NOTE: The following documents represent the Pigeon River Country Association’s official response to the announcement that Shell Oil’s exploration and production division (SWEPI) intends to sell all its Michigan assets – including its facilities within the Pigeon River Country Forest Management Unit – by the end of 2003. Since the Pigeon River County Association was one of those organizations that constituted the plaintiffs in the original court mandated agreement restricting exploration and production of hydrocarbon within the Pigeon River Country State Forest, the resolution below (adopted unanimously at the PRCA annual meeting on July 19, 2003) has been sent to the appropriate state officials. The second document, an intended press release, was forwarded to both local and state newspapers.
Three more documents complete the latest developments in this area. To view them, see the Archives .
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Resolution of the Pigeon
River Country Association
regarding the proposed sale by Shell of assets in the Pigeon
River Country
WHEREAS, the Pigeon River Country Association was formed in 1971 to preserve the wild character of the Pigeon River Country for the enjoyment of future generations of Michigan citizens;
WHEREAS, the Pigeon River Country Association was the initiator of litigation to prevent harmful oil and gas development within the Pigeon River Country;
WHEREAS, the Pigeon River Country Association was a party in the case filed in the Ingham County Circuit Court (File #76-19335-CE) and so to the Judgement and Amended Stipulation and Consent order, both entered in 1980 in this case, that resulted in Shell Western Exploration and Production, Inc., the Unit operator, producing a Final Development Plan for oil and gas development in the Pigeon River Country;
WHEREAS, such a Final Development Plan, commonly known as the Guyer agreement, that called for a limited number of additional wells and seismic testing in the Pigeon River Country State Forest withexploration and drilling to be completed "no later than year end 1989" was presented and approved by Shell Western Exploration and Production, Inc. and the Department of Natural Resources in 1987;
WHEREAS, the Department of Natural Resources has adopted a policy of offering only non development leases in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Pigeon River Country;
WHEREAS, the Judgement and Amended Stipulation and Consent Order requires the consent of the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Commission before any transfer of oil and gas operations within the leased region of the Pigeon River Country;
THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Pigeon River Country Association requests that the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality hold Shell Western Exploration and Production, Inc. to the Final Development Plan that was developed by Shell as ordered by the court;
AND, LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pigeon River Country Association opposes any transfer of the oil and gas production rights within the Pigeon River Country.
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PRESS RELEASE: PIGEON RIVER COUNTRY ASSOCIATION
At their annual meeting Saturday, July 19, 2003, the Pigeon River Country Association joined other Michigan conservation organizations such as the Resource Stewards, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, and the Pigeon River Country Advisory Council in asking the Department of Natural Resources to reject Shell Oil's effort to sell their holdings in the Pigeon River Country east of Vanderbilt, Michigan.
In addition to passing unanimously a resolution calling for the DNR and DEQ to hold Shell Oil "to the Final Development Plan that was developed by Shell as ordered by the court", the membership authorized the board to begin searching for an attorney in anticipation of possible renewed court action. The association president, Ray Hoobler, warned that reopening the Pigeon River Country to further oil and gas development would be met with fierce resistance. He said, "We believed Shell when they said there would be no further exploration or drilling in the Pigeon River Country after 1989, but now they say they want to sell their interests here and will not agree to stipulate that a purchaser can only complete the Final Drilling Plan that Shell set up in 1987! If that means we have to fight it out again in court, we are prepared to do just that."
The PRCA announced plans to address the Natural Resources Commission at their August 14, 2003 meeting in Lansing. An emergency meeting of the PRCA was announced for Saturday, August 9, 2003, to discuss the Association's testimony.
The Pigeon River Country Association was founded in 1971 to protect the wild character of the 165 square mile area in Otsego and Cheboygan Counties. The Association was one of the initial litigants in the fight to stop oil and gas development in an area rich with Michigan history.
That effort ended in December of 1980 with an Amended Stipulation and Consent Order and Judgement in the Ingham County Circuit Court that initiated many of the best environmental practices now followed by oil and gas companies in the State of Michigan.
That Judgement states, in part, "The goal is to produce oil and gas as quickly as possible to minimize the duration of hydrocarbon activities within the forest." It also called for Shell Western Exploration and Production, Inc. to develop and present for approval to the Department of Natural Resources a Final Development Plan. This was prepared and accepted in 1987 and called for the end of all exploration and development activities by the end of 1989.
For release on Monday, July 21, 2003.
from file:oilnews.htm 11/4/03