[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 65669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30846]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the Clean
Water Act
In accordance with Department of Justice Policy, 28 C.F.R.
Sec. 50.7, 38 Fed. Reg. 19029, and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9622(d), notice is
hereby given that on November 30, 1995, a proposed amendment to a
Consent Decree was lodged with the United States District Court for the
Western District of Washington in United States v. Simpson Tacoma Kraft
Co., Civil Action No. C91-5260TC. The proposed amendment to the Consent
Decree, Amendment No. 1, settles claims asserted by federal, state, and
tribal natural resources trustees against the Settling Defendants for
damages to natural resources in the Commencement Bay Environment. The
trustees for natural resources in Commencement Bay are the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the
Interior (DOI) (the federal trustees); the State of Washington; the
Puyallup Tribe of Indians; and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. The
Settling Defendants involved in Amendment No. 1 to the decree are
Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company (Simpson) and Champion International
Corporation (Champion). The Washington State Department of Natural
Resources (DNR), which was a party to the original consent decree, is
not involved in the settlement set forth in Amendment No. 1 to the
decree.
Under the original consent decree, entered by the Court on December
13, 1991, the natural resource trustees for the Commencement Bay
Nearshore/Tideflats Superfund Site (CB N/T Site) settled claims for
natural resource damages in the St. Paul Waterway Problem Area, one
subpart of the CB N/T Site against Simpson, Champion, and DNR.
Amendment No. 1 extends the natural resource damages settlement with
Simpson and Champion to encompass the Commencement Bay Environment,
which consists of the CB N/T Site plus areas of Commencement Bay
between the Site and a line drawn from Point Defiance to Dash Point,
points at either side of the mouth of the Bay.
Under the Amendment to the Consent Decree, the Settling Defendants
will pay for most of the costs associated with a habitat restoration
project (the Restoration Project) in the Middle Waterway in the CB N/T
Site. Simpson has provided a 3.3 acre piece of property along the
Middle Waterway for the Restoration Project, and will construct the
Restoration Project. Simpson will also pay all but $275,000 of the
costs of constructing, monitoring, and maintaining the Restoration
Project. In addition, Simpson and Champion will reimburse $75,000 of
the Trustee assessment costs for the Site. The total value of the
settlement under Amendment No. 1 is approximately $1 million.
In return for the commitments made by Simpson and Champion in the
Consent Decree Amendment, the United States, the State of Washington,
and the Indian Tribe co-trustees are providing a covenant not to sue
the companies for damages to natural resources with respect to the
Commencement Bay Environment. Specifically, the Trustees are providing
a covenant not to sue for claims under Sections 106 and 107 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607; Section 311 of the Clean Water Act
(CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1321; Chapters 70.105d and 90.48 of the Revised Code
of Washington (the State of Washington's Model Toxics Control Act and
the state water pollution control statute); and claims under any other
federal, state, tribal, or common law for damages for injury to,
destruction of, or loss of natural resources, and claims for recovery
of Past Response Costs, Oversight Response Costs, and Future Response
Costs incurred by the Natural Resource Trustees with respect to the
Commencement Bay Environment.
The Department of Justice will receive written comments relating to
the proposed Consent Decree for thirty (30) days from the date of
publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to the
Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources
Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and
should refer to United Statesv. Simpson Tacoma Kraft Co., D.J. Ref. No.
90-11-3-363.
The proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Consent Decree and exhibits to
the amendment may be examined at the following locations: the Region 10
Office of EPA, 7th Floor Records Center, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA
98101; the Tacoma Public Library, Main Branch, 1102 Tacoma Avenue
South, Northwest Room, Tacoma, WA 98402; and Citizens for a Healthy
Bay, 771 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402. The complete Administrative Record
for the Ruston/North Tacoma Study Area may be reviewed at the EPA
Region 10 office in Seattle and at the Main Branch of the Tacoma Public
Library.
A copy of Amendment No. 1 and exhibits (if requested) may be
obtained in person or by mail from the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G
Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 624-0892. In
requesting copies, please enclose a check in the amount of $6.75
(without exhibits) or $48.50 (with exhibits) (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the ``Consent Decree Library.''
Bruce Gelber,
Acting Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 95-30846 Filed 12-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M