A Bureau of Land Management finding will allow drilling for natural gas near Vega Reservoir but within a smaller area than originally proposed. The Grand Junction office of the BLM issued the finding Wednesday for the drilling program sought by Delta Petroleum Corp. of Denver. The project will include drilling 27 wells from three drill pads about a mile south-southeast of the reservoir and about 13 miles east of Collbran. The approval included several stipulations and conditions, many of them stemming from public comments to the BLM during the approval process. Some of those are a 5-acre, or 15 percent, reduction in the footprint of the development, use of a closed-loop drilling system, elimination of a reserve pit, decreased use of fresh water and a reduction of heavy-truck traffic carrying water to the pads.

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