UPDATE: At the Oakland Township Board meeting tonight (June 23, 2015) Treasurer Langlois properly corrected me. In looking at the ‘respectmyplanet.org’ website, I had missed that there are two oil wells IN Oakland Township. I had missed seeing them. They were missed among the many ‘dry hole’ well locations that are shown in video below. The two oil wells are just north of the Myth Golf Club and Banquet facility on Stoney Creek Road. They appear to be located in a secluded portion of the Township. Thank you Jeanne for the correction!
Richard Michalski
The attached video shows the various wells that are located in our region and our Township. The source of the information is respectmyplanet.org website.
It is a short video. It includes an aerial view of the closest oil well site to Oakland Township (see update statement above). It is located in Addison Township, very close to Lakeville Lake. There are two wells at this location. They appear to have started production in 1970’s per the records on the website. One of the wells appears to have been converted to a ‘brine well’ in 2008.
The video gives a perspective on what an oil production facility could look like after years of operation.
If any of you want to learn how to search for information on various wells in Michigan, please go to the following YouTube website. Please note that only wells that have had the drilling approved are shown. Lease agreements, like the two Oakland Township sites recently reported on this website, are not shown.
How to search for well site information in Michigan
Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? The current records indicate that there are not many oil or gas wells in Oakland Township. In fact, many of them are categorized as ‘dry holes’. With new production techniques, these wells could become viable, especially if the price of oil goes up in the future. Our country’s desire for energy independence will continue to place pressures on discovering new sources for gas and oil.
Oakland Township appears to have an opportunity to implement a brief moratorium on drilling, like Rochester Hills and Shelby Township have done, to allow our Township to implement ordinances that could prevent the type of operation that exists in Addison Township near critical Oakland Township resources or residential properties.
The Oakland Township Board should ask the Supervisor of Addison Township for an opportunity to visit the Lakeville oil well site to get an appreciation for what may be in store for our community.
Please come to the June 23rd Board meeting to learn more about what Oakland Township will be doing to protect our community. Here is a copy of the agenda:
Richard Michalski
Oakland Township Watchers 
The oil wells have been around for decades. They are discreetly hidden. We are lucky to have them. I wish I could drill for oil on my property in Wayne county, then perhaps the county would not be so broke…..since the govt takes the majority of the revenue in taxes.
Thanks for you comments. As you make clear, the issue of drilling for oil and gas on one’s property is a right that the owner possesses. Having the well ‘discreetly hidden’ is certainly one consideration on whether a well should be allowed on a parcel. However, there are other issues that the community must consider, such as possible impact on the aquifer used to supply water to surrounding homes, the potential hydrogen sulfide odor that can come from a well.
By placing a short moratorium on drilling in Oakland Township, our leaders will have an opportunity to determine what controls they want to put in place to protect the larger community. There are limits on what they can do, since it is controlled by the State, but they need to take the time to study the possibilities.
Thanks again for your comments.
All valid concerns, one does not drill for oil on a postage stamp sized property!
In Dearborn, we have a similar issue to oil, but it is fireworks, and the right to celebrate with them. I can legally send off 2″ dia rockets into the flight path of metro aircraft, which is not a good idea, but since we can only use our micro yards to shoot fireworks, there are no other options provided by the city. Can’t send them off in the street, parks, school parking lots due to insurance concerns, yet , in the 4 day holiday period, 3 times more folk go to the hospital from city parks and schools from bicycle injuries than injuries reported from fireworks. No one has much luck suing a city anyway, something about not suing a govt entity. My proposal is to provide a park for the 4 day period where folk can shoot off their fireworks, and be done with it.
Oakland county is fortunate to have lots of land for fireworks, and drilling oil. We can’t even think about drilling for oil, unless it is an abandoned industrial waste site…..
The chances of fouling the aquifers is very real this is not conventional drilling this is fracking which is a completely different animal. There is not a lot of regulation in regard to oil drilling and if something goes wrong guess who’s going to be left holding the bag ? I understand the idea of personal property rights, however when it affects other neighbors around you that becomes a bigger issue.
Fracking has been around for over 60 years, and the process is pretty straightforward and safe. We all fear the unknown, and tend to support doing nothing as opposed to moving forward and utilizing our resources.
Without Fracking, the USA would not be the largest exporter of oil in the world. We have the highest reserves, and the best technology….let’s use it.
