[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 24172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11268]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decrees Under the Clean Water Act 
and the Rivers and Harbors Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on April 23, 1999, 
three proposed Consent Decrees in United States v. The Sanitary 
District of Hammond, et al., Civil Action No. 2:93 CV 225 JM, were 
lodged with the United States District Court for the Northern District 
of Indiana.
    The United States and the State of Indiana asserted claims in this 
case under the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., and the Rivers 
and Harbors Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. 403 and 407, against the Sanitary 
District of Hammond (``HSD''), the City of Hammond, Indiana (the 
``City''), the Town of Munster, Indiana (the ``Town''), and several 
other defendants that send wastewater to HSD's wastewater treatment 
plant. The case was resolved as to the defendants other than HSD, the 
City, and the Town by Consent Decrees entered by the Court in 1995. The 
settlements lodged today, if entered, will fully resolve this action 
against all of the remaining defendants.
    The proposed HSD Consent Decree includes injunctive relief to 
redress HSD's effluent limit violations, unpermitted discharges, 
combined sewer overflow violations, noncompliance with closure 
requirements regarding sludge lagoons at the HSD treatment plant, and 
inflow problems that interfere with HSD's treatment processes. In 
addition, HSD will play $2.1 million toward a fund established under 
the prior settlements for remediation of contaminated sediments in the 
Grand Calumet River and $225,000 in civil penalties to be split equally 
by the United States and the State of Indiana.
    The proposed Consent Decrees with the City and the Town require 
them to take action on any further resolutions adopted by HSD modifying 
user fees or pretreatment requirements within set time periods, 
redressing delays that have hampered HSD's ability to implement 
improvements in its operations. In addition, the City and Town will 
implement, in conjunction with HSD, a program to eliminate inflow to 
HSD's collection system from residential down spouts, remedying a major 
source of inflow to the system. Finally, the City and Town settlements 
require these defendants to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management a report 
specifically identifying those portions of the HSD sewerage collection 
system that each owns or operates.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Consent 
Decrees. 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. The 
Sanitary District of Hammond, et al., D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-3308A.
    The Consent Decrees may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, 1001 Main Street, Suite 
A, Dyer, Indiana 46311, at U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 West Jackson Blvd., 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G 
Street, NW., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 624-0892. Copies of 
the Decrees may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent 
Decree Library, 1120 G Street, NW., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20005. In 
requesting copies, please enclose a check in the amount of $22.00 (25 
cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the Consent Decree 
Library.
Joel M. Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 99-11268 Filed 5-4-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M