[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 142 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39875-39876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19432]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Safe Drinking 
Water Act

    In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR Sec. 50.7, notice is 
hereby given that on June 23, 1997, a proposed Consent Decree in United 
States v. Town of Cheshire, Civil No. 97cv30141-MAP (D. Mass.), was 
lodged with the United States District Court for the District of 
Massachusetts resolving the matter. The proposed Consent Decree 
concerns violations by the Town of Cheshire, Massachusetts, of the Safe 
Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f, et seq., the National Primary 
Drinking Water Regulations, 40 CFR Part 141, and the provisions of the 
EPA Administrative Order issued to the Town on September 30, 1994. The 
violations alleged in the complaint include the failure by the Town to 
install filtration treatment (or to switch to use of a groundwater 
source not under the direct influence of surface water) within 18 
months, i.e., by June 29, 1993, as required by the Surface Water 
Treatment Rule (the ``SWTR''), Section 1412(b)(7), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 300g-
1(b)(7), and 40 CFR Sec. 141.70-141.75; the failure to comply with the 
turbidity requirements of the SWTR, 40 CFR Sec. 141.71(c)(2); the 
failure to comply with monitoring and reporting requirements at 40 CFR 
Secs. 141.74, 141.75, and the failure to comply with public 
notification requirements at 40 CFR Secs. 141.32(a)(1) (i) and (ii) and 
141.31(d).
    Under the terms of the Consent Decree, the defendant will pay a 
total civil penalty of $18,500 for its past violations. In addition, 
the Consent Decree requires the Town to design and construct a new 
gravel-packed well to supply drinking water to the users of its public 
system and to comply with all applicable federal and state drinking 
water laws and regulations in accordance with an expeditious schedule.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
proposed Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to 
United States v. Town of Cheshire, D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-4361.
    The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Region 1 Office 
of the Environmental Protection Agency, One Congress Street, Boston, 
Massachusetts.

[[Page 39876]]

Copies of the Consent Decree may be examined at the Environmental 
Enforcement Section Document Center, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor, 
Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of the proposed Consent 
Decree may be obtained in person or by mail from the Document Center. 
In requesting a copy, please refer to the referenced case and enclose a 
check in the amount of $17.75 (25 cents per page reproduction cost for 
the Consent Decree excluding Appendices) made payable to Consent Decree 
Library.
Joel M. Gross,
Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section.
[FR Doc. 97-19432 Filed 7-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M