Garfield County Approves Residential Area Drilling

Garfield County has approved a company's application to drill within the Battlement Mesa residential development.

The Post Independent reports that the county commissioners on Thursday voted unanimously to approve Ursa Resources application to drill. The vote came after three days of testimony and questioning, with many Battlement Mesa residents voicing concerns.

Approval of the application comes with more than 70 conditions intended to mitigate the impacts of the operations such as noise, particularly in the drilling and completion phases that involve hydraulic fracturing or so-called "fracking."

At public meetings before the vote, several residents said they were concerned about how close the drilling would be homes and say nearby wells already cause health issues. Others who spoke positively about Ursa's community engagement.