Fracking Town Hall Meeting for One Community Wednesday, Drilling Lawsuit Hearing for Another

Though state law hamstrings locally elected officials, West Bloomfield Township may become the latest community looking for ways to slam down the hammer on fracking.

Gas and oil exploration, which may include the horizontal drilling practice known as fracking, will be the topic of a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the West Bloomfield Township Hall.

Township Supervisor Michelle Economou Ureste told WWJ/CBS Detroit that state law gives townships no power to ban or regulate drilling and affecting change will require “the masses to speak up.”

“Residential oil drilling is legal on 96 percent of our land area in the state of Michigan and there are 1240 townships in the state – which govern 96 percent of the land area Michigan Zoning and Enabling Act and prohibits townships from being able to ban or even to regulate gas and oil exploration,” said Ureste.

Ureste is backing legislation to change that.

“I am one voice to our legislators and I think this is going to require the masses to speak up – to protect their home values – to protect the environmental assets in their communities and their quality of life,” she said.

West Bloomfield Township’s 28 lakes, 150 ponds, wetlands and woodlands are all-connected and don’t have drains.

“So, if there is drilling or fracking occurring in and around our borders it could destroy the whole system – bring down our property values, which could blow a big hole in my budget and no longer be able to provide the same level of police and fire services.”

Nearby, the Don’t Drill the Hills citizen group filed a lawsuit against Rochester Hills, alleging city leaders violated a voter-backed charter amendment prohibiting the city from selling, leasing or converting park land for non-recreation or non-conservation uses without voter approval. Oakland County Circuit Court Judge James Alexander will hear evidence in that lawsuit at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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Patch file photo