Board approves Connor oil‑and‑gas facility with stricter air monitoring, haul‑route and road improvements

Adams County commissioners voted 4–1 on March 18 to approve an oil‑and‑gas facility permit for the Connor pad (OGF202402), a proposed multi‑well production site operated by Providence Operating (doing business as POCO Operating). Staff recommended approval with conditions; the board adopted additional specifics to increase monitoring and local road mitigation after public comment.

Staff presentation and proposal

Greg Dean, Adams County oil and gas administrator, told the board the Connor site would include up to 16 horizontal wells, one production facility and an access road on a 39‑acre parcel zoned A‑3. Construction and drilling would temporarily disturb about 8.1 acres; the operator’s interim reclamation plan would reduce the permanent disturbance to about 5.7 acres after wells enter production. The site is roughly 2.5 miles north of Denver International Airport.

Dean described two waivers the application required under county rules: (1) a waiver from the county’s 2,000‑foot setback to an environmentally sensitive area because an unnamed ditch runs along a corner of the site, and (2) a waiver from the county’s 2,000‑foot parcel‑line residential setback. Staff concluded the operator had proposed substantially equivalent protections through best management practices (BMPs), engineering design…