Crestone Peak Resources asked the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission on Nov. 20 to approve the Sunlight Long oil and gas development plan, a consolidated pad on Lowry Ranch covering roughly 7,682–7,683 acres and proposing up to 32 horizontal wells developed in two drilling and spacing units. Jamie Jost, counsel for Crestone, told the commission the company has secured a surface‑use agreement from the Colorado State Land Board, an Arapahoe County permit, and technical consultations with state agencies, and will apply more than 90 best management practices and mitigation measures to the location. “Crestone will apply over 90 best management practices and mitigation measures to the location,” Jost said during opening remarks.

Why it matters: The hearing is a contested adjudication of whether the proposed pad, siting and DSU configuration comply with the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Act and ECMC rules and whether the project adequately avoids, minimizes and mitigates impacts to public health, welfare, wildlife and the environment.

Crestone’s case: Company witnesses described the pad as a tankless, grid‑powered site designed to reduce on‑site emissions and truck traffic. Crestone said it will install continuous air monitoring for the life of the wells, operate a grid‑powered drilling rig and use a three‑phase pipeline for produced water and liquids takeaway. Company testimony emphasized county and state reviews and argued the OGDP complies with ECMC rules and the Lowry Ranch cap order; counsel asked the commission to deny the petitions filed by Maverick and STAR.

Petitioners’ positions: Maverick Mineral Partners 2, through counsel Steven Lewis Prescott, framed its petition narrowly on drainage, waste and correlative rights. Prescott argued Crestone’s DSU design excludes and will drain Maverick’s leases and proposed an 80‑acre expansion of the DSU or splitting the DSU into east/west units to prevent “uncompensated taking” or unnecessary wells. “Expand the state sunlight DSU boundary by 80 acres to include Maverick’s leases,” Prescott said, summarizing Maverick’s requested fix.

STAR’s concerns: Save the Aurora Reservoir, represented by Michael Foote, urged denial or relocation, citing noise, wildfire risk on tall grasslands, insufficient cumulative impact analysis, and long‑term health risks from emissions. Foote said residents’ primary demand is that the pad be moved farther from neighborhoods and questioned whether Crestone’s modeling and baseline data give the commission enough information to find the site protective of public health.

Technical, wildlife and health evidence: Crestone introduced witnesses on site design, alternative‑location analysis, wildlife surveys, noise and acoustical modeling, and air regulation compliance. Independent wildlife consultants presented more than a decade of Lowry Ranch amphibian and habitat surveys, reporting northern leopard frog detections concentrated in Black Shuck, Coal and Box Elder creeks and stating HWA found no amphibian breeding habitat within the proposed pad footprint or access road. Noise and air experts presented modeling and monitoring plans; Crestone committed to a full wrap sound wall during drilling and completions and to life‑of‑well air monitoring. Independent public‑health and epidemiology experts testified about the limits of proximity‑based epidemiology and summarized monitoring‑based risk assessments that show risk generally declines with distance.

What’s next: Commissioners pressed parties on the depth of the alternative‑location analysis, which reservoirs are ‘planned’ near the site, and how schedule changes interact with wildlife seasons. Crestone agreed to provide follow‑up analyses (including quantification of unrecoverable mineral acreage under alternative siting). The hearing was adjourned to reconvene the following day at 9 a.m. for more testimony, cross examination and commissioner questioning.

Ending: The commission did not reach a decision the first day; it set follow‑up requests and continued the contested proceeding for further evidence and questioning.