Hear From Experts About Oil-Drilling Leases at Town Hall Meeting This Week

A town hall meeting is planned this week to address oil and gas drilling projects across Oakland County.

In the fall, representatives of the Michigan-based Jordan Development Company started going door-to-door in Rochester Hills, asking for leasing rights to the land underneath their homes to drill for oil.

Read: Is There Oil Under Rochester Hills? A Michigan Company Wants to Drill to Find Out

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash will lead a panel discussion with experts who will discuss the impact of the oil-drilling leases. 

The meeting is planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the West Bloomfield Township Hall, 4550 Walnut Lake Road. 

“This emerging issue is an important one for our region, and my office will hold these kinds of meetings around the county so that our residents can be informed and learn about topics that can affect our quality of life,” said Nash in a press release.

Speakers include Joe Curry, of the Michigan Groundwater Association, Hal Fitch, from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Michele Economou Ureste, West Bloomfield Township Supervisor. 

Jordan Development is a Traverse City-based company founded in 1996, that operates more than 450 oil and gas wells throughout Michigan. Jordan representatives have told Rochester Hills officials they have no intention to "frack," which is the term used for hydraulic fracturing,  a process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. The process is controversial because of the possibility of air pollution and toxic chemicals entering the local water supply.

Instead, he is asking for leasing rights from homeowners and, in return, will pay royalties for any oil that is found underneath their homes.

Has Jordan Management approached you? Have you signed a lease? Tell us about it in the comments.