[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 46662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-4089]


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

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water 
Act

    In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 C.F.R. 50.7, notice is 
hereby given that a proposed consent decree in United States v. TE 
Products Pipeline Company, LLC and TEPPCO Crude Pipeline, LLC (E.D. 
Tex.), No. 1:07-CV-0569-TH, was lodged in the United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of Texas on August 15, 2007. The Decree 
will resolve the liability of the named Defendants to the United States 
for civil penalties and injunctive relief for their violations of 
Sections 301 and 311(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act (``CWA''), 33 U.S.C. 
1311 and 1321(b)(3), resulting from spills of crude and refined 
petroleum products from Defendants' pipelines in four separate spill 
events dated November 27, 2001, March 12, 2004, February 28, 2005, and 
May 13, 2005, at locations in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
    Under the proposed Consent Decree, Defendants are jointly and 
severally liable to perform injunctive relief on the impacted pipelines 
and pay a civil penalty. Specifically, Defendants will (a) conduct a 
close interval survey of a segment of the pipeline system from 
Beaumont, Texas to Many, Louisiana, and take corrective action to bring 
the cathodic protection into compliance with standards, (b) install 
remote surveillance cameras at specified points on the pipeline to 
ensure constant monitoring of pipeline systems and provide surveillance 
of the pipeline system equipment, and (c) update the Supervisory 
Control and Data Acquisition (`SCADA'') system on the pipeline system 
to enable Defendants to monitor and balance the volume of product in 
the pipeline and pipeline pressure and temperature deviations which can 
be indicators of leaks or spills from the pipeline. Additionally, 
Defendants will pay a civil penalty of $2,865,000 for the four spills.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
proposed Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and 
either e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 
7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should 
refer to United States v. TE Products Pipeline Company, LLC and TEPPCO 
Crude Pipeline, LLC, DOJ 90-5-1-1-08194. The proposed Consent 
Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States Attorney, 
Eastern District of Texas, 350 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 150, Beaumont, TX 
77701-2237, and at U.S. EPA REgion 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 
Dallas, Texas, 75202. During the public comment period, the proposed 
Consent Decree may also be examined on the following Department of 
Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A 
copy of the proposed Consent Decree 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 $7.75 
for the Consent Decree (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to 
the U.S. Treasury, or if by e-mail or fax, forward a check in that 
amount to the Consent Decree Library at the stated address.

Thomas Mariani,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 07-4089 Filed 8-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M