GOOD NEWS!

An application has just been filed with the DEQ to plug the Swanson 4-7 proposed Class II Injection well in Johnstown Township!  If you remember, activists launched a campaign to fight this new injection well  when we first became aware of it in September 2016! A Class II Injection well is where gas or oil well waste is disposed of deep underground under pressure often leading to earthquakes.

A successful letter of opposition  campaign (over 100 letters/emails sent to the EPA) resulted in the EPA granting us a hearing right in Hastings at the library drawing a huge turn out and getting excellent press coverage! I would like to thank all of you who wrote letters and/or spoke at the hearing and especially the Fair Lake Association who did the work to research and lead the campaign.  I would also like to thank the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) for their unflagging support, education and guidance in our resistance!  Rising Up!

More bad news. Swanson Injection Well

Unfortunately the EPA has decided to grant a permit to Arbor Operating to proceed with a class II Injection Well on Manning Rd. in Johnstown Twp. in Barry County.  They insist they will be ‘disposing’ of toxic brine from conventional wells rather than frack waste.  We’ll see.

Although disappointing, we did at least succeed in delaying the inevitable 2 1/2 years.  I suppose the next step now is for the Community officials to pass some good protective local ordinances.    Thank you to all the community activists who made phone calls, wrote letters, attended planning meetings and spoke out at the EPA Hearing with the support and guidance of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC).

 

 

Bad news.

 Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan

2019 UPDATE

On November 5, 2018, we submitted 47 boxes containing approximately 270,962 signatures on the Committee’s petition to ban horizontal fracking and frack wastes. This represented the work of hundreds of volunteers over a 3-year period. Amazingly, the Director of Elections refused to take our boxes, citing a reference to the projected 2016 election date on the front. Because in previous litigation with us the Bureau of Elections and Secretary of State had told the courts that once we collected enough signatures we “would be able to file” them, and the courts agreed, citing that we were using the same petition sheets as we have been using since 2015, that this was a non-issue.

We sued in the Court of Appeals to challenge this decision right after the Election. That case was dismissed because the “emergency” decision we asked for was no longer an emergency.

n late December 2018, we sued again, this time in the Court of Claims, challenging both the Bureau’s illegal decision to refuse our petitions, and also the unconstitutionality of the 180-day signature-gathering law, all in one lawsuit.

The new administration includes a new Secretary of State and new Attorney General. The new attorney representing the State has requested two extensions of 21-days each before answering our complaint. Meanwhile, we’ve worked with a state representative who has asked for an Attorney General’s opinion on the 180-day signature-gathering law. We are hopeful that the new administration will agree with our case, take in the signatures and start the canvassing process, and issue an opinion that the 180-day signature-gathering statute is unconstitutional, as former AG Frank Kelley once did.

For future updates, please see our website: www.letsbanfracking.org             

Or Facebook page: Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan

 

We Won! They’re out!

Hooray!! The Boulter 1-17 Frack well in Carlton Twp. is closed! For good!
According to the front page of the Hastings Banner today, Jan. 25, 2018, Mark Snow of the MDEQ reported that lack of economically viable hydrocarbon deposits led Interstate Explorations to shut down the well for good. Plugging concluded January 13.
This is such great news!! I want to thank each and every one of you who attended meetings, wrote letters, made phone calls, sent emails, worked to pass a protective ordinance, spoke out or protested on the corner to protect the clean and healthy nature of our rural community from the industrialization of fracking! Thanks for your activism. Rising Up!
Of course the reason they shut down is because they could not make money at it but it doesn’t seem like it hurt for them to know they were unwanted😉

We made the front page again!

Health, environment, development among top stories of past year / 12-28-17

Thu, Dec 28, 2017

Protesters assemble at the intersection of North Broadway and Sisson roads in mid August to protest Boulter 1-17, a hydraulic fracturing well owned and operated by Interstate Explorations of Texas. It is Barry County’s first hydraulic featuring well, and the state’s 27th active fracking well, according to the DEQ.

Drilling deeper

The pump jack is down and the big rig is back up. Must be going deeper. Still no immediate plans to frack Boulter 1-17 according to Eric Kimber of the regional DEQ.

Carlton Twp. Passes Moratorium!

I am pleased to announce that last night the Carlton Twp. Board, under the the leadership of Brad Carpenter, Twp. Supervisor, voted to adopt a 6 month Moratorium on fracking to allow them to develop and enact a package of ordinances they are working on. Yay!  Cause for celebration as this is the first Twp. in Barry County willing to take a stand on this issue!

 

Thanks to all the activists who wrote letters, made phone calls or attended twp. meetings to make this happen!

Our elected officials listened to us and acted!  

Please consider a letter or phone call (Brad is in his office on Friday mornings) to thank the board for their work and/or a phone call to the county commissioners asking them ‘to do their job’ and develop countywide protective ordinances to assure the health and welfare of our people and our environment!  Rising Up!

Brad Carpenter’s phone:  269-945-5990

County Commissioner’s numbers:  Gibson 269-948-8325,  Dan Parker 269-838-6057,  David Jackson 269-623-3710,  Jon Smelker 616-765-8481,  Ben Geiger 269-838-8679,  Vivian Conner 269-838-8740,

Heather Wing 269-660-0498

A letter to the editor of the Hastings Banner is also a great idea!

