[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 58 (Friday, March 24, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15922-15923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7295]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (``CERCLA'')

    Notice is hereby given that a proposed Consent Decree (``Decree'') 
in United States v. Apex Engineering, et al., Civil Action No. 00 2100 
GTV, was lodged on February 28, 2000, with the United States District 
Court for the District of Kansas.
    The complaint filed in the above-referenced matter alleges that 
Defendants Apex Engineering, Inc.; Cargill, Inc.; Continental Tank Car 
Corporation; Coastal Refining and Marketing, Inc.; The Coleman Company, 
Inc.; Farmland Industries, Inc.; Safety-Kleen (Wichita), Inc.; Unified 
School District No. 259; Union Oil Company of California, d/b/a Unocal; 
and Van Waters & Rogers Inc., are jointly and severally liable for the 
United States' response costs at the 29th and Mead Superfund Site 
(``Site'') in Wichita, Kansas, pursuant to Section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 
U.S.C. 9607(a).
    The Site is a 4,000-acre area comprised of various industrial, 
residential and commercial properties located in north central Wichita, 
Sedgwick County, Kansas. It has been used primarily for industrial 
purposes since the late 1880s. EPA discovered volatile organic compound 
contamination in groundwater beneath the Site in 1983.
    Under the proposed Decree, the Defendants in this action, and three 
additional parties not named in the compliant--the City of Wichita, 
Kansas; Excel Corporation; and New Coleman Holdings, Inc.--collectively 
shall pay the United States $245,038.22 plus interest toward the United 
States' approximately $300,000.00 in unreimbursed response costs at the 
Site. In exchange, the United States gives all parties to the Decree a 
covenant not to sue and contribution protection for past response 
costs.
    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 for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice, 930 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20530, and should refer to United States v. Apex Engineering, et al., 
DOJ Ref. #90-11-3-06696.

[[Page 15923]]

    The proposed Decree may be examined at the office of the United 
States Attorney, District of Kansas, 500 State Avenue, Suite 360, 
Kansas City, KS 66101, 913-551-6730; and the Region VII Office of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 
66101, 913-551-7714. A copy of the proposed Decree may also be obtained 
by mail from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 
20044. In requesting a copy of the Consent Decree, please refer to the 
referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $9.50 (25 cents 
per page reproduction costs), payable to the Consent Decree Library.

Joel M. Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 00-7295 Filed 3-23-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M