“Boy what a sound. How I love hearing that old money clank. That beautiful sound of cold hard cash. That beautiful, beautiful sound, nickels, nickels, nickels. That beautiful sound of clinking nickels.” ~ Lucy Van Pelt. Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” have always been one of my favorite comic strips. Schultz provides an endless supply of quotes for all of life’s problems. Lucy is funny because everyone, at some point in their life is guilty of being greedy. Many people are afflicted with a love for money. Afterall, we live in America. I myself play the lottery every week in hopes of “hittin’ it big!”. Lots of people have dreams of living the good life. But what exactly is “the good life”? Jesus has an answer for that. Society has an answer. Corporate America has an answer. Republicans and Democrats both have answers. Who should we listen to? Over the past several months oil companies have invaded Lenawee County. They have knocked on doors with big checks in hand with a promise of “the good life”. It’s no surprise that few people have turned them away. The nickels are too hard to resist. Drill baby drill is alive and well here in a Lenawee. It caused me to join a group of citizens interested in the environmental impact of all the drilling. I listened to a USGS specialist. I listened to River Raisin Watershed expert. I trust what they have to say. But I dont trust the gas company representatives who assure everyone that everything is going to be ok…despite the stories all over the country that everything is not ok. Landowners are getting sick. Farm animals are dying. Water is being contaminated. The Environmental Protection Agency recently declared that it will conduct a new study on drilling practices. Oil and gas companies are being pressured to disclose all their “proprietary” chemicals that are used in the drilling process. Preliminary reports are that many of the proprietary chemicals are hazardous and/or carcinogenic, which makes you wonder how and why the Bush administration gave them an exemption from the Clean Water Act. Meanwhile drilling continues in Lenawee County. And, as I drove by an oil rig last Monday I noticed that it was surrounded by corn. That seemed a little disconcerting to me. Where is that corn going? Is it feed corn? Is it going to the farmers market? Will that corn be contaminated? Is anyone checking for contamination around the oil rig along the field edge? If you listen to the oil company they will tell you it’s safe despite new reports that it is not. Landowners have every right to decide whether to drill or not. Times are tough. But, I think it’s unconscionable to harvest food right next to an oil rig. Greed just crossed the line into irresponsible and possibly into unlawful. There are two ways to fight this in my opinion. I could call the DNRe and report it. They may or may not do anything. I can’t trespass and take my own soil samples for testing. Even if I was able to get soil samples it would cost me about $100 to have it tested for heavy metals and other contaminants. I don’t have the time nor money to do that. The easiest thing for me to do is stop buying any livestock or food from the Adrian Township area unless it’s from an organic farm. It’s too bad it has to come to that. They grow good corn out there. But, if you’re a landowner and you’re getting a check for oil…you don’t need my money. I’m not happy about you risking contaminating Lenawee County. You wont get a nickel from me.
The Heron 
Great comments, Gregg. It’s very disturbing to see the continued destruction of habitat and risk being applied to the remaining ecosystems. I hope you and the citizen group can convince more of the local landowners about the risks.
Thanks Darrin,
Sadly, there’s really nothing we can do to stop or slow down the oil industry. The laws are all in there favor. The only thing that slows down drilling is a moratorium after a contamination. Sometimes, that’s what it takes to change the minds of the masses. Hopefully, the wells will dry up before that happens.