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Timeline of the Pigeon River Hydrocarbon Development
(continued from previous page)
December 6, 1977 --Judge Brown enters the final order.
December 7, 1977 --WMEAC files an appeal.
December 15, 1977 --The State Appellate court denies the motion.
December 16, 1977 -- WMEAC files an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, and requests
an injunction pending the appeal.
December 22, 1977 -- The Michigan Supreme Court grants injunctive relief, blocking drilling.
January 5, 1978 -- The Michigan Supreme Court agrees to hear the case.
May 6, 1978 --The Michigan Supreme Court hears the case. Simultaneously, the justices also agree to hear
the Michigan Oil Company case involving the Corwith 1-22 well.
February 20, 1979 --In a short-lived victory for WMEAC and the other plaintiffs, the Michigan Supreme
Court bars drilling in the Pigeon River Country State Forest and remands the case to a lower court for a
permanent order. In a 4-3 ruling, the Court says drilling is likely to harm habitat and elk in the forest, and
would violate MEPA. Shell seeks an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which later decides not to take up the
case.
March 13, 1980 --Judge Brown of Ingham County Circuit Court issues a permanent injunctive order.
April 1980 --Shell Oil drafts new legislation to repeal most provisions of the Michigan Environmental
Policy Act. The bill, SB1119, is introduced in the state Senate with 28 of a total of 38 senators as co-sponsors.
April 24, 1980 --Amemorandum by Dave Smethurst, president of the Pigeon River Country Association, is
distributed to other environmental groups by Ken Sikkema, executive director of WMEAC. "It is my judgment
that unless a compromise is negotiated over Pigeon River, SB1119 will pass the Legislature in a damaging
form," says the memorandum.
May 27, 1980 --MUCC publishes its analysis of SB1119, announces its support for the bill, and attacks
environmental critics as promoting a misguided and inaccurate viewpoint.
August 20, 1980 -- WMEAC and other environmental groups publicly announce that they are seeking a
compromise.
Fall 1980 --WMEAC negotiates a new compromise plan.
November 13, 1980 --Ken Sikkema lobbies in Lansing for support of the new plan. The compromise calls
for sequential development, public participation, on-site enforcement, additional environmental protections,
studies, and annual reports.
November 13, 1980 --The Pigeon River Country Association announces that it is dropping out of the
environmental coalition, and opposes the compromise.
November 24, 1980 --The new compromise, filed in court as an amended stipulation and consent order, is
signed by the industry, the Natural Resources Commission, and the DNR during a meeting at the Doherty
Hotel in Clare. The agreement establishes a lease extension area in the Pigeon River Country State Forest.
December 5, 1980 --Gov. Milliken signs an amended version of SB1119, which contains the new consent
order. "The accommodation enables us to move ahead in this area in an orderly way and a way which will
protect basic environmental values," says Gov. Milliken in a statement.
December 15, 1980 -- Judge Brown renders a final judgment and order in the Ingham County Circuit Court,
ending the Pigeon River litigation.
February 1981 --After an eight-year moratorium, drilling resumes in the Pigeon River Country State Forest.
September 1983 --High concentrations of chloride contamination are discovered in groundwater near the
Corwith 3-31, one of the newest producing wells.
December 7, 1983 --Shell notifies the DNR of a leaking waste pit.
February 6, 1984 --In a letter to the DNR, Ken Sikkema, the former executive director of WMEAC, notes
that the 1980 Amended Stipulated Consent Agreement prohibits brine pits in the Pigeon River Country State
Forest. "At no time will contaminated solids or liquids be disposed within the boundaries of the Pigeon River
Country State Forest except through injection into subsurface formations approved by the director," writes Mr.
Sikkema, quoting from the agreement.
February 10, 1984 --Jack Bails, chief of the DNR environmental enforcement division, issues a public
statement directing Shell to fit a brine pit with a new cap and to purge the groundwater.
Fall 1984 --For the first time in two decades, the DNR permits elk hunting in the Pigeon River Country State
Forest, as the herd tops 1,000 animals.
August 22, 1987 --Shell files a final development plan with the Pigeon River Country Advisory Council.
Fall 1988 --Exploration and drilling completed. In all 58 wells were drilled; 22 yielded proven reserves of oil
and gas. Miles of forest were cleared to widen roads, build new roads and pipelines, and construct two
processing plants.
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