No Saline Water for Paxton and Other Wholesale Buyers

The has halted wholesale water sales as the city attorney looks for ways to legally halt the sale of city water to a company drilling for oil and gas in and Lodi townships.

City council voted 7-0 to enact the moratorium after a presentation by Lodi Township resident Mitch Rohde, owner of and organizer of the No Paxton campaign against the oil and gas drilling in western Washtenaw County.

Paxton Resources is a Michigan-owned and Gaylord-based independent oil and gas company that has been approaching Saline and Lodi township residents about purchasing mineral rights to drill for natural gas and oil.

Rohde told council that residents fear drilling will contaminate home drinking wells, potentially causing health risks and ruining property values.

“The only positive that can come out of this is money for those drilling for oil and gas,” Rohde said. “As for negatives, there’s contamination of drinking wells, noise, nuisance, impact on roads, destruction of property values, invalidated mortgages and costly lawsuits.”

Rohde said he was surprised to learn that the city had sold hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to Paxton.

Council member Dean Girbach said he was in full support of Rohde’s request.

“The city’s aquifer is in that direction, so my support for what you bring forward is great,” Girbach said.

Council member Jim Peters said he wasn’t sure withholding water would do anything to thwart drilling operations.

“I think you may be addressing the wrong issue here tonight. They’ll get their water somewhere else,” Peters said. “What you need is reform. What we need is a better extraction process. But if we don’t sell water, your problem isn’t going to go away.”

Others on council said it might be a long wait for reform.

Mayor Gretchen Driskell said she was sympathetic to the request, as state legislation provides little remedy for homeowners worried about contamination.

Council member Brian Marl, who works for State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said Irwin sponsored three pieces of legislation to regulate the practice.

“They are good pieces of legislation. Unfortunately, in this session, they are going nowhere fast,”

Council went over the different ways it could ban water sales to Paxton. City Manager Todd Campbell noted that the city needed to be careful not to pass a policy that discriminated against customers using water legally.

Council member Linda TerHaar motioned to limit the wholesale sale of water for uses that would take place outside the city. Girbach supported the motion.

Attorney Allan Grossman said he wasn’t certain the policy was in accordance with state law. Council member David Rhoads asked if action should be delayed until the attorney reviewed the issue.

Rohde, however, said residents in neighboring townships needed urgent action.

“Our homes don’t have time to wait. (Paxton) is moving as fast as it can, under cover of very dark. It’s going on across from our backyards. I’d ask for a temporary suspension until you have the facts,” Rohde said. “We’re not going to stop anything by cutting off water. But the city doesn’t have to encourage it. And, if nothing else, it could slow down the process until we get the proper legislation. Every second that ticks by, our homes are very much in jeopardy."

Girbach said he believed the city needed to act to protect itself against unforeseen costs. He noted the cost residents would face if the city’s well was contaminated.

“The cost of tapping into Detroit water would be unbearable,” he said.

Girbach said the city has already had difficult experiences with former gas stations with leaking underground storage tanks.

Council passed a moratorium on all wholesale water sales.

State Rep. Mark Ouimet is sponsoring a special town hall meeting on Wednesday, April 18 in Saline to allow local residents to learn more about ongoing oil and gas drilling in Washtenaw County and the surrounding areas.

The meeting takes place at the Liberty School gymnasium, 7265 Saline Ann Arbor Road, in Saline, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Local residents who attend the town hall will have the opportunity to submit written questions to the speakers