GRAND RAPIDS, MI – An Allegan County couple has filed a lawsuit against the federal government to prevent leasing of mineral rights for fracking in the Allegan State Game Area.

John Davis Jr. and Marybeth Pritschet-Davis, whose Monterey Township property abuts the game area, filed the lawsuit on Thursday, Sept. 5, in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

The U.S. Secretary of the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management are named as defendants.

“Fracking has no business anywhere near the (state game area’s) crucial wildlife habitat,” John Davis said in a statement.

The Bureau of Land Management plans to auction 27,302 acres of subsurface mineral rights in the game area on Sept. 12, the lawsuit said.

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The couple contends that the agency is relying on an environmental assessment that “inadequately addresses the impacts of the proposed lease, fails to adequately discuss the impacts of the probable use of hydraulic fracturing technology, employs faulty assumptions concerning the non-development nature of surface leases in the Allegan State Game Area, and relies on an unreliable water assessment tool in failing to discuss cumulative impacts of water consumption for likely oil and gas drilling.”

The plaintiffs, who own 40 acres, say they have imposed a conservation easement on their property to protect several groundwater springs, spring-fed streams, headwaters of Bear Creek, wetlands, a vernal pool, 90 species of birds and threatened reptiles.

The decision to sell oil and gas leases threatens wildlife and plants, impacts water use and quality, and risks groundwater contamination from surface leaks and hazardous substances migrating up and into groundwater levels, attorney Jeffrey Haynes wrote in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs say the state game area has abundance of flora and fauna because of diversity and numerous surface water features.

“In the Allegan State Game Area alone there are nine lakes, trout streams, creeks, significant and profuse open vegetated wet lands, numerous springs, vernal pools and wet woods,” Haynes wrote.

He said that lessees may use hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in which large amounts of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into an oil or gas well to “fracture” rock formations and improve production.

Haynes said he has been unable to find any notice by the Bureau of Land Management to the public about the proposal. He said he believes that the BLM auctioned about 6,000 acres of subsurface mineral rights in the game area earlier this year.

He asked that a judge set aside a smaller lease agreement from March, and any leases from the Sept. 12 sale, if it occurs.

"Fracking pollution poses enormous threats to Allegan County's water and to the endangered species in this important wildlife habitat," said Marc Fink, an attorney for The Center for Biological Diversity.

The Davises said they were surprised by the federal action. They are using their own funds in filing the lawsuit.

John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar