The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is holding an online public comment hearing in early April for a well pad in the Lowry Ranch fracking plan.

Members of the public are invited to share comments on the State Blanca West Oil and Gas Development Plan, which is available to review on the ECMC permitting applications webpage.

The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. April 7. Advance registration on the ECMC website is encouraged.

State Blanca West is the next well pad in oil and gas company Citivas’ Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan.

The ECMC voted in August 2024 to green-light the Lowry Ranch fracking plan, which includes 32,000 acres of proposed subsurface mineral development with 10 locations and 166 new wells. The approval came after days of testimony and following years of pushback from area residents over the proposed operation.

Part of the plan includes drilling about 7,000 feet under the Aurora Reservoir and on land surrounding the reservoir, which drew opposition from nearby residents and their allies.

While the overall fracking plan was approved, each individual well pad application, or OGDP, must still get approval from the ECMC and Arapahoe County to move forward.

State Blanca West, if approved, would include 18 oil and gas wells within an almost 17-acre pad site on a 21.5-acre agricultural parcel about a half mile south of East Quincy Avenue and a half mile north of East Reservoir Dam Road.

It is located within the Box Elder watershed tributary and lies outside of the floodplain, according to the Arapahoe County website.

A new private gravel road would allow access to the site, and drilling operations would occur in two phases, according to the website. The first would include eight wells drilled and completed, followed by a second phase that would include 10 wells.

Well pad construction would take about eight weeks for the first phase, including the installation of a wildlife-friendly fence around the site and locked gates at the access road.