The State of Michigan owns hundreds of thousands of acres of
oil, gas, metallic, and stone minerals. The state Constitution provides for the
state to both “protect and conserve” these resources, as well as “develop”
them. Until recently, this process of “development” of mineral resources was
obscure, hard to understand, and happened largely out of the public eye.
Rather than have a comprehensive minerals development plan, in which the state decided where minerals should be available for
exploitation, and where they should not, the state relied on a nomination
process. In this process, a mineral company would nominate a parcel, and ask
the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for permission to lease those minerals for development. Only
then would the state do a review of the minerals to determine whether or not to
lease them. In addition, applications for drilling wells for oil and gas
development were not easy to understand or participate in.
While the public was technically allowed to review this
process, it was obscure, hard to understand, and not well publicized by the
DNR. For example, there was no publicly accessible map which showed where
minerals had been nominated for development. Nor was there a map showing where
drilling permits had been applied for.
The Michigan Chapter Beyond Natural Gas and Oil (BNGO)
Committee took on the challenge of making the process more transparent and
accessible to the public. This work took two parallel paths.
First, the BNGO Committee began to educate the public
regarding this process and how to participate. With the support of staff
members Marvin Roberson and Rita Chapman, the committee put together two Public Participation Guides to both the DNR minerals
development, and for Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) drilling permits. These guides gave a clear, concise
explanation of how the process works and how the public can be involved. In
addition, the committee held a number of well-attended workshops around the
state, featuring Chris Grobbel, an environmental consultant. These workshops expanded on the guides, and walked
participants through the process and critical issues. As a result,
participants were able to work in their local communities to reduce the impact
of drilling on their local environment.
The committee also worked with the DNR to make the
process more accessible to the public. This work resulted in mineral
development nomination maps, which showed where minerals were proposed for
development, as well as comment deadlines, databases searchable by counties,
etc. In addition, the Committee helped the DNR devise better, more
comprehensive public notification and comment processes.
As a result of these efforts over many years, minerals development in the state of Michigan
is much more publicly transparent and accessible. This led directly to
significant increases in public participation in these processes, by Sierra
Club members and others, and the withdrawal of a number of
controversial development proposals.
Besides its work on opening up the DNR's process for mineral development, the BNGO Committee has worked to raise
the awareness of "dirty fuel" issues in Michigan. Committee member
Craig Brainard created
an educational program outlining the dangers and issues surrounding
fracking, which he presented many times to diverse groups around the
state over
two-and-a-half years. From 2013-2016, Craig also produced a weekly email
communication called
The Fracking Linkletter (c) that presented news on fracking, pipelines,
and energy issues to 350 subscribers in nine states.
There is still work to be done. The state still has no
comprehensive planning process for minerals, and regulation of the destructive
practice of hydraulic fracturing remains weak.
The BNGO Committee has participated in the Chapter’s lobbying efforts to
promote stronger legislation. The
Committee is also focusing on the pipeline infrastructure that proposes to use
Michigan as a passageway to transport oil from the Dakota Bakkan fields and
fracked natural gas from the Pennsylvania Marcellus region to Canada for
export. BNGO volunteers Nancy Shiffler and Frank
Zaski have kept the committee involved in the issue of battling
unnecessary and dangerous oil and gas pipelines, reviewing complicated
federal and state documents and writing and submitting comments on the
complex approval process for these projects. Their efforts have made the
Michigan Chapter one of the few organizations in the state tackling the
proposed Nexus and ET Rover pipelines in southeast Michigan.
The Sierra Club will continue to
work on these issues and build on the demonstrable strides already made.
