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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20151759.tiff INVENTORY OF ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Applicant HENRYLYN IRRIGATION DISTRICT Case Number USR15-0023 Submitted or Prepared Prior to At Hearing Hearing 1 Letter of Objection —Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, dated June 2, 2015 X 2 Excerpt from C.R.S. 24-65.5-103.3, provided by B. Yatabe, Esq. X I hereby certify that the items identified herein were submitted to the Department of Planning Services at or prior to the scheduled Planning Commissioners hearing Kim Og E Planner ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORPORATION MAIN(720)929-6000 1099 18'STREET, SUITE 1800 • DENVER, COLORADO 80202 Anada*p Pt t Olru I I C: u4 {+''tticNt June 2, 2015 via e-mail Weld County Planning Department Attn: Kim Ogle 1555 N. 17th Ave. Greeley,CO 80631 kogle@weldgov.com NOTICE OF ANADARKO LAND CORP.AND ANADARKO E&P ONSHORE LLC MINERAL INTERESTS AND OBJECTION TO APPROVAL OF APPLICATION Re: USR15-0023—Henrylyn Irrigation District Township 1 North,Ranee 64 West Section 1: Part of the NW/4 Use By Special Review Application ("Application") Weld County,Colorado Mr. Ogle: This notice and objection letter is submitted to Weld County ("the County") on behalf of Anadarko Land Corp. ("Anadarko Land") and Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC (together the "Anadarko entities") with respect to the Use by Special Review Application that has been submitted for approval to the County by Henrylyn Irrigation District("Applicant,"whether one or more) for the property referenced above in Weld County in a portion of the NW/4 of Section 1, Township I North,Range 64 West("Property"). The Anadarko entities together own all of the mineral interests, including the oil and gas and coal and other hard rock minerals,which underlie the Property. The following are comments in support of this Notice and Objection: 1. Ownership of the Hard Rock Mineral Interests and the Oil and Gas Interests. Anadarko Land owns the hard rock minerals, including the coal, which underlies the Property. The Anadarko entities together own all of the oil and gas that underlies the Property. 2. There is Clear Statutory Authority and Direction for the County to Take Into Account the Rights of Mineral Interest Owners in Its Consideration of Applications for Development. The State of Colorado recognizes the important rights of mineral owners and lessees in C.R.S. §30-28-133(10)which states and acknowledges that both the mineral estate and the surface estate are interests in land and that the two interests are "separate and distinct." The subsection specifically recognizes that the owners of subsurface mineral interests and their lessees have"the same rights and privileges as surface owners." 3. Owners of Split Estates Must Exercise Their Rights in a Way that Gives Due Regard to the Rights of the Other. Colorado law provides that the mineral owner has the right of reasonable access to and use of the surface estate to extract minerals and that the mineral estate owner and the surface estate owner are to give due regard to the rights of the other and reasonably accommodate each other's rights. The mineral interests of the Anadarko entities have significant value and consequently they are concerned that the approval by the County of the Application and the subsequent build-out of the Property will impair the ability of the Anadarko entities to develop their mineral interests. 4. The Anadarko Entities Have No Agreements with the Applicant that would Protect their Valuable Assets and provide for the Joint Use of the Property. Although the current Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules and regulations provide for the location of wells in a quarter section where the Property is located- generally in the center of each quarter quarter section, or one oil and gas operations area within each forty acres—the Anadarko entities and surface owners/developers/applicants typically try and negotiate locations that may be outside these established drilling windows. This is done to provide for the best use of the surface by the Applicant as well as allow for proper development of the minerals and oil and gas. In this case,the Anadarko entities would like to specifically discuss an agreement related to property line and building setback waivers as the current lot line of the Property and the planned activity on the Property will impact the development of the mineral rights owned by the Anadarko entities. The Anadarko entities or their lessees have rights to drill wells and locate associated drilling and production equipment on the Property and to conduct future operations on the Property that could include,drilling,re-drilling, deepening,recompleting,fracturing and re-fracturing wells and the maintenance and servicing of wells and equipment. Drilling and subsequent well operations could take place on a continuous basis over several days with the use of heavy equipment that may require the coordination of the use of portions of the Property at given times. Any future surface development plans approved by the County should provide protection for future wells, pipelines, gathering lines and related oil and gas facilities and equipment. Approval of any surface development plan that forecloses the rights of the owners of the mineral estate may be a compensable taking. 