Enbridge Tries to Bypass Keystone XL in Our Area (Livingston County)

Another Major Tar Sands Pipeline Seeking U.S. Permit

Canadian energy giant Enbridge is quietly building a 5,000-mile network of new and expanded pipelines that would achieve the same goal as the Keystone

Full article here

Having so many pipelines and so much construction going on in our region costs us and the environment:

Enbridge damage: Utility, road fixes could hit $1 million

Road and utility damage in Howell Township believed to have been caused by Enbridge Energy LP could reach $1 million, Mike Craine, Livingston County Road Commission managing director, said last week.
Full story here: http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/C4/20130429/NEWS06/304290056/Enbridge-damage-Utility-road-fixes-could-hit-1-million

Enbridge cited for discharge in Hartland

Read the story here: http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013307040002

The spill was caught on this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKoYuTQi7o



Such massive misconduct brought tar sand pipeline watchdogs on the plan. MICATS (Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands, https://www.facebook.com/michigancats) arranged a non-violent direct action including a sit-in of some activist tied to the machinery. Livingston Daily reported about this:

12 arrested at Enbridge protest

Read the full article here:http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130723003

Read also a commentary by Mickey Hirten today: Enbridge Energy has a credibility problem http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013308040016

Breaking News: New Pipeline SW of Witt Farm Under Construction

Pipes for a new pipeline leading more oil wells to Witt Farm are being assembled right now. As I did not see any stakes indicating the direction of the pipeline track, I suspect this to connect to horizontal drilling from the Carson Highway site.

This would bring the oil of three additional wells to the central processing facility (tank farm) on Witt Farm - and by that increase the already large flare emitting toxic and cancerous BTEXs and other compounds, most probably even hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid).

Savoy's Oil Production in our Area

I tried to pull the public data on well production on the DEQ website at http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3311_4111_4231-98518--,00.html but it is not as easy as you would think. Data are stored as PRU (Production Reporting Unit) and have to be aligned to the well permit number, which could be easier, and is not always a 1:1 relationship, meaning a PRU can include several wells - and there is no convenient way to export the more than 2 months old data from the Online Data Base at http://ww2.deq.state.mi.us/mir/ so I had to write the numbers down. There is also a Microsoft Access data base that you can download but it is even more behind (lacks data for April and March 2013!). I finally managed to get these numbers:

First, Savoy is the 3rd largest exploiter of crude oil in Michigan at a 2013 total of 236606 barrels. The largest player is West Bay Explorations, which exploit the oil fields in the Irish Hills at 811494 barrels in 2013. Number 2 is Merit Energy at 457779 barrels. These numbers are from March 2013 though!

The below table is a small selection of the total oil production in our area. I just pulled the two wells closest to the City of Adrian and two wells more NW in Adrian township, and SE in Palmyra township. However, some wells in these areas are producing more, others less than the figures shown. The two selected locations are in no way representative for their areas.

Date Production in barrels Heritage Park Witt Farm 60488 in Palmyra 60558 Pentecost Hwy Feb-13 - 1697 150 2773 Mar-13 - 5628 108 4602 Apr-13 160 6162 101 3789 May-13 620 6050 91 3391
The oil companies have 45 days from the end of a month to report (yes, you heard right - they monitor how much they make themselves - there is no calibrated device that measures production) - then the overworked and understaffed DEQ has to compile and update the database - resulting in a time lag of currently more than 2 months. Therefore we do not have data on any newer wells yet - or more recent changes in production of present wells. Therefore there are no data yet on the wells on the Purse Funeral Home, Stratton's Landscaping, or the 1-3 wells off Carson Highway.

Witt Farm Prepared to process up to 6 Wells - Flare is very Large and Smelly

Since a few days the wind carries very strong fumes from the hidden flare on Witt Farm all the way to Heritage Park. The smell reminds me of sulfur and hydrochloric acid, which could be connected to the intense drilling and brine pumping we see since a while on the Purse, Stratton and Heritage Park wells. I took a look from the farm entrance but had only my cell phone so the pictures are not very good. But will be updated now:

 The flickering of the air above the barrel from the strong flare inside is not really visible but you can see that there are now 6 storage barrels, which corresponds to 6 wells being processed now or soon to come 

Look at the sizzling air above the barrel. This will give you an indication of how much stuff is emitted into the air all the time.

 

There are now also six separators for up to six wells

Adrian Dominican Sisters Invited City Commissioners and New Commission Applicants

Tonight at 6 pm at the Weber Center. Open to the General Public

New Drilling Sites in Adrian

First the North East. There are two permitted well on Sutton's Landscaping, two new permitted wells with horizontal drilling on two farms off Valley Rd (60770 and 60771). Nobody saw the drilling rigs - they were probably not visible from the road - or are permitted (already a month ago) but not yet drilled. Both locations are very close to the Cook Drain that flows into the South Branch of  the River Raisin.

There is also a re-entry permit on Stratton's Landscaping (60775) - with a rig visible since a few weeks.

The rig that was off Carson and  Williamsburg Drive drilled twice horizontally (60757 and 60784). On the same old farm (Frye), there are two more bottom holes, each with a permitted horizontal drill (60785 and 60786), which also nobody saw. Again the rig must have been hidden behind trees - or the permit is not yet fulfilled - probably the latter as the well permits are not published yet on DEQ Weekly Oil & Gas Permit List. Interesting is that permit 60786 ends under Lake Drive next to Lake Adrian, one of the city's major drinking water sources.

 

In the Southeast, there is a new re-entry permit on a producing oil well (60774), and two new permits (60756 and 60758) NE of Ogden Station.

There is also movement in the West (where the other half of Adrian's drinking water comes from). It is concentrated around M34 with many older wells, most of them dry and some producing since a long time. There is one new permit for a horizontal well at the end of Douglas Drive close to two ponds and the Porter Drain (60764).

The Extend of Oil and Gas Drilling arround Adrian

We seem to be lucky here until now. Other regions were hit much harder with oil and gas wells next to each other all over the place...