[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 17400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8642]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on April 1, 2003, a 
proposed consent decree (``decree'') in United States v. Colonial 
Pipeline Company, Civil Action No. 1:00-CV-3142 JTC, was lodged with 
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
    In this action, the United States sought civil penalties for seven 
recent and significant spills from Colonial Pipeline Company's 
(``Colonial'') 5,500 mile pipeline. The United States also sought 
injunctive relief to prevent future spills. Under the decree, Colonial 
will pay a $34 million civil penalty for seven spills that spilled 1.45 
million gallons of oil from its pipeline into waters in five states. 
The $34 million civil penalty will go to the United States' Oil 
Pollution Liability Trust Fund, which underwrites cleanups nationwide.
    Colonial will also require Colonial to designate its entire 
pipeline as potentially affecting ``high consequence areas.'' This will 
subject the entire pipeline to the pipeline integrity regulations of 
the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety 
(``OPS''). Under the terms of the settlement, Colonial is also required 
to (1) inspect its corrosion protection system along the entire 
pipeline system every five years; (2) repair problems detected in the 
corrosion protection system to meet the standards developed by the 
National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE); (3) maintain its 
right-of-ways, including mowing and removing debris; (4) have personnel 
on site when utility or other excavation is occurring within five feet 
of the pipeline; and (5) survey and inspect the pipeline where it 
crosses water, and address areas of the pipeline that are exposed or 
insufficiently buried.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the decree. 
Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division, PO Box 7611, U.S. 
Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to 
United States v. Colonial Pipeline Company, D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-4367.
    The decree may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney, U.S. Courthouse, Suite 1800, 75 Spring Street, SW., Atlanta, 
Georgia 30303, and at U.S. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--
Region IV, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsythe Street, Atlanta, Georgia 
30303. During the public comment period, the decree may also be 
examined on the following Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the decree may also be obtained 
by mail from the Consent Decree Library, PO Box 7611, U.S. Department 
of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a 
request to Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax no. (202) 
514-0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a 
copy from the Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the 
amount of $11.25 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the 
U.S. Treasury.

Ellen Mahan,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 03-8642 Filed 4-8-03; 8:45 am]
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