Seminar Thursday on Directional Drilling in Michigan
HOUGHTON--William Harrison
III of the Department of Geosciences at Western Michigan University will
talk on directional drilling for oil and gas in Michigan on Thursday,
April 25, in Room 610 of the Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Building at Michigan Tech.
Drilling companies use a variety
of directional drilling methods, but they all are designed to reach oil
and gas reservoirs that are not directly below the well head. Since directional
drilling began in Michigan in 1972, more than 3,800 such wells have been
drilled in the state, about 8 percent of the state's total.
Most people did not know that
directional drilling even occurred in Michigan until Governor John Engler
asked a Michigan Environmental Science Review Board panel to evaluate
the risk of directional drilling under the Great Lakes. In 1997, the panel
said there was little to no risk of contamination to Great Lakes bottom
or waters. There is, however a small risk of contamination at the well
head, which would be located on land. The panel suggested that the Michigan
DNR revise its rules that regulate Great Lakes bottomland leasing to afford
additional environmental protection.
After the panel's recommendations
were made, Engler decided to lift bans on directional drilling under the
Great Lakes from onshore locations, and the Michigan DNR was instructed
to prepare new leasing regulations. The regulations were published in
2001 after extensive consultation with environmental and industry representatives.
However, after the announcement
of the intent to renew leasing of Great Lakes bottomlands belonging to
Michigan, environmental activist groups began a major media and legislative
campaign to reverse the decision. Harrison's visit is sponsored
by the Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences. For more information,
contact Kristi Gerber at kgerber@mtu.edu.
4/23/02--MTN041
After many hearings before state legislative committees and the Michigan
Natural Resources Commission, the Michigan House of Representatives initiated
a bill to ban directional drilling beneath the Great Lakes. On April 5,
that bill became law.