5. The Anadarko Entities Object to the Applications in the Absence of Agreements. The Anadarko entities and their affiliated company, Kerr-McGee Oil &Gas Onshore LP, have extensive mineral and oil and gas leasehold interests throughout the State of Colorado and have successfully worked with many parties who wish to develop the surface estate in order to assure the compatible development of the surface estate and the oil and gas estate and that provides for the disposition of the hard rock minerals owned by Anadarko Land. The practice of the Anadarko entities is to meet with surface owners to reach mutually acceptable agreements. In this case, representatives for the Anadarko entities have initiated discussions with the Applicant. However,because no final agreements have been reached, and in order to protect their mineral interests and private property rights,the Anadarko entities object to the approval of a final application for development for the Property and request that the County make any approval of the Application conditioned upon agreements with the Anadarko entities. Very truly�y�,ouurrss,,g141-Sam Sadler cc: Susan Aldridge, Sr. Counsel Ron Olsen Mike Brotzman Justin Shoulders Travis Book Don Ballard Mark Floyd, Sr. Counsel Rod Baumgartner-Applicant §24-65.5-103.3. Local government approval,CO ST§24-65.5-103.3 West's Colorado Revised Statutes Annotated Title 24.Government--State Planning--State Article 65.5.Notification of Surface Development(Refs&Annos) C.R.S.A. §24-65.5-103.3 §24-65.5-103.3.Local government approval Effective:August 3,2007 Currentness (1)A local government shall,as a condition of final approval of an application for development,require the applicant to certify: (a)That notice has been provided to mineral estate owners pursuant to section 24-65.5-103;and (b)With respect to qualifying surface developments,that either: (I)No mineral estate owner has entered an appearance or filed an objection to the proposed application for development within thirty days after the initial public hearing on the application; (II)The applicant and any mineral estate owners who have filed an objection to the proposed application for development or have otherwise filed an entry of appearance in the initial public hearing regarding such application no later than thirty days following the initial public hearing on the application have executed a surface use agreement related to the property included in the application for development,the provisions of which have been incorporated into the application for development or are evidenced by a memorandum or otherwise recorded in the records of the clerk and recorder of the county in which the property is located so as to provide notice to transferees of the applicant,who shall be bound by such surface use agreements;or (III)The application for development provides: (A)Access to mineral operations, surface facilities,flowlines,and pipelines in support of such operations existing when the final public hearing on the application for development is held by means of public roads sufficient to withstand trucks and drilling equipment or thirty-foot-wide access easements; (B)An oil and gas operations area and existing wellsite locations in accordance with section 24-65.5-103.5;and (C)That the deposit for incremental drilling costs described in section 24-65.5-103.7 has been made. (2)A local government approval of an application for development without the certification required by subsection(1)of this section when a mineral owner has timely entered an appearance or filed an objection shall be suspended and shall not constitute a valid final approval until the required certification is provided,any required local government proceedings following notice WestlawNext 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to anginal U S Government ',A/00 es §24-65.5-103.3.Local government approval,CO ST§24-65.5-103.3 to affected mineral estate owners are held,and the local government approval is confirmed,amended,or revoked in response to the certification. Credits Added by Laws 2007,Ch.439,§4,eff.Aug.3,2007. C.R.S.A. §24-65.5-103.3,CO ST§24-65.5-103.3 Current through laws effective May 15,2015 of the First Regular Session of the 70th General Assembly(2015) End of Document ©2015 Thomson Reuters.No claim to original U.S.Government Works. WestlawNext ©2015 Thomson Reuters. 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