by Donna Iadipaolo
About one mile from majority of Ann Arbor’s water supply, a Traverse-city based oil company—West Bay Exploration Co—is gearing up to start oil drilling.
Correction: Senator Rebekah Warren took office in November 2006. The Zoning Enabling Act of 2006 was passed in July 2006. An editing error placed her among those in the House who voted in support of the Act.
ONLY ABOUT ONE meager mile from vast majority of Ann Arbor’s water supply, a Traverse-city based oil company—West Bay Exploration Co.—is gearing up to start oil drilling, which could endanger the area’s water supply, as well as set off a whole host of other problems.
The Huron River, which is about a mile from the planned drilling, provides drinking water to 85 percent of the area’s 150,000 residents.
And such oil drilling could have huge negative consequences.
“There is danger of potential contamination due to spills or leakage of brine or oil,” said Laura Robinson, a clinical psychologist, who has lived in Ann Arbor about seven years and Scio Township the past two years.
But upon learning of this impending danger to the water supply, Robinson took action.
“I heard about it from a friend on Peters Road, and attended a meeting of residents there, and then formed my own group, Citizens for Oil-Free Backyards,” said Robison.
Since forming the group less than two months ago, Citizens for Oil-Free Backyards has accomplished a great deal.
“We’re really pleased to be the face of a community that opposes drilling in its midst….We’ve worked politically…and we’ve drawn media coverage to this situation,” said Robinson. “We sponsored a presentation by the environmental consultant we retained, in order to educate the community about the risks of oil and gas development.”
Robinson added that Citizens for Oil-Free Backyards became a Michigan nonprofit corporation and have applied for 501c4 status.
“We have retained legal counsel as well, looking ahead to the legal aspects of this situation,” said Robinson. “We have a large number of supporters and are beginning fundraising to support our legal and other efforts.”
Proximity of the proposed drilling is the largest concern.
“The proposed site is approximately one mile from the (Huron) river, which is the water supply for 85 percent of Ann Arbor residents, and more importantly, it is much closer than that to Honey Creek, a tributary of the river,” said Robinson. “But Scio residents have well water, and of course groundwater is directly under the proposed well.”
The proposed drilling cite is on the corner of West Delhi and Miller Roads.
West Bay has leased over a thousand acres, according to their report at the Scio Township meeting in April.
“This is completely legal under Michigan law and under the Zoning Enabling Act of 2006, which removes authority from townships to ban oil and gas development,” said Robinson.
The Zoning Enabling Act of 2006 was co-sponsored by Washtenaw County Republican 55th District Representative Rick Olson, and current Michigan House Democrat Jim Townsend. Ann Arbor’s current state senator Rebekah Warren supported the bill in 2006, when she was a member of the House. The Zoning Enabling Act of 2006 was approved unanimously by members of both the Michigan House and Senate.
The 2006 Act takes away much of the power to extract natural recourses from local authorities and instead transfers that authority to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ.)
Cities and villages can ban oil and gas development, but townships cannot. Townships can, however, regulate oil and gas development.
“Our group, 
, wants to change the law so that there is local control of oil and gas at the township level and so that the environmental impacts of proposed development are considered by the MDEQ (Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality),” said Robinson.
According to Robinson, West Bay stated at the end of April that they had leased approximately 1000 acres, and they have leased more since that time. Each drilling unit is comprised of 40 acres.
There are also a number of additional potentially profound causes for alarm.
“There are numerous problems posed by conventional oil drilling in this area,” said Robinson. “This is a rural-residential area typified by residences, and residents’ quality of life would be affected by noise, pollution, nuisance odors, increased truck traffic, industrialization of a currently non-industrial area, and potential contamination of groundwater.”
Additionally, Michigan League of Conservation Voters recently began a “Mark Your Territory, Say No to Oile Drilling in Scio Township” campaign on their website. This effort also hopes to give local residents the authority to block oil drilling by sending the MDEQ demonstrate the outpouring of resistance.
People can enter their address and plot their pledge to say no to oil drilling in Scio Township. Over 200 residents have currently signed up to opposed oil drilling in the area.
But Citizens foil-Free Backyards has some other help as well.
State Representatives Gretchen Driskell of Saline and Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor, and State Senator Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor, have publicly stated their opposition to oil drilling in Scio Township.
“We have worked with them (Diskell, Irwin, and Warren) and with the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, the Scio Township Board of Trustees, and the Ann Arbor City Council–all of which passed resolutions opposing this proposed drilling,” said Robinson.
All of these individuals and units of government also made comments to MDEQ, requesting that the agency deny the permit and consider the impacts in making its decision on the permit.
A letter to MDEQ dated May 20 by Driskell, Irwin, Warren stated:
May 20, 2014
Permits and Bonding Unit Office of Oil,Gas, and Minerals Michigan Department of Environmental Quality P.O. Box 30256 Lansing, Michigan 48909-7756
To Whom It May Concern:
We are writing today to ask the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to deny permit application #AI40053 (Wing Well 1-15, NW of intersection of W. Delhi Road and Miller Road) for oil exploration by West Bay Exploration in Scio Township. As proposed, this project would pose several threats to the local environment and would significantly diminish the peaceful quality of life that Scio Township residents currently enjoy.
