[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 2362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-843]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Settlement Agreement Under the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean 
Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Emergency Planning and 
Community-Right-To-Know Act and the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

    Notice is hereby given that on October 17, 2003, a proposed 
settlement in In Re National Steel Corp., No. 02-08713 was lodged with 
the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of 
Illinois.
    In this action the United States sought civil penalties and 
injunctive relief arising from National Steel Corporation's violation 
of several environmental statutes, including the Resource Conservation 
and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Emergency 
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Toxic Substances Control 
Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (``CERCLA'') at its three integrated steel mills in 
Granite City, Illinois, Ecorse, Michigan, and Portage, Indiana. The 
settlement agreement calls for the allowance of a general unsecured 
claim in the amount of $2.1 million in civil penalties for these 
violations. Payment of the penalty will be subject to procedures in 
National Steel Corporation's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceeding, In Re: 
National Steel Corporation, et al., No. 02-08699 (Bankr. N.D. Ill., 
filed March 6, 2002).
    In addition, the settlement agreement calls for the allowance of 
two general unsecured claims in the amounts of $115,565 and $5,200 for 
reimbursement of response costs incurred pursuant to CERCLA by EPA at 
the Abby Street/Hickory Woods Subdivision Superfund Site located in 
Buffalo, New York and the Rasmussen Dump Site located in Green Oak 
Township, Michigan, respectively. Payment of these response costs will 
also be subject to procedures in National Steel Corporation's Chapter 
11 Bankruptcy proceeding.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
settlement. 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 National Steel, D.J. Ref. 90-11-3-07887.
    The settlement agreement may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 219 South 
Dearborn Street, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60604 and at U.S. EPA Region 5, 
77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604. 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 number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the 
Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $2.00 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

William D. Brighton,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 04-843 Filed 1-14-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M