July 15, 2004

Today the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality entered into a Consent Judgment with Fisher McCall Oil and Gas, Inc., and the Grand Rapids Gravel Company for repayment of $30,000 to the DEQ for the cost of plugging and restoring an abandoned oil well. The DAG filed a civil action on behalf of the DEQ on May 2, 2003, in the Ingham County Circuit Court. The DEQ had alleged in the complaint that the Grand Rapids Gravel Company, in the course of conducting gravel-mining activities, had damaged the well casing to the Cheyne 1 well permitted to Fisher McCall Oil and Gas, Inc. located in Georgetown Township, Ottawa County.

In September 1998, the DEQ received a complaint indicating that the Cheyne 1 well, located in Grand Rapids Gravel Company’s active mining operation, had been damaged and was leaking oil. DEQ staff investigated the complaint and concluded that the Cheyne 1 well may not have been plugged properly by Fisher McCall Oil and Gas, Inc. in 1941, and that recent mining activities may have caused further damage.

Subsequent to the investigation, the DEQ directed Fisher McCall Oil and Gas, and the Grand Rapids Gravel Company, to replug the well. Neither party undertook the requested response activities necessary to bring the site into compliance with Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.

As a result, in July 1999, the DEQ commenced replugging and cleanup operations at the Cheyne 1 well site to prevent further releases of oil and to eliminate the threat to the waters of the state. The DEQ completed cleanup at the well site in late summer of 1999.

“This case represents the DEQ’s commitment to our environment, and to Michigan,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “Our agency took the initiative to clean up this site that, left unattended, would have posed a serious risk to the surrounding environment, and ultimately to the public health.”

The Consent Judgment requires the two defendants to pay a combined restitution to the State of Michigan for $30,000 for past response activity costs, and resolves all claims against the two defendants.

“The Attorney General's Office will vigorously enforce Michigan's hazardous waste regulations and environmental laws in order to keep families safe,” stated Attorney General Mike Cox.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised July 15, 2004 by Pat Watson