[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20172-20173]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10085]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Settlement Agreement Under the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and Chapter 11 
of the United States Bankruptcy Code

    Notice is hereby given that on April 11, 2003, a proposed 
Settlement Agreement (``Agreement'') in In re Kmart Corp., et al., Case 
No. 02-02474, was lodged with the United States Bankruptcy Court for 
the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The Agreement is 
between Kmart Corporation and its affiliated debtors and debtors-in-
possession (collectively, the ``Debtors'') and the United States, on 
behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA''), 
the United States Department of the Interior, and the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of 
Commerce. The Agreement relates to liabilities of the Debtors under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 
1980, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.
    Under the Agreement, the United States, on behalf of EPA, would 
receive:
    [sbull] Allowed secured claims totaling $579,151 for the following 
five sites: The Beede Waste Oil site (Plaistow, New Hampshire); the 
Florida Petroleum Reprocessors site (Davie, Florida); the Hows Corner 
site (Plymouth, Maine); the Jack Goins site (Cleveland, Tennessee); and 
the Lenz Oil Services site (DuPage County, Illinois);
    [sbull] Allowed unsecured claims totaling $171,744 for the 
following five sites: The Arkwright Dump site (Spartanburg, South 
Carolina); the Bill Johns Waste Oil site (Jacksonville, Florida) (with 
respect to response costs incurred before November 21, 2001); the 
Delatte Metals site (Ponchatoula, Louisiana); the Operating Industries, 
Inc. Landfill site (Monterey Park, California); and the Tulalip 
Landfill (Marysville, Washington); and
    [sbull] A right to seek cost recovery in the future in connection 
with Operable Unit 2 of the Peterson Puritan site (Cumberland, Rhode 
Island), with up to $506,500 of such cost recovery payable as an 
allowed secured claim and any amount over that payable as an allowed 
unsecured claim.
    The Agreement further provides as follows:
    [sbull] For Debtor-owned sites, environmental claims and actions by 
the United States are not discharged;
    [sbull] For the following nine sites, environmental claims by the 
United States are discharged, to the extent the claims arise from the 
Debtors' conduct before the bankruptcy action: Adkins Branch Tire Dump 
(Putnam County, West Virginia); the Bufkin Store Lead site (Tabor City, 
North Carolina); the Chadbourn Battery site (Chadbourn, North 
Carolina); the Guyton Battery site (Chadbourn, North Carolina); the 
Jimmy Green Metals site (Nashville, North Carolina); the Odum Bufkin 
Battery site (Green Sea, South Carolina); the Old Stake Road Lead site 
(Chadbourn, North Carolina); the Petroleum Conservation, site (a/k/a 
the U.S. Oil, Two Rivers site) (Two Rivers, Wisconsin); and the Vinegar 
Hill Battery site (a/k/a the Williams store site) (Tabor City, North 
Carolina); and
    [sbull] For all other sites, the United States may not issue or 
seek environmental orders based on the Debtors' conduct before the 
bankruptcy action, but may recover response costs and natural resource 
damages based on such conduct, as if the United States' claims had been 
allowed unsecured claims under the Debtors' reorganization plan.

[[Page 20173]]

    For a period of 30 days from the date of this publication, the 
Department of Justice will receive comments relating to the Agreement. 
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, and should refer to In re 
Kmart Corp., et al., Case No. 02-02474, D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-2-07845.
    The Agreement may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney, 219 South Dearborn Street, Suite 2001, Chicago, Illinois 
60604, and at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel 
Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. 
During the public comment period, the Agreement may also be examined on 
the following Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the Agreement may also be obtained by mail 
from the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of 
Justice, Washington, DC 20044, or by faxing or e-mailing a request to 
Tonia Fleetwood ([email protected]), fax number (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 $7.00 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United States 
Treasury.

William Brighton,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 03-10085 Filed 4-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M