If you are poor or on a fixed income, have a large oil reserve on your property, and would make a bundle agreeing to tap those oil reserves, odds are, you would have a positive opinion about fracking. Don’t have an interest in pumping oil?….well obviously you are going to be on the other side of the aisle no matter how safe the process is.
Fracking is safe? tell that to the 200+ EPA documented cases of water contamination in Pennsylvania alone. nobody striking it rich on these mineral rights we are talking about maybe the price of one dinner a week max per property owner .
Obviously you are not one of the property owners that is interested in developing your income potential…and are biased as a result. Stats can be found to support any argument, the keystone pipeline comes to mind, where one side says it will ruin the landscape and leak, yet ignore the fact that hundreds of pipelines already exist on the proposed route, have been there for decades, with minimal issues. One tanker car carries 30,000 barrels of oil, many have derailed and burned, towns evacuated, hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spilled, yet all we hear about is a 5000 gallon leak of oil in a swamp/wet land…..give me a break!!!!
Let me be clear, I’m not against drilling I know where our energy source comes from. However, this activity has absolutely no business in high density residential areas. No one wants to spend $750,000+ on the house ( in the movers development for example) and then have an oil rig and drilling and industrial activity going on right next-door ;likewise for where our children go to school or play.
I agree, not in close quarters, but the definition of ‘right next door’ changes from community to community. My neighbor is ten feet away, others may be a block or two away. Ten feet is obviously ‘close quarters’ and a high density area. Blocks between homes is a whole different ballgame. Keep in mind that the oil rig does not remain there for long, just to place the pipe, then it becomes a ‘discreet’ pump, plus, it is way less activity than a dairy farmer having a truck stop by every day to pick up milk.
You make the operation sound like an industrial complex…. obviously, homes in a tight subdivision won’t be drilling for oil, and the playgrounds won’t have oil rigs next door, but folk with plenty of property should not be restricted regarding their right to help our country’s energy needs, and make some money as well. Perhaps a giant wind farm would be more ‘green’, with the “whoosh–whoosh” of the blades going on constantly in the background, and the blades making sunsets a little more ‘modern’, not to mention the thousands of birds that will meet their maker…would that be an option instead of an oil well?, that just sits there quietly, pumping oil into a tank, which is emptied once a month or so, just like the ‘honey dippers’ do at state fairs….but in a much more efficient manner…..
Lee, I don’t believe that you have spent much time around oil production have you? The sights and smells are much more of an “experience” than what you portray. A routine Flare off during drilling is quite a show. Then there is the smell. One of the permitted drill sites is just under 2 miles from me in the direction that the prevailing wind will be sure to bring me the experience from time-to-time. I work at the General Motors Proving Grounds and we have several oil and gas wells on property. A couple times a year there are some un-planned maintenance that is needed. Again, an experience. Most of the sites on GM property have some sort of 24-7-365 flare going on. So lots more than the noises when a cow kicks off that automatic milking machine.
That said, I would welcome drilling in my back yard. My neighbors near Goodison… not so much.
For others reading this. Mr Michalski and on another site Mr. Yager have done a marvelous job of bringing cold dull facts to an emotional issue.
Fracking is not likely here. We have the wrong geology below us. From real facts provided here and on Mr. Yager’s site I learned that the closest fracked well to me is out near Hillsdale. I knew lots of fracking is going on Up-North in the Antrim Shale deposits. That’s Kalkaska toward Cheboygan. But very unlikely near me. From my own independent research I have learned that there is about a 6% rate of ground water contamination from upper level well casings not sealing properly. That is from drilling industry reports.
I would be comfortable with a 6% chance of my well getting poisoned. if I was in on the action. My neighbors… not so much.
I would also be comfortable with a 2 Mega Watt wind turbine nearby. You probably not.
We were in the thumb last year and fascinated by the turbines, so drove very close to several of them. They were enormous and right on top of houses. We could see the light flickering over the houses through the turbine and they were a lot noisier then we ever dreamed! It is funny how you get an picture in your head of clean energy… I would not want one of those looking down at my house! I guess you can get use to them as anything else.
As far as drilling around here, we depend on our wells for potable water, not the city. So any chance of poisoning is going to directly affect the quality of life for everyone sharing the supply. Aquifers can be large and affect a large number of people even if the houses are spread out over acres.
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