(The Center Square) – Michigan is taking over 21 non-producing oil wells and was awarded $2.85 million in civil fines in a settlement with Fisher McCall Oil & Gas, according Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Fisher McCall Oil & Gas did not properly plug the 21 wells or clean up the well sites as the law required, Nessel said in a media release. The wells had not produced in at least a year and two well sites have oil leaks. One of the leaks spilled into Ottawa County’s Bend Park.
Nessel sued Fisher McCall Oil & Gas in 2022. The $2.85 million in civil fines will be used to clean up the 21 oil wells, according to the release.
“This settlement takes these oil wells under state control for proper and responsible remediation and protects the health and safety of Michigan’s residents and natural resources,” Nessel said in the release. “Through this settlement the state of Michigan is able to clean up and secure these sites while keeping the financial burden on the corporation that failed to properly maintain them. My department will continue to safeguard Michigan’s residents, communities, and natural resources from the threat of environmental contamination.”
There has been more than 50,000 oil or natural gas wells drilled in Michigan since 1925, according to Central Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library.
Michigan produced 393,000 barrels of oil in May 2023. Oil product has diminished over the past 40 plus years in Michigan. There were 2.9 million barrels produced in January 1983, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
