Politics & Government

County to Hold Town Hall on Fracking

County officials will host a special town hall, "The Coming Dangers to Our Lakes & Stream, Oil & Gas Leasing/Is Fracking in Our Future?"

Oakland County Commissioners Jim Nash (D-Farmington Hills) and Craig Covey (D-Ferndale), announced a special public Town Hall meeting to look at the impact of new state issued leases allowing drilling for oil and natural gas all across Oakland County. The meeting will be held at the Oakland County Commissioners’ Auditorium, 1200 N. Telegraph, in Pontiac, Michigan, on the Oakland County campus, on Wednesday, September 12, from 6-to-8 pm.

Fracking, the common term for hydraulic fracturing, often drills  wells up to two miles into the Earth, fills it with millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and undisclosed salts and chemicals and subjects it to bursts of extremely intense pressure to loosen rock formations to release natural gas.  Companies often drill at angles to get at deposits under other property.

Oakland County Commissioner Jim Nash states, “High pressure contaminated water can infiltrate the aquifer, well-head blowouts have occurred, water withdrawals affect the surrounding water table, and geologists have linked it to unusual earth tremors.”

Find out what's happening in White Lake-Highlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commissioners have invited Oakland County Water Well Driller Joe Curry to discuss the potential effect of a water table leak or high pressure surface blowout on our water supply. A League of Conservation Voters’ Fracking Specialist, who is also the Policy and Communications Director, Drew YoungeDyke will discuss the LCV’s position on the technique. Michigan State House Representative Lisa Brown will discuss state law and legislation that she is working on at the state level. A representative from the extraction industry will discuss their views on the issue. This will be followed by an extended Q&A period to allow the public to have their concerns addressed and discussed on the issue.

“The people of Oakland County deserve an open meeting to discuss the important issue of drilling for gas and oil in our heavily populated county,” stated Commissioner Covey.

Find out what's happening in White Lake-Highlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This year, the state opened huge new areas for drilling leases to include in areas surrounding important lakes, like Orchard and Cass Lakes, among others. These recreational waters support high property values, significant economic activity and any harm to them could devastate the local economy. Great numbers of Oakland County residents depend on wells for drinking water as our county is the source of five river watersheds serving Southeast Michigan; any groundwater contamination would affect literally millions of people.

“Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of ensuring the safety and continuance of the nation.” President Theodore Roosevelt

Our Water Our Future

For more information, please contact Oakland County Commissioner Jim Nash at 248-471-3759

(Source: Oakland County)


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from White Lake-Highland