[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 184 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55246-55247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24190]


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

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


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

    Notice is hereby given that on September 17, 2003, a proposed 
Settlement Agreement was lodged with the United States Bankruptcy Court 
for the Southern District of New York in In re Bethlehem Steel 
Corporation, et al., Chapter 11 Case Nos. 01-15288 (BRL) through 01-
15302, 01-15308. The proposed Settlement Agreement would resolve civil 
claims alleged in two proofs of claim filed by the United States 
against Bethlehem Steel Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates 
(collectively, Debtors) in the Bankruptcy cases: A September 25, 2002, 
Proof of Claim filed on behalf of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air 
Force, and General Service Administration (GSA) relating to the Consent 
Decree judgment entered in Duffy Brothers Construction Co., Inc. v. 
American Airlines, Inc. (D. Mass. 1997); and a September 30, 2002, 
Proof of Claim filed on behalf of the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Commerce (on behalf of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)), and the 
Department of Agriculture (on behalf of the USDA Forest Service), 
asserting various liabilities against Debtors under Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the 
Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
    Under the proposed settlement, the United States would resolve the 
following claims: Claims of the United States pertaining to Bethlehem 
Steel's liability under CERCLA relating to six EPA CERCLA sites in 
Regions 3,5,7, and 9 and one USDA Forest Service CERCLA site in 
Montana; a claim of the United States filed on behalf of the U.S. Army, 
U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and GSA for Bethelehem's liability relating 
to a CERCLA consent decree; and claims of the United States on behalf 
of EPA asserting liability to Bethlehem Steel for civil penalties under 
the Clean Air Act and the RCRA.
    The United States would receive the following claims in the 
Bankruptcy under the proposed Settlement Agreement: (1) Allowed secured 
claims totaling $200,000 and allowed general unsecured claims totaling 
$2,492,163.10

[[Page 55247]]

for Debtors' liability under CERCLA for response costs incurred and to 
be incurred by EPA in connection with the following Superfund sites: 
the Breslube-Penn Superfund Site in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania; the 
Spectron Superfund Site in Elkton, Maryland; the Conservation Chemical 
Company of Illinois, Inc. Site in Gary, Indiana; the PCB Treatment, 
Inc. Superfund Site, including one facility in Kansas City, Kansas and 
another facility in Kansas City, Missouri; the Operating Industries, 
Inc. Superfund Site in Monterey Park, California; and the Waste 
Disposal, Inc. Superfund Site in Santa Fe Springs, California; (2) an 
allowed secured claim of $125,000 and an allowed general unsecured 
claim of $250,000 for Debtors; liability under CERCLA for response 
costs incurred and to be incurred by the USDA Forest Service in 
connection with the Elkhorn Mine and Mill Site near Wise River, 
Montana; (3) an allowed general unsecured claim for $30,000 for 
Debtors' liability for civil penalties for prepetition RCRA violations 
at the Bethlehem Lukens Plate Division in Coatesville, Pennsylvania; 
(4) an allowed administrative expense claim for $165,000 and an allowed 
general unsecured claim for $500,000 for Debtors' liability for civil 
penalties for prepetition and postpetition violations of the Clean Air 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. (CAA), and regulations promulgated 
thereunder, at Bethlehem's Burns Harbor facility in Porter County, 
Indiana; and (5) an allowed general unsecured claim for $137,191.11 
resolving Debtors' liability relating to the Consent Decree judgment in 
Duffy Brothers Construction Co., Inc. v. American Airlines, Inc. (D. 
Mass 1997).
    The Department of Justice will receive comments relating to the 
Settlement Agreement for a period of twenty (20) days from the date of 
this publication. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 
7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044, and should 
refer to In re Bethlehem Steel Corporation, et al. (Case Nos. 01-15288 
(BRL) through 01-15308)(D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-07678). Commenters may 
request an opportunity for a public meeting in the affected area, in 
accordance with Section 7003(d) of RCRA 42 U.S.C. 6973(d).
    The Settlement Agreement may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 33 
Whitehall Street (8th Floor) New York, New York 10004, 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 Settlement 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 $8.00 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United States 
Treasury.

Benjamin Fisherow,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 03-24190 Filed 9-18-03; 9:46 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M