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Michigan is believed to have more reserves than other Great Lakes states because it rests on a 430-million-year-old buried coral reef that trapped oil and gas. One Michigan well is in Manistee.Canada doesn't follow as U.S. bans drilling
Canadian authorities maintain oil production has been safe; '02 report says spills are common.
"We should produce our own oil in the United States," says Mike Halligan, foreman of the oil well near Manistee. "... Every dollar that stays in this country is good."
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While Congress permanently banned drilling under the U.S. side of the Great Lakes last month, Canada has no plans to halt production of oil and natural gas in its sections.
Congress enacted the ban as part of a comprehensive energy bill. The ban will not affect seven Michigan wells already in production.
"I hope the (U.S.-passed) ban is going to make drilling an issue that Canadians are going to realize they need to look at," said Mark Mattson, president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, part of the global Waterkeeper Alliance that works to protect waterways. "Canadians need to listen to concerns that environmentalists have about drilling."
While Canadian authorities maintain drilling has been safe, "Dirty Drilling," a 2002 report by the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan, calls spills common, producing "significant" pollution that endangers wildlife.
The environmental group said drilling in Lake Erie led to 51 natural gas leaks between 1997 and 2001 and 83 oil spills between 1990 and 1995. "Drilling has been neither safe nor risk-free," the report concluded. The report was part of the arsenal used by U.S. drilling foes to push for a ban.
In addition to platform drilling, U.S. environmentalists oppose a technique called directional drilling, in which land-based rigs dig under the Great Lakes and then pump oil or gas back to shore. Directional drilling reduces damage from potential accidents because spills are most likely to end up on land rather than in the water. The seven Michigan wells in production use directional drilling, but environmentalists say accidents are inevitable. They say the relatively small amount of fuel that can be extracted from under the Great Lakes isn't worth the risk.
Canada, by contrast, permits offshore drilling for natural gas, as well as directional drilling for oil. All of its current production is under Lake Erie, with 500 natural gas wells and 22 oil wells.
Terry Carter, the petroleum geologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario, said the natural gas wells have produced about 414 billion cubic feet of fuel since 1960. That total is equal to about what Ontario uses in six months. Geologists believe the potential natural gas resources remaining under Lake Erie are at least equal to what's been produced so far.
Since 1996, when directional drilling for oil began under Lake Erie, about 1.5 million barrels of oil have been produced. Altogether, since oil drilling began on Canadian lands in the 1800s, Ontario has produced about 85 million barrels of oil. Geologists believe the potential oil resources remaining in Ontario would be roughly equal to what's been produced so far, most of it under the Great Lakes.
On the U.S. side, only Michigan has any oil or gas production from under the Great Lakes.
Michigan is believed to have more reserves than other Great Lakes states because it rests on the Niagaran Reef, a 430-million-year-old buried coral reef that trapped oil and gas. Five wells -- one for oil and four for natural gas -- draw fuel from under Lake Michigan in Manistee County, and two wells are drilling for gas from Saginaw Bay.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality predicts that up to 30 new wells could be drilled if permitted.
"We know there are recoverable reserves out there," said geologist Harold Fitch, who directs the department's drilling regulatory office.
While Fitch agrees the reserves "wouldn't be a lot" in relation to the country's overall energy needs, he notes that companies could see enough profit potential to make drilling worthwhile.
He points to Michigan's significant inland production: 4,196 operational oil wells and 8,969 gas wells, which produce 4 percent of the oil and 28 percent of the natural gas used by the state's residents.
The Michigan-controlled areas most promising for further production include the area already being drilled under Lake Michigan. The state also has designated Great Lakes waters offshore in Mason, Oceana and Muskegon counties as having "moderate potential" for production. There are more reserves on the eastern side of the state, including off the shores of St. Clair and Macomb counties.
Supporters have called critics' concerns over accidents overblown, noting that no spills or other serious accidents have been reported at the Michigan-based sites.
"Everyone has this 'not-in-my-back-yard' mentality, which hurts our ability to produce energy domestically," said economist Michael LaFaive of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market research institute. "The threat of oil spills off the Great Lakes is a phantom menace."
But foes counter that even one big spill would prove too costly.
"There are just some places on Earth you shouldn't drill for oil and gas," said U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, who pushed for the permanent ban. "There's only about enough energy there to supply eight hours of energy for this country."
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