Shelby Township neighbors show support, drilling concerns with moratoriums

After municipal leaders from across metro Detroit voiced their support for Shelby Township and concerns about a lack of local control on urban residential drilling, several communities put moratoriums where their mouths were.

Following an Aug. 28 meeting with Gov. Rick Snyder’s Deputy Legal Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor on Energy and the Environment Ms. Valerie Brader with municipal leaders from across metro Detroit to address a lack of local oversight for oil/gas exploration, several local Boards and Councils voiced their public support and passed oil, gas and other hydrocarbon exploration moratoriums similar to the Shelby Township Board of Trustees’ moratorium that was passed Sept. 2.

“I was very pleased at the meeting as leaders from Scio Township to Rochester Hills agreed that more local oversight is needed for all oil/gas exploration, but the physical support is even more impressive,” Shelby Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis said.

“We have been joined in this fight by the Charter Township of Clinton, the Charter Township of Macomb, the Charter Township of Bruce, the Charter Township of Lenox as well as the City of Sterling Heights, the City of Rochester and the City of Rochester Hills to provide the state and the oil industry with a clear and cohesive message, no urban residential drilling.”

Leaders like Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon said the fight to better represent residents’ viewpoints on state-regulated activities like oil/gas exploration is an important one across several fronts.

“Whether it is the newly legal fireworks or oil/gas exploration, state government needs to recognize the ability of local governments to represent its residents,” said Cannon, who’s Board passed a moratorium Sept. 8.

In addition to Shelby Township and Clinton Township, Macomb Township Supervisor Janet Dunn voiced her public support for Shelby Township’s moratorium at her Sept. 24 Board meeting to show solidarity among Macomb County’s three largest townships with a combined population of roughly 250,000 people.

“I’ve always felt that when we as local governments stand as one is when we stand strongest,” Stathakis said. “This is why this support is so important. It tells the state and the oil companies that we are not ready to allow more urban residential drilling in our communities.”

Along with its adjacent township’s, Shelby Township largest neighbor, Sterling Heights, voiced its official public support for the “no urban residential drilling” message at its Sept. 2 city council meeting.

“We want to communicate that local governments need to have local control over these issues,” Sterling Heights Mayor Pro Tem Michael Taylor said of oil/gas exploration. “Drilling activities go on 24 hours a day for three weeks, so there’s nonstop oil exploration happening in very close proximity to residential areas. And based on the state law, there is not a whole lot that townships can do about it.”

Stathakis said the support of his municipal neighbors is only outdone by the support the Board received from its constituents.

“The continued support of our residents and taxpayers is why I am confident we will see a definite halt to all operations at the 25 Mile and Dequindre roads well site and an end to urban residential drilling,” Stathakis said. “Our Board of Trustees is extremely grateful for our constituents’ support on this issue. I am confident in speaking for the entire Board when I say that support gives us the drive and fortitude to see this fight through to the end.”