Energy costs revive push to drill under Great Lakes

By Jeff Long
March 14, 2001

Soaring energy prices have renewed interest in oil and natural gas reserves beneath the Great Lakes, rekindling debate over whether one of the world's largest sources of fresh water should also be a source of cheap energy.

With Michigan officials recommending a resumption of drilling for oil and natural gas beneath Lake Michigan, federal and state legislators plan to introduce bills on Wednesday that would ban new wells.

It's the latest salvo in a debate that's heating up around the Great Lakes, especially in the wake of this winter's natural gas bills. Environmental groups and other opponents are lining up to protect the region's greatest natural resource-the lakes themselves-from potential harm. Producers say they're trying to give consumers what they want: cheap energy.

"This is an issue that now has urgency," said Bob Meissner, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich). It will be the third time in as many Congresses that Stupak has introduced legislation to ban drilling beneath the Great Lakes.

Although farther along in Michigan, the debate is just beginning in Ohio and New York. Some reports say rich reserves of natural gas lie beneath Lake Erie. An environmental fight seems certain for anyone who tries to tap them.

With natural gas prices triple what they were last winter, the nation's focus has turned to finding new supplies. Some producers say it is time to at least think about looking beneath the Great Lakes.

"There's people in this country who say we need cheaper energy," said Thomas E. Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. "But they give you no plan on how to go get it."

Stewart said his group will hear a report on Thursday by Ohio's state geologist that says 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is untapped beneath Lake Erie. The state of Ohio burned a little less than that last year, Stewart said.

"Access is the number one issue for the industry everywhere," Stewart said.

His association represents oil and gas producers. Does Stewart expect them to get access to that reserve beneath Lake Erie? He's not pumped with optimism.

"It would be a battle with the environmental community," he said. "But you can't ignore it."

Since 1979 a few relatively small oil companies have tapped into reserves under Lake Michigan through "directional drilling"-the wells start on land, but slant under the lake to reach as far as three-quarters of a mile from shore, 4,000 feet beneath the surface.

No one is proposing to drill for anything beneath Lake Michigan off northeast Illinois. They'd strike limestone, not oil or gas. But advocates for the Great Lakes say everyone in the region should be concerned by environmental threats to the lakes, which are the source of 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water.

Michigan is where the debate has been most heated and where it's quickly coming to a head. The Lake Michigan Federation plans to release a report Wednesday outlining why such projects are a threat.

"We don't trust the state of Michigan in doing a good job in providing the oversight that's necessary in protecting the Great Lakes from potential harm," said Tanya Cabala, the Lake Michigan Federation's Michigan director.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials could not be reached Tuesday evening. The department's Web site says leasing of reserves beneath the Great Lakes should resume and could bring $100 million to Michigan's Natural Resources Trust Fund.

"The Great Lakes are our trust," said K.L. Cool, the department's director, in a statement released earlier this month. "We have a responsibility to the citizens of Michigan who have entrusted these resources to our care to recommend resumption of leasing and safe methods of extracting oil and gas from Great Lakes bottomlands."

The department temporarily stopped leasing the bottomlands in April 1998, after public controversy erupted the summer before. Newstar Energy USA proposed drilling nine oil wells.

Since then, a study by a state science board determined there is little or no risk to the lakes from drilling.

Still, the threat of leaks, spills and other accidents worries Michigan State Rep. Julie Dennis (D-Muskegon). She and others plan to introduce legislation that would stop new drilling.

"I don't know about you down in Chicago, but I don't want oil slicks of any size showing up on my lakeshore," Dennis said.

At the rate the state Department of Natural Resources is moving, new permits could be issued in two or three months, she said. She's introducing two pieces of legislation in the Michigan House: one that would extend the moratorium and one that would ban drilling outright.

"We think there will be tremendous outcry from the public, once we have this legislation," she said.

That outcry has begun, in places like the Lake Michigan Federation.

Cabala said it's unclear whether there is enough oil and gas beneath Lake Michigan to make the risk worthwhile. In either case, her group opposes drilling.

She has seen conflicting reports on how much is down there.

"If it's a small amount, it's not worth the risk," Cabala said.

"If it's a large amount, we need to have a strong regulatory framework to make sure the coastline is protected."

She said that framework doesn't exist in Michigan.

"There's been a strong movement to cater to the business interests in Michigan at the expense of the environment," she said.