[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 44808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18155]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Oil Pollution 
Act of 1990

    Notice is hereby given that a proposed consent decree in the action 
entitled United States and State of Rhode Island v. EW Holding Corp., 
Civil Action No. 00332T, was lodged on July 6, 2000, with the United 
States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. The proposed 
consent decree resolves the claims of the United States under 
subsections 1002(b)(1) and (b)(2) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 
(``OPA''), 33 U.S.C. 2702 (b)(1) and (b)(2), for removal costs and 
damages, against EW Holding Corp. (as successor to Thor Towing 
Corporation and Odin Marine Corporation), K-Sea Transportation Corp. 
(as successor to Eklof Marine Corporation), West of England Ship Owners 
Mutual Insurance Association (Luxembourg), and Gregory R. Aitken 
(``Settling Defendants''), in connection with the oil spill that 
occurred, on January 19, 1996, in the waters of Block Island Sound, 
State of Rhode Island, that resulted from the grounding of the barge 
North Cape and the tug Scandia (the ``North Cape Oil Spill''). The 
proposed consent decree also resolves the claims of the United States 
against the officers, directors, and employees of the corporations 
listed above to the extent that their liability arises from actions 
taken in their official capacities as officers, directors, or employees 
of these corporations. The proposed consent decree also resolves 
similar claims filed by the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations (``State'').
    The proposed settlement resolves the claims of the United States 
and the State filed in a complaint on July 6, 2000. The complaint 
alleges that Odin Marine Corp. was the owner of the tank barge North 
Cape at the time of the North Cape oil spill, that Thor Towing Corp. 
was the owner of the tug Scandia at the time of the spill, and that 
Eklof Marine Corp. was the operator of both the tank barge North Cape 
and the tug Scandia at the time of the spill. West of England Ship 
Owners Mutual Insurance Association (Luxembourg) provided insurance 
coverage with respect to the spill, and Gregory R. Aitken was the 
Captain of the tug Scandia at the time of the spill. The complaint 
seeks damages for injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use 
of, natural resources, including the reasonable costs of assessing the 
damage, resulting from the North Cape Oil Spill.
    Pursuant to the proposed consent decree, the Settling Defendants 
will implement a lobster restoration program that will involve the v-
notching and restocking of 1.248 million female legal-size lobsters 
into the waters of Block Island Sound by December 31, 2004. In 
addition, the Settling Defendants will make a payment to the United 
States and the State in the amount of $8 million, which will be used by 
the natural resource Trustees (the United States National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (``NOAA''), the United States Department of 
the Interior (``DOI''), and the Rhode Island Department of 
Environmental Management (``RIDEM'')), to implement the following 
restoration projects: shellfish restoration (quahog transplanting), 
salt pond land acquisition, loon restoration (acquisition of land or 
easements to protect loon nests), sea bird restoration (acquisition of 
land or easements to protect eider nests), piping plover restoration 
project, and a fish run project. Finally, the Settling Defendants have 
paid the Trustees the following amounts toward their costs of 
assessment that have not previously been reimbursed: $2,714,940.20 to 
NOAA, $358,474.60 to DOI, and $250,000 to RIDEM.
    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, Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice, 960 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. 
20530, and should refer to United States and State of Rhode Island v. 
EW Holding Corp., DOJ Ref. Number 90-5-1-1-4337.
    The proposed consent decree may be examined at the offices of the 
United States Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island, 50 
Kennedy Plaza, 8th Floor, Providence, R.I. (contact Michael Iannotti, 
401-538-5477). A copy of the proposed consent decree may be obtained by 
mail from the Department of Justice Consent Decree Library, PO Box 
7611, Washington, DC, 20044. In requesting a copy, please refer to the 
referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $18 (25 cents per 
page reproduction costs).

Bruce S. Gelber,
Deputy Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 00-18155 Filed 7-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M