[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 215 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62830-62831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27996]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA'')

    Consistent with the policy of Section 122(d)(2) of CERCLA, 42 
U.S.C. 9622(d)(2), notice is hereby given that on November 3, 2003, a 
Settlement Agreement with Plainwell, Inc. (``Plainwell'') and five 
affiliated companies was lodged with the Bankruptcy Court for the 
District of Delaware, in In re Plainwell, Inc. and Plainwell Holding 
Co., Case No. 00-4350 (JWV).
    The proposed Settlement Agreement is with: (1) Plainwell and its 
parent company, Plainwell Holding Company (collectively, the 
``Debtors''), both of which are in liquidation proceedings under 
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code; and (2) the Debtors' past parent 
companies, Colonial Heights Packaging, Inc., Philip Morris USA Inc., 
Chesapeake Corporation, and Simpson Paper Company (collectively, the 
``non-debtor Plainwell Parties''), which are not in bankruptcy. The 
Settlement Agreement resolves claims of the United States and the State 
of Michigan against those parties under Section 106 and 107 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(``CERCLA''), for response costs, the performance of response actions, 
and natural resource damages with respect to the Allied/Portage Creek/
Kalamazoo River Superfund Site in Plainwell, Michigan (``Site''). The 
claims by the United States addressed in the Settlement Agreement 
include claims on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency (``EPA''), the United States Department of the Interior 
(``DoI''), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of 
the United States Department of Commerce (``NOAA''). The State of 
Michigan (``State'') is also a signatory to the Agreement.
    Under the proposed Settlement Agreement, the non-debtor Plainwell 
Parties will pay approximately (1) $6.2 million towards EPA's future 
response costs in connection with the Site; (2) $23,000 towards EPA's 
past response costs; (3) $900,000 for use jointly by DOI, NOAA, and the 
State, as trustees of natural resources injured at the Site, to 
restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured resources; 
and (4) $16,000 towards the Federal and State trustees' natural 
resource damages assessment costs. In addition, the Agreement requires 
Plainwell to execute a restrictive covenant in favor of the United 
States and the State on a landfill that it owns.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
proposed Settlement Agreement. 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 20044-7611, 
and should refer to In re Plainwell, Inc. and Plainwell Holding Co., 
Case No. 99-4350 (JWV) (DOJ Ref. No. 90-11-2-1306).
    The Settlement Agreement may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney, District of Delaware, 1007 North Orange Street, 
Suite 700, Wilmington, Delaware 19899-2046; and at EPA Region 5, 77 W. 
Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604 (contact Eileen L. Furey, Esq. 
(312) 886-7950). During the public comment period, the Settlement 
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 20044-7611 or 
by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood 
([email protected]), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation

[[Page 62831]]

number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the Consent Decree 
Library, please refer to In re Plainwell, Inc. and Plainwell Holding 
Co., Case No. 00-4350 (JWV) (DOJ Ref. No. 90-11-2-1306), and enclose a 
check in the amount of $11.50 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) 
payable to the U.S. Treasury.

William D. Brighton,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment & 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 03-27996 Filed 11-5-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M