Mineral Rights in West Bloomfield – Background Information

Mineral rights have been purchased on all of our lakes, and the State legislature has prohibited Townships to ban or even regulate gas and oil exploration.

Residential oil drilling will negatively impact home values in our lakes community and reduce the tax revenue needed to provide critical public safety services. Last month alone oil rigs appeared in the residential areas of Shelby Township, Scio Township and mapping began in Bloomfield Township. The surrounding property values on Zillow immediately plummeted in Shelby. Dodge Park on Cass Lake is the latest target for gas and oil exploration. Since “water has no boundaries,” contaminants from drilling on Cass could jeopardize the environmental quality and home values for surrounding lakes (e.g. Orchard Lake and the Straits Lakes).

Four bills were approved by the State legislature last year to give rise to the gas and oil industry, including Act 98 of 2013 to allow gas pipeline under regulated wetlands. The Michigan Zoning Enabling Act has been amended to prohibit the authority of Townships to regulate or ban gas and oil exploration.

In 2012, the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources auctioned the lease of mineral and surfacing rights to gas and oil companies. Throughout the entire auction gas and oil companies never bid against one another resulting in the leasing of these rights for an average of $12/acre (versus an average of $22,000/acre in Texas). Drilling and fracking requires huge amounts of water. The Great Lakes account for nearly one quarter of the world’s fresh water. Protecting our water and requiring businesses to relocate for access to this valuable resource could create the business rebirth needed in the State.

Local control has been eliminated and Township residents will not receive any notice for gas and oil drilling in residential-zoned areas. Local ordinances define the character of the communities that each and every one of us lives in. West Bloomfield is a pioneer in developing wetland and woodland ordinances that have survived numerous challenges in the court system. West Bloomfield has more water than all but one other municipality in the nation and its wetland and woodland ordinances create its unique character — without them, there would be no option to live in a community with 28 lakes, 150 ponds and over 3,500 acres of protected wetlands and woodlands, but only the option to live in such communities with expansive nonporous surface.

The remedy is to encourage our legislators to repeal MCL 125.3205 (2) of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, thereby giving Township residents a voice when it comes to
residential oil drilling. This issue affects 1,240 Townships comprised of 51% of 9,895,622 Michigan residents and governing over 96% of Michigan’s land area and over 58% of Michigan’s property values.”

Additional information:

• The above information is from the West Bloomfield Township website
• A related letter from WB Township Board of Trustees, dated 10/6/14, was mailed to West Bloomfield residents
• Inquiries, comments, and requests for information should be directed to the Office of Oil, Gas, and Minerals (OOGM) of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) at 517-284-6826.
• Video from the Residential Oil Drilling Informational Meeting held on October 8th at West Bloomfield Town Hall  [su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/DnKUt5bFOnE” rel=”no”]http://youtu.be/DnKUt5bFOnE[/su_youtube_advanced]