Adams County approves 26‑well Bennett DPAD at Manila with extensive monitoring and mitigation conditions

The Adams County Board of County Commissioners approved OGF 20251, the Bennett DPAD at Manila, on Oct. 28, authorizing up to 26 horizontal wells and a production facility on a 143.7‑acre parcel in agriculture zoning. The vote was 5–0.

Staff summary and waivers

Greg Dean, Adams County oil and gas administrator, told the board the applicant, Crestone Peak Resources (a subsidiary of Civitas Resources), will disturb up to 23 acres during drilling and reclamation will reduce the permanent disturbance to about 7.4 acres after completion. The site sits adjacent to an existing crude‑oil transfer facility (Bennett Station), and much of the parcel lies inside the CASP (Colorado Air and Space Port) airport restriction zones, which restrict future occupiable development.

Because of measured parcel distances and how county setbacks are measured to parcel lines, two waivers were before the board: a waiver from the 2,000‑foot setback to environmentally sensitive areas (wetlands) and a waiver from the 2,000‑foot residential setback. Dean said the applicant obtained Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) concurrence for the wetlands and had one tenant within 1,500 feet who provided informed consent; one adjacent landowner opposed the project and was selling the property. Staff recommended the waivers because they found “substantially equivalent protections” from…