Around Mason and environs, Oil and gas manufacturer wants to drill

Oil and gas manufacturer seeks opportunity to drill oil in Vevay Township near Mason.

On Thursday, the very company, Jordan Development, had its first hearing in front of Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

And Jordan Development Company is just in the first stage of the two-part process with the state where they asked for a larger drilling area underground.

For Nigeria well of this type, a standard 80acre unit would be required. In this situation, the company has requested for a 120acre unit. They have also demanded for a statutory pooling which is when some of the mineral owners inside of a unit have signed mineral leases.

It is important to note that oil and gas has been obtained from the ground in the Mason area for years. The company also declares the fracking method would not be used.

However, Supervisor of Vevay Township said they have heard from people in the community.

"They entered. We fielded a few questions but this has been in process for a number of years so people probably might have forgotten about it. Probably, they heard about it several years ago and by now they're not even thinking about it," said Ramey.

This proposed 120 acre drilling site would be located at south of Kipp Road between the railroad tracks and Eden Road. Ramey states the township has no control over whether it happens or not and can only submit comments to the State.

"There are some people who will not like it, some people are not concerned, but here again it's not our call whether it is done or not," said Ramey.

The decision would be controlled by the state.

"This is not an overly complex well that is being proposed, though we know there's community interests so we'll be engaging the public on this one and doing our normal thorough review on this," said Wygant.

"They have to ensure all of the mineral rights to that well and typically mineral owners that are inside that unit would receive typically like a ⅙ or ⅛ depending on what the nature of their lease is," said Wygant.

Ramey declares the company has also talked to the Township.

"As described by the people putting it in there, there should be no problem with leakage or spillage because it's entirely contained all the way down," said Ramey.

Although, not all owners signed leases, including a Public School. Out of those located in the area, 76.69% signed leases and 23.31% did not. Now, the court has to make sure everyone receives their fair share of the potential revenue.

The decision is anticipated in 1-3 months. The next step would be the permit application approval where the state would look into any potential environmental impacts. The state would also look into public health and safety concerns before the permit is approved.

Mayor of Mason declared in a statement, “The city holds mineral rights on two small parcels within the area covered by the drilling. Thereby, we will share in royalties from products derived from the drilling if it is successful. Also, the drilling rig will not be located within the city limits, therefore there will be no direct impact to city residents. The city has been informed that the directional drilling techniques to be employed will not involve fracking.  The city would continue to monitor operations as allowed. The city does not have any legal jurisdiction regarding the drilling as such processes are accomplished by the state.”