The United States has banned offshore oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes, but while Canada prohibits offshore oil drilling in the Great Lakes, it does allow on-shore drilling for oil under the Great Lakes as well as offshore gas drilling.
SooNews.ca reports that, “Sault MP Tony Martin agrees with 20 U.S. Congressmen asking Canada to follow the United States lead and institute a ban on oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes. …Like U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Bart Stupak (D-MI), Martin is writing Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Environment Minister Jim Prentice and the Commissioners of the International Joint Commission urging Canada to re-examine its oil drilling policies in the Great Lakes. …The U.S. Energy Policy Act prohibited oil and gas drilling in the American Waters of the Great Lakes in 2005, however, the ban does not extend to Canadian waters. …Stupak and Quigley noted ‘as we witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, oil spills know no boundaries. So long as we continue to have different laws on drilling in our shared Great Lakes waters, we are all at risk.’”
The letter from Stupak and Quigley to Harper states, in part, that, “In 2001, Congress adopted a ban on new oil and gas drilling of any kind in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes, a ban that was extended twice through 2007. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) made this ban permanent. …In light of Canada’s long history of environmental stewardship, we urge the U.S. and Canadian governments in coordination with the International Join Commission, to undertake a review of oil and gas drilling by Canada in the Great Lakes, particularly in regard to safety, environmental impact and oil spill response plans. Ultimately we believe it is most appropriate for Canada to pursue a ban on drilling in the Great Lakes similar to the U.S. law.”
The Canadian Press reported in June that, “Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan says U.S. officials should talk with Canada about the safety of natural gas drilling in the Canadian waters of Lake Erie. Stabenow said she’d like Canada to ban drilling in Erie. It’s prohibited on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes, although Michigan allows a few wells drilled under the Great Lakes from land. Canada has 500 offshore gas wells in Lake Erie and 23 that run under the lake from shore. Both nations prohibit offshore oil drilling in the lakes. …The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources said there are strong rules and tests to prevent such disasters.”
The Sarnia Observer reported in July that, “Mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative are asking the Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to meet to discuss how federal authorities would respond to a major spill on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. … (Sarnia mayor Mike Bradley added that) pressure from the mayor’s group could also strengthen Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow’s call for Canada to match a U.S. ban on new offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the Great Lakes. No law currently prevents drilling on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, Bradley said. Earlier this month, Stabenow wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to encourage the Canadian government to match the American ban.”
The Windsor Star has reported that, “About 470 natural gas wells are still in operation (in Lake Erie on the Ontario side, says Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski). Most are 15 to 60 kilometres offshore, east of Point Pelee to south of Port Colborne. … In addition, the province has 23 oil wells – called horizontal or slant wells – drilled on-shore but extending under Lake Erie, Kowalski said.”
In Michigan, there are efforts underway to have the state House and Senate approve measures by September 2 that would allow for a November 2 vote on a constitutional ban on drilling in the Great Lakes in addtion to their current legislative ban on such drilling.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources estimates that there are about 156 million barrels of oil and 1 trillion cubic feet of gas on the Canadian side of Lake Erie. The US Geological Survey has estimated that there are 430 million barrels of recoverable petroleum liquids and 5.2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas on the US side of the Great Lakes.