Legislators
to hold public forum on Great Lakes drilling
WASHINGTON ’Äì U.S. Rep. Bart
Stupak, D-Menominee, Michigan Rep. Julie Dennis,
D-Muskegon and other Michigan legislators will hold
a public forum on the state’Äôs plan to expand
directional drilling for gas and oil under the Great
Lakes from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT on Monday,
July 2, at Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba.
The meeting will be held in
Room 952 of the Joseph Heinman University Center,
adjacent to Parking Lot D on Danforth Road.
The forum will open with brief
remarks by Stupak, Dennis, other legislators and
Tanya Cabala, coordinator of Land and Water
Conservation programs for the Lake Michigan
Federation.
The floor will also be opened
to groups or individuals who have sought time in
advance, and at least a half hour will be reserved
for a question and answer period. Those wishing to
speak at the forum are asked to contact Kimberly
Puglise in Stupak’Äôs D.C. office, 202-225-4735.
The forum is part of a series
of public events on the drilling issue being held
across the state by Stupak, Dennis and State Sen.
Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.
’ÄúI regret that State Senator
Peters will not be able to join us in Escanaba on
Monday, July 2,’Äù Stupak said. ’ÄúSenator Peters
and Representative Dennis have joined me as state
leaders in making the public aware of the Engler
administration’Äôs plans to open new areas on our
Michigan shores for drilling.’Äù
Stupak has introduced two
separate bills to ban the practice of directional
drilling, which is drilling at an angle from the
shoreline to tap oil or gas reserves under the Great
Lakes. Peters and Dennis have introduced similar
legislation at the state level and have called for a
moratorium on the procedure.
Opponents of the practice argue that, as the
governor’Äôs own advisory panel has stated, the risk
of drilling may be minimal but is not zero; that
this risk is posed to the Great Lakes, one of the
world’Äôs greatest resources, home to more than 34
million people and containing 18 percent of the
world’Äôs fresh water; and that new wells won’Äôt
significantly affect prices consumers pay.
Click
here
to read about legislation Stupak has proposed to
ban directional drilling in or under the Great Lakes
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