The detrimental impact that oil drilling would have on both our public health and our natural resources is something that must be considered – even at this early, exploratory stage in the process. Before your agency issues any final decisions regarding widespread oil drilling in Scio Township, we strongly urge the DEQ to carry out a cumulative environmental impact assessment to determine both the short-term and long-term effects this proposal would impose upon our land, water and air.
The area being considered under permit application #AI40053 is within one mile of the Huron River, which provides drinking water to 85% of Ann Arbor residents, and within two miles of the Ann Arbor city limits. By allowing this project to move forward the DEQ would be potentially compromising the health and well-being of nearly 150,000 Michigan residents. Oil drilling can have numerous detrimental effects including the release of hazardous substances like silica dust into the environment, harmful changes to ground and surface water quality and quantity, various disturbances associated with natural gas flaring and noise pollution that inevitably comes with heavy truck traffic.
Once again, we ask you to reject permit application #AI40053 in order to protect the vast natural resources that exist in Scio Township as well as the health and well-being of residents living in close proximity to the proposed drilling area. We encourage the DEQ to take the necessary time to ensure that permit applicants are doing everything practicable to minimize impacts on fragile roadways, neighboring property owners and the number of recreation facilities within walking distance of the proposed exploration.
However, a recent response from the DEQ dated June 19 stated, read in part:
“The OOGM (Office of Oil, Gas, and Minerals at DEQ) staff has conducted an intensive review of the permit application for the proposed Wing 1-15 oil and gas well and has determined that the application meets all of our regulatory requirement. We expect to issue a decision on the application in the near future.”
However, OOGM hinted they saw no evidence of potential water contamination.
“Currently, there are over 20,000 active oil and gas wells in Michigan,” stated the OOGM in the letter. “Many of those wells have been drilled in settings similar to that of the proposed Wing 1-15 well. The track record for wells permitted and drilled in the ‘modern era” of regulations in Michigan (i.e., since the late 1980s) is excellent. There is not a single instance contamination of a drinking water well or surface water body for any of the more than 14,000 wells permitted and drilled in that time frame. The OOGM has a highly skilled team of committed oil and gas professionals working in every county, personally inspection operations and enforcing the regulations.”
The office of Representative Irwin issued a response to the Ann Arbor Independent about the June 19 DEQ letter.
“Based on DEQ’s response, it seems as though the they are prepared to approve a permit, however until they do so we do not know what stipulations they may or may not include,” stated Legislative Director Sarah Schillio on behalf of Representative Irwin.
The statement goes on to say, “Should they approve the permit, Rep. Irwin plans to make sure the application was truly complete and thorough and that the DEQ took all the necessary steps to minimize the impacts to the community and environment. Clearly, this is a very sensitive area with significant recreational and natural amenities. It is also more populated than other oil/gas exploration sites in Michigan.”
Laura Robinson and her grass-roots group does not, however, want to give up the fight to prevent the drilling.
“Citizens for Oil-Free Backyards plans to get oil drilling out of Scio Township,” said Robinson. “And we also want residents in other townships who don’t want drilling to have a voice on this issue, which no township residents do under Michigan law. Our mission is to stand up for all citizens in Michigan who want to keep their backyards and neighborhoods free of oil and gas development. The oil and gas industry is in a unique position in its rights to come into communities unwanted, and we plan to stop that.”
Other suburban areas currently being eyed as sources of oil in Michigan are Rochester Hills and Jackson County.
According to a report by the Environment Michigan Research and Policy Center titled “Drilling Our Conservation Heritage: The Future of Oil and Gas Drilling on Michigan’s Public Lands”:
“Leaks from drilling sites can leave soil and groundwater contaminated with hazardous waster, and new pipelines and roads for drilling sites can disrupt the places Michigan’s wildlife call home.”
In addition, the report states:
“All available evidence strongly indicates that the state’s environmental agency lacks the resources to monitor the 18,000 gas and oil wells operating in Michigan and the cleanup of all contaminated sites, much less as new drilling that might be proposed.”
Environmentalists further warn that a variety of water, air, and soil pollution occur in oil and gas development.
For instance, storage and disposal of drilling production wastes can contaminate groundwater. This is exactly how the former Gelman Sciences created a plume of the carcinogen 1,4 dioxane that is now a mile wide and three miles long that has poisoned groundwater in Ann Arbor. Local activists and environmentalists warn that the 1,4 dioxane plume is moving toward Ann Arbor’s water source, as well.
Oil drilling and development will add a variety of air contaminants which are emitted during the exploration and drilling processes.
Much of this pollution is health threatening. Radioactive wastes from oil and gas drilling take the form of produced water, drilling mud, sludge, slimes, or evaporation ponds and pits. Radionuclides in these wastes are primarily radium-226, radium-228, and radon gas. The radon is released to the atmosphere, while the produced water and mud containing radium are placed in ponds or pits for evaporation, re-use, or recovery.