Oil regulator criticized for support of Great Lakes drilling

Environmentalists say Hal Fitch, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's geological survey division, compromised his regulatory role by defending the expanded drilling rights.

According to minutes from a December meeting of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, Fitch approved a resolution supporting extraction of oil and gas under the Great Lakes.

Michigan law prohibits oil rigs in the Great Lakes, but permits petroleum exploration beneath the lakes from drilling sites on land using a process called directional drilling.

"I wouldn't say we were promoting the oil industry. We promote the wise development of the state's oil and gas resources," Fitch said. "All we're saying is the technology (of directional drilling) is sound and the process is safe."

Fitch spoke to the IOGCC, a coalition of 37 oil producing states that promotes oil and gas production, saying, "the benefits (of directional drilling under the Great Lakes) far outweigh any detriment."

Fitch said he touted the pro-drilling resolution in a bid to kill legislation in Congress - introduced by Democratic Congressperson Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) - that proposes a ban on directional drilling beneath the Great Lakes.

Critics said Fitch's actions ignored public concerns about plans to expand directional drilling under Lake Michigan. Some have said increased drilling could disrupt residential and resort areas along the coast and expose people to potentially deadly impurities.

"Michigan officials have long had a dual role as regulators and promoters of the oil and gas industry, but this was perhaps the most overt example of that I have ever seen," said Anne Woiwode, program director for the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club.

State officials have predicted as many as 30 new oil wells could be drilled beneath lakes Michigan and Huron. Thirteen oil and gas wells have been drilled beneath lakes Michigan and Huron since 1979.

Gov. John Engler's spokesperson, John Truscott, said the governor supports increased drilling under the lake if it can be done safely. A science advisory panel convened by Engler in 1997 concluded that directional drilling under the Great Lakes posed little risk of polluting the lakes.

"All the scientific studies and evidence we've seen leads us to believe it is safe," Truscott said.

02-02-99