreds of truck trips up and down the road and we’re not sure if these impacts have been addressed properly or enough protections have been proposed for the drivers,” Robinson said. “It’s hard to believe that this location is not in danger of sliding, yet, it is located in a slide area.

“Number four, I can’t speak for the city of Rifle, but my inquiries to some council people (indiciated) there was no interaction between TEP’s plan and the city of Rifle,” she added. “There’s no mention so far that I’ve read of an outreach to the city of Rifle about the project, with the shocking increase of traffic on the bypass on Highway 6, where traffic is already congested going over the I-70 bridge.”

Robinson plans to bring the concerns of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance before the Rifle City Council on Wednesday.

TEP representatives then rebutted Robinson’s concerns, stating that the planned temporary living site will only house eight to ten people and the new access road was designed within the Bureau of Land Management’s typical standards, with the exception of one portion that will be about 14% grade. 

“One other thing about the traffic, that’s why we have the condensates coming down the mountain, and then the produced water is coming down so that heavy trucks don’t have to go all the way to the location,” Bryan Hotard, a TEP Rocky Mountain LLC employee, stated. 

Commissioner Perry Will requested a firearm restriction for contractors and employees on the site as an additional condition of approval during the Monday meeting. Commissioners then unanimously approved the application. 

“I just wanted to say thank you for coming in and going through all the hoops and the ECMC and so on, and I’m hoping and praying that other companies will follow your lead and that we will get the oil and gas industry going once again,” Commissioner Mike Samson told TEP representatives Monday after voting to approve the application.

 “I’m not saying that’s the only thing in Garfield County — some people have accused me of that,” he added. “No, absolutely not, but 17 years being a commissioner, the gas industry helped pay the lion’s share of the bills for this county. I would like to see this industry, as it is doing so well in our neighboring states of Utah and Wyoming, I would like to see Colorado get on board and benefit from this like these other two states are doing, so thank you for being a leader and going forward, and I hope others will follow.”