[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 22 (Thursday, February 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 4686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01942]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Air
Act
On January 25, 2018, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
Consent Decree with the United States District Court for the Northern
District of Indiana in the lawsuit entitled United States and State of
Indiana v. Indiana Harbor Coke Company, et al., Civil Action No. 18-cv-
35.
The Complaint seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief for
alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (``CAA'') and Title 326 of the
Indiana Administrative Code against Indiana Harbor Coke Company, its
corporate parent SunCoke Energy, Inc., and Cokenergy, LLC
(collectively, the ``Defendants''), the owners and/or operators of the
coking facility, located in East Chicago, Indiana. The Complaint
alleges violations of the CAA and Title 326 of the Indiana
Administrative Code relating primarily to excess emissions of coke oven
gases from leaking coke ovens and bypass vent stacks.
Under the proposed Consent Decree, Defendants would be jointly and
severally liable for a $5 million civil penalty, to be split evenly
between the United States and Indiana, and Cokenergy would perform a
lead abatement supplemental environmental project at a cost of
$250,000. The proposed Consent Decree also would require comprehensive
coke oven rebuilds to address oven leaks, including potential permanent
shut down of an entire battery, representing one fourth of the total
number of ovens; interim and permanent reductions in the annual bypass
venting permit limit; enhanced monitoring and testing requirements,
including solar occultation flux testing; implementation of preventive
operations and maintenance plans to minimize conditions that might
cause excess emissions; root cause failure analyses for bypass venting
incidents and repeated coke oven leaks; and two mitigation measures,
dual operation of the spray dryer absorbers to achieve a reduction in
sulfur dioxide emissions from the facility and maintenance of two
quench towers to achieve a reduction in particulate matter emissions.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and
should refer to United States and State of Indiana v. Indiana Harbor
Coke Company, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-08555/1. All comments must
be submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date
of this notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:
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To submit comments: Send them to:
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By email............................ [email protected].
By mail............................. Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
Washington, D.C. 20044-7611.
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During the public comment period, the Consent Decree may be
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of
the Consent Decree upon written request and payment of reproduction
costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library,
U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $12.40 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury.
Randall M. Stone,
Acting Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section,
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-01942 Filed 1-31-18; 8:45 am]
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