Several legal notices in the Newcastle Pacer last week were published to request conditional use permits for the drilling of oil and gas wells in the city of Newcastle. These drilling sites could have an impact on local residents and the City Council and City staff have done a significant amount of work to not only protect local residents, but also to work effectively with the oil companies.
There were 12 legal publications in last week’s issue which describe three different well sites. They are scheduled to be discussed in the June 26 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and then again at the July 10 regular City Council meeting.
The three pad sites are owned by Four Point Energy LLC. One is located on the north side of S.W. 16th Street, about 2,000 feet east of S. Rockwell Avenue. Four Point Energy is requesting to drill four directions at this site, known as “Riva Ridge 28X33-9-4.”
A second Four Point Energy site is located on N.W. 40th Street, about half a mile east of N. Council Road. The company also requests to drill four directions at this site, known as “Smarty Jones 32X5-10-4.”
The third Four Point Energy LLC pad site is located 45 feet north of S.W. 16th Street and about 400 feet west of S. Main Street. This well is known as the “Racer 22X 15-9-4.” Four Point Energy also requests to drill four different directions, here, as well.
Mayor Karl Nail said the biggest issue faced by the City is, first and foremost, noise. Secondary to that is the traffic that it generates, especially when moving the rigs in and out. Nail noted that some oil and gas drilling locations have had lighting issues, and possibly erosion issues, but the City has been working with the companies to address the issues.
“Noise is the biggest impact on the neighbors. This is always a concern when it is near somebody,” Nail said. “The City Council has spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to control the noise and lessen the impact to the neighboring individuals.”
Newcastle’s noise ordinance requires 16-foot sound walls, but Nail said the City has been working with the most recent drilling requests. “On the latest one we’ve been able to get 24-foot sound walls around those sites,” Nail said. “This will hopefully improve the noise (emanating) at the site.”
Nail said drilling sites are inherently noisy, and there’s nothing they can DRILLING on page 3 do to control the noise.
“There are limits on what we can do. There’s no way to get to the point where there is no noise noticed by the neighboring residents,” Nail said. “But we are doing everything we can to control it.”
The City has been working on setback to keep the drilling sites as far away from residential areas as possible, but not so much that the City completely limits their ability to drill, as required by state statute.
Nail explained, “Legally the mineral estate is superior to the surface estate. These people have a right to drill for their minerals. We can’t put in so many restrictions that make it impossible for them to find a site to drill. It’s a fine line between protecting the citizens and limiting the oil companies.”
Nail said another problem he’s noticed is that local residents impacted by the drilling at times may take their frustration out on the local property owners.
“People are often times angry at the landowners for making these arrangements with the companies to drill. Once the companies determine they want to drill, the landowners don’t have much of a choice. The oil companies can take them to District Court,” Nail said. “If they win, they can go ahead and operate on their land. The oil company takes the risk, that there may be damages and the oil company would be responsible for that. Because of this, most of the time the landowners will reach an agreement with them, instead of going to court, and spending money on council.”
As the legal notices suggest, the oil and gas companies are requesting from the City a Use Permitted on Review which will allow them to drill at the specified locations. They must first go to the Planning and Zoning Commission. If approved there, the Planning and Zoning Commission sends its recommendation, voted by a majority, to the City Council along with their reasoning. The City Council then takes up the request as an agenda item in their meeting, and makes a formal decision along with any additional agreements.
Both Planning and Zoning Commission meetings and City Council meetings are open to the public, and Newcastle residents are welcome to attend and voice their opinions during public comment.
The next planning and zoning meeting is 6 p.m. on June 26 at the Community Meeting Room at Newcastle Library.
The City Council met Monday night for their regular June meeting, and they’ll be meeting again at 6 p.m. July 10.
