Recently there were some questions posed to me by a voter about the township’s ability to restrict oil and gas wells.

This issue came up in 2015 when it was realized that a lease existed for property adjacent to Musson Elementary School. I believe residents were made aware of this lease by members of “Don’t Drill the Hills” of Rochester Hills, who were against proposed drilling in that city.

The applicable state law and entries in our local minutes are at this link below (see especially highlighted sentences):

Oil and Gas Drilling

 A summary:

I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Seek an attorney’s advice if needed.

State law MCL 125.3205 takes away from counties and townships all powers to restrict drilling. All we can do is a few things like require a fence and screening, but we can’t deny drilling. Cities have more powers and can zone against drilling and force the driller to prove need and lack of adverse impact.

Our July 14, 2015 6 month “moratorium” imposed while we wrote an ordinance for fences and screening, would not have stood in court,  as we were reminded by Petroleum Institute representative  at BOT 12/8/2015