[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 43183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21236]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act

    Under 28 CFR Sec. 50.7, notice is hereby given that on August 1, 
1997, a proposed consent decree in United States v. Puerto Rico 
Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, et al., Civil No. 96-2489, was lodged 
with the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
    In this action, the United States sought civil penalties and 
injunctive relief from the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority 
(``PRASA'') because its Mayaguez Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant 
(``Mayaguez WWTP''), in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, continuously violated 
the effluent limitations of its National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (``NPDES'') permit since 1987 and violated 
monitoring and reporting requirements for nitrogen and sulfide since 
1992. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a defendant in this action 
pursuant to Section 309(e) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 
Sec. 1319(e). Mayaguezanos por la Salud y el Ambiente intervened as a 
plaintiff in this action on April 8, 1997.
    The consent decree resolves the United States' claims against 
PRASA. PRASA will pay $150,000 in civil penalties. In addition, PRASA 
will perform injunctive relief, including: (1) Constructing secondary 
treatment facilities and any other treatment facilities necessary to 
achieve compliance with NPDES Permit No. PR0023795 or its successor 
permit or, if authorized by Congress and EPA, constructing facilities 
to extend the discharge point for the Mayaguez WWTP from its present 
location in Mayaguez Bay to a point farther out to sea; (2) complying 
with interim effluent limitations; (3) limiting new sewer connections 
to the Mayaguez WWTP; and (4) paying $400,000 over three years to the 
Mayaguez Watershed Initiative in order to develop and implement a 
comprehensive watershed management plan for the Mayaguez Watershed.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of sixty (60) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the consent 
decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General 
of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of 
Justice, Washington, DC 20530, and should refer to United States v. 
Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, et al., D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-
4233.
    The consent decree may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney, District of Puerto Rico, Federal Office Building, 150 
Carlos E. Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico 00918; at the United 
States Environmental Protection Agency--Region II, 290 Broadway, New 
York, New York 10007; and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street 
NW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of the 
consent decree may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent 
Decree Library, 1120 G Street NW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. In 
requesting a copy, please enclose a check in the amount of $8.00 (25 
cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the Consent Decree 
Library.
Bruce S. Gelber,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 97-21236 Filed 8-11-97; 8:45 am]
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