[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 112 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36716-36717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14624]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

    In accordance with Department of Justice policy codified at 28 CFR 
50.7

[[Page 36717]]

and Section 122 of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622, notice is hereby given that 
on May 26, 2000, two proposed Consent Decrees in United States v. Elsa 
Morgan-Skinner, et al., Civ. Action No. C-1-00-424, were lodged with 
the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The 
first Consent Decree represents a settlement of claims of the United 
States for recovery of response costs incurred by the United States in 
connection with the Skinner Landfill Superfund Site (Site) in West 
Chester, Ohio, under Section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
9607(a), against Elsa Morgan-Skinner and seventy-two (72) other 
potentially responsible parties (PRPs) that contributed hazardous 
substances to the Site. Under the terms of the Consent Decree (the 
Remedial Action or ``RA Consent Decree''), the Settling Generator/
Transporter Defendants, including approximately sixty-six (66) 
companies, (Work Parties) will implement an EPA-approved remedial 
action which includes, among other things, the construction of a cap 
over a former dump and buried waste lagoon area; and the interception, 
capture and treatment of contaminated groundwater located down-gradient 
from the capped area. The Settling Owner/Operator Defendant Elas 
Morgan-Skinner, the current Site owner, agrees to grant access to and 
restrictive use covenants on the Site, and resolve her liability by 
selling an option to purchase the Site for $5,000 to the Work Parties. 
A portion of the proceeds of any such sale will be deposited into an 
account known as the Skinner Landfill Special Account. Two Settling 
Federal Agencies, the General Services Administration and the Defense 
Logistics Agency, will pay $602,599.12 into the Skinner Landfill 
Special Account. Finally, the Settling De Minimis Federal Agencies, 
including the United States Army, United States Air Force, United 
States Information Agency and the United States Postal Service, each of 
which contributed less than 1% of the total volume of waste at the 
Site, will pay $87,804.29 into the Skinner Landfill Special Account. 
Eighty percent of the funds in the Special Account will be available 
for disbursement to the Work Parties for their remediation work. In 
exchange for these payments and performance of the remedial action, 
each of the Settling Defendants under the RA Consent Decree will 
receive covenants not to sue and contribution protection.
    The second Consent Decree resolves the United States' claims for 
recovery of response costs incurred at the Site against seven 
municipalities, including the Cities of Blue Ash, Deer Park, Madiera, 
Mason, Sharonville and the Villages of Lincoln Heights and Monroe, each 
of which contributed municipal solid waste (MSW) to the Site. Under the 
terms of this Consent Decree (known as the ``MSW Consent Decree'') the 
Settling Municipalities will pay a total of $17,218 into the Skinner 
Special Account. These funds will be made available to the Work Parties 
for their remediation work. In exchange for this payment, each of the 
Settling Municipalities will receive a covenant not to sue and 
contribution protection.
    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 Decrees. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20530, and should refer to United States v. Elsa Morgan-Skinner et al. 
Civ. Action No. C-1-00-424, D.F. Ref. Nos. 90-11-3-1620, 90-11-6-118, 
90-11-6-128.
    The Consent Decrees may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney, 220 United States Post Office & Courthouse, 100 E. 5th 
Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202, and at the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604-3590. A copy of the Consent Decrees may also be obtained 
by mail from the Consent Decree Library, PO Box 7611, U.S. Department 
of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611. In requesting a copy of the 
Consent Decree, please enclose a check payable to the Consent Decree 
Library in amount of $65.50 for both Consent Decrees; or $60.00 (240 
pages at 25 cents per page reproduction cost) for the RA Consent 
Decree; or $5.50 (22 pages at 25 cents per page reproduction cost) for 
the MSW Consent Decree.

Joel M. Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environmental & Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 00-14624 Filed 6-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M