Update on Boulter 1-17

Well pump humming at Boulter 1-17 / 11-23-17 Staff Writer Christian Yonkers As of last week, an oil pump jack is humming at the Boulter 1-17 site. After secondary drilling, trucks arrived with pump components in mid-November. Large square storage containers occupy the north end of the site, along with a generator and equipment. “Escaping natural gas burns in a release flare near the well head.” State authorities are unable to confirm whether the well’s target depth has been reached or if hydrocarbons have been discovered. Under state law, operators are protected from divulging drilling results until 90 days after drilling concludes. The 90-period is expected to end sometime in January 2018. Absent of confirmation, well pump installation suggests the lessor, Interstate Explorations, has found or is close to finding oil and gas deposits. The pump jack, visible from Sisson Road, operates intermittently throughout the day. Boulter 1-17 received a permit to utilize hydraulic fracturing. An estimated 950,000 gallons of fluid were to be used in fracking Boulter 1-17. However, a well expected to utilize fracking may be completed conventionally, said Mark Snow with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Oil, Gas, and Minerals Division. Until drill records are made public, it will be impossible to confirm whether Boulter 1-17 was fracked. (more) Earthen berms surround the well pad near North Broadway. A large steel container (right) appears to contain a fire, which neighbors have reported burning day and night.

Fracking Comes to Barry County

The Boulter 1-17 Hydraulic Frack well in Carlton Twp. is the first frack well in Barry County.  Unfortunately it will probably not be our last as most of our state land and much of our farm land has been leased for fracking.  According to the DEQ, Interstate Exploration, an oil company out of Houston, TX, has 90 days from the time they reach their depth (6500 feet) to reveal whether or not they have found oil.  We are still waiting to hear. For now the drilling is completed and the equipment removed.

We know we cannot stop fracking in our rural community but we are not going to give up without a fight. Maybe we can delay it and maybe they will tire of complying with ordinances.  We are now trying to focus our efforts on getting countywide or at least townships to develop, enact and then enforce local protective ordinances. Our request to be on the county commission mtg. agenda was denied!  In September eight ‘water protectors’ spoke during public comment time at the county commissioner’s bi- weekly mtg. A poll in the Sept.14th. Hastings Banner asked ‘Should county commissioners bring the fracking issue to the forefront of their agenda?’ 53% of the respondents said ‘Yes’.    We need to keep reminding these elected officials of what their constituents are asking for.  Rise Up!

The Carlton Twp. Brd. has been hard at work developing a package of local protective ordinances and it is hoped that they will be voting on this at their next meeting Monday Dec. 13 at 7:00pm. Rising Up!

ACTION NEEDED

Now that hydraulic fracking is coming to Barry County we need some local protective ordinances in place to ensure that our community remains safe from real and potential threats from the fracking industry.  If you live in Barry County please contact your elected officials at your Township, Village and the County Commission and ask them to to develop and enact protective ordinances. They cannot make an ordinance to ban fracking but they can make ordinances that will help protect us and possibly discourage frackers.

Examples of some of the problems protective ordinances can address:

• 24/7  Noise from drilling and trucks
• 24/7  Industrial  lights
• many semi trucks per well per day tearing up roads and creating huge traffic jams and noise
• Pipelines that may leak causing groundwater and surface contamination
• Wells drilled for water that draw up to 21(now 31) million gallons per frack. The Boulter 1-17 is expected to use a total of one million gallons of fresh water.

• Silica frack sand blowing in all directions from trucks on the pad is hazardous to health
• Injection wells where toxic flowback fluid is ‘disposed’ of are notorious for leaking into groundwater aquifers, and other water sources
• Toxic brine, the fluid made up of fresh water contaminated with various undisclosed chemicals, is allowed to be sprayed on roads for dust and ice control. Ask your public officials to switch to a less hazardous material.

Some townships are passing local ordinances for Moratoriums to give them time to develop other Protective Ordinances before drilling begins.  Orangeville Twp. has passed road ordinances for two roads.

When making your call:

Introduce yourself and  tell them where you live.  Ask them if they have begun work on any Protective Ordinances before drilling for oil begins.  If not, ask them when this process will begin.  Let them know that as a resident of _____ you are very concerned about the negative effects fracking in other places has had on communities and you would like to see the local govt. create some good protective ordinances here in your twp, village, city, county.County Commissioners: Ben Geiger 269-838-8679 Howard Gibson 269-948-8325    Dan Parker 269-838-6057   David Jackson269-623-3710  Vivian Conner 269-838-8740  Heather Wing 269-660-0498   John Smelker  616-765-8481   Ask that your concerns be recorded and reported to the board.

Rise Up!

Jackie Schmitz

‘Never the less she persisted’

Update on Swanson Injection Well

SWANSON 4-7 SWD Class II Injection Well

We are still waiting to hear from the EPA whether or not the proposed Class II Deep Injection Well in Johnstown Twp. will be permitted to dispose of frack waste. In this case no news is good news! We have successfully delayed the potential harm to our fresh water and protected the health and welfare of our people in Johnstown Twp!                The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan is continuing to collect signatures for their ballot initiative to ban fracking and injection wells in Michigan.  Please consider helping to gather the last signatures we need to get on the 2018 ballot before May.  We need more volunteers!  Donations are also needed and can be made at the letsbanfracking.org  website.  Rise Up!