What's Behind that Beige Wall on E-470 in Adams County?

If you've driven to Denver International Airport and taken E-470 lately, you've seen the huge beige wall on the south side right after you exit I-25. What's behind that wall? Turns out it's not a huge secret. The website to get information is posted right there for you to learn.

Turns out it's something called the Ivey Pad and it's a production from Great Western Petroleum. The website listed on the sign leads us to an explanation from last fall when the project started.

Great Western is excited to welcome the opening of its very first GREEN platinum facility, the Ivey Pad in Adams County. Starting in November 2020, the Ivey Pad will operate as Great Western’s model of excellence, emphasizing how natural gas and oil operations should be executed as the industry continues to innovate to a more sustainable and accountable future

So we know the words "gas" and "oil", but I don't see the hot button word "fracking" anywhere. Turns out that term shows up on the Adams County Oil and Gas Information page under "Ivey LC Pad Information". I always assumed those were fracking sites, but then they use a name like Ivey Pad and I wasn't so sure.

A good fact about the project is that Great Western partnered with the Butterfly Pavilion, to launch the Colorado Pollinator Project, an environmental restoration at the Ivey Pad. This means there is a goal to attract "more pollinators, more plant species and more bird diversity to the surrounding land, as well as reestablish habitat connectivity and wildlife movement."

Kama/TSM