Looking to drill in Rifle? (Meeker: live, moving, bars)

[coltoncity]

If gas companies are moving people out to Rifle then I wonder when people find out where they are going to drill. What happens to an area that is being drilled. With oil fields just like the rigs there is a lot more jobs but also a lot more bars and people coming in & out for work. I wonder how many years it takes to get from where they are now to the beginning of laying pipe and drilling? Anyone out there know what is going on in the area???

[Maestas16]

From the best of my knowledge most of the drilling is going on in Rio Blanco county just north of Rifle. We've been hunting the area for 60+ years and with in the last few years i've heard Shell oil company got permits to put up something like 175 drill stations. Mobil oil company has been up there for years. It's a nusense to the land and animals....Definatly has effected the hunting and wildlife population. I can't say this is 100% true except for the companies names and where they are drilling...the rest i heard via word of mouth...I also heard they were drilling for natural gas too... A year or two they put in a huge pipe from rifle towards meeker. i heard it runs to Utah.

[Wyomiles]

We lived there for four years 2000 to 04. They started drilling for gas around a small town just south of Rifle and worked their way towards Rifle. Lots of environmental damage, in my mind. They bulldozed roads all over the valleys and hillsides so that when the wind kicked up there were large dust storms. They started out drilling one well on every 40 acres and slowly got the rules changed to drill several. They drilled wells ,literally in peoples back yards. Ruined wells and one stream actually caught fire when a rancher lit the gas that was bubbling up through the water. They are trying to get permision to drill up on top of the mountains, which are some very beautiful areas. Of coarse they will continue to tear things up.
The pipeline goes up to Meeker then into Wyoming clear across to the East and connects into other main pipelines in Colorado.

[Maestas16]

they are drilling now and have been for years. the last couple years i have seen a huge difference as they have stepped it up and put more mini stations everywhere. the have layed a huge pipe in rio blanco to utah i heard