LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Aug. 11, 2023) – A series of non-producing oil wells in Ottawa Counties will be falling into state hands.
In a settlement announced by the office of Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday, the state will assume responsibility for 21 wells in Georgetown and Tallmadge townships, two of which led to oil spills into a lake at the Bend Area Open Space north of Jenison earlier this year.
The agreement with McCall Oil and Gas calls for over $2.8 million in civil fines, past and future site remediation costs, and the expense of properly plugging the wells that hadn’t produced oil for more than a year. It resolves a lawsuit filed by Nessel’s office last year under the state’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, and comes as a consent judgement from 20th Circuit Court Chief Judge Jon Van Allsburg.
The agreement also involves a McCall well in Ingham County’s White Oak Township.
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