Fort Collins prepares for next step on Prospect Energy well closures and cleanup

Fort Collins is moving toward another council decision on a city-county effort to close and reclaim former Prospect Energy oil-and-gas wells, including sites within city limits.

The council took a first-reading action on the measure July 21, according to the approved project summary. The city’s current planning calendar lists the oil-and-gas well closure and development-review waiver ordinance for a second reading on August 18, 2026. The calendar is informational and subject to change.

The August 18 item is scheduled, not final. The ordinance will not be complete unless it passes the second reading and receives any required follow-up actions.

What the council is considering

The proposed measure would support a partnership with Larimer County and waive or streamline portions of Fort Collins’ development-review process for well closure and reclamation work. The goal is to make it easier for the governments and contractors involved to address abandoned or aging infrastructure in and around the city.

Council action would be one part of a larger cleanup effort. It would not mean the wells have already been plugged, reclaimed or cleared for another use.

19 wells in the formal application, 50 in the broader project

The Larimer County-City of Fort Collins Rule 211 application asks state regulators to require the plugging and reclamation of 19 Prospect Energy wells and locations. The application says 10 of Prospect’s 50 Larimer County wells are within Fort Collins city limits.

Those figures describe two related but different scopes. The formal application covers 19 subject wells. Larimer County’s broader cleanup project involves all 50 orphaned Prospect wells in the former oil field, which extends through unincorporated Larimer County and the northern reaches of Fort Collins.

That distinction matters for residents reviewing project maps and later notices: the 19-well Rule 211 application is part of the larger 50-well cleanup effort, not a substitute for it.

Why the sites matter locally

County records and independent reporting place some of the sites near homes, community facilities, farms and other established uses. The county’s Rule 211 application says the subject wells are no longer used or useful and represent threats to public health, safety, welfare or the environment. Those are claims and findings presented in the application, not proof that every nearby resident has been harmed.

Larimer County records also document regulatory action involving Prospect Energy, including a February 2024 order concerning flaring at the Hearthfire well and an air-quality enforcement settlement addressing violations at the Fort Collins and Krause tank batteries. Denver7 separately reported on resident concerns and prior allegations involving spills, leaks, air pollution and illegal flaring.

Grant funding targets plugging and reclamation

The project has a $5.2 million grant from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission. Larimer County says the funding is intended to accelerate the plugging, decommissioning and reclamation of wells and facilities previously owned by Prospect Energy.

The grant is expected to cover the core cleanup work, but it does not eliminate the need for project management, state permissions or other implementation decisions. Larimer County lists July 2028 as the project-completion target. That is a target, not a guarantee that every site will be finished by that date.

What happens next

Larimer County says the project is still in its initial stages and is seeking proposals from oil-and-gas operators to perform the plugging and decommissioning work. After an operator is selected, the county expects to establish the order in which wells will be addressed and seek ECMC permission to begin work at individual sites.

Residents may eventually see plugging operations, equipment removal, environmental monitoring and reclamation activity. Longer-term land-use outcomes will depend on site conditions, reclamation decisions and applicable approvals. The intended public benefit is to reduce risks associated with aging and abandoned oil-and-gas infrastructure and return sites to a condition suitable for future use under applicable rules.

For Fort Collins residents near former Prospect Energy sites, the August 18 council meeting is the next scheduled city checkpoint. Even if the council advances the measure, the broader cleanup will remain a multistep process involving operator selection, site prioritization, ECMC permissions and the actual plugging work.

Sources

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