[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 134 (Friday, July 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39985-39986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15806]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Safe Drinking Water 
Act

    Notice is hereby given that on June 30, 2008, a proposed Consent 
Decree (the ``Decree'') in United States v. Town of Newburgh, New York, 
Civil Action

[[Page 39986]]

No. 08 Civ. 5902 (SCR) was lodged with the United States District Court 
for the Southern District of New York.
    In a complaint, filed simultaneously with the Decree, the United 
States alleged that, between 2005 and 2007, the drinking water system 
owned and operated by the Town of Newburgh (the ``Town'') violated the 
Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300f, et seq., and its implementing 
regulations in several respects. First, the United States alleged that 
the Town repeatedly exceeded maximum contaminant levels for certain 
disinfectant byproducts, namely haloacetic acids. The United States 
further alleged that the Town failed to comply with an Administrative 
Order issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
(``EPA'') requiring the Town to monitor drinking water quality and 
report the monitoring results to the Orange County Department of 
Health. The lawsuit also charged that the Town had failed to provide 
the required notice to the public on each occasion that the Town's 
drinking water exceeded the maximum contaminant levels for disinfectant 
byproducts.
    Pursuant to the Decree, the Town shall construct a water treatment 
facility to filter the drinking water it draws from the Delaware 
Aqueduct, the Town's principal water source. The Decree requires the 
Town to complete construction of the facility by May 1, 2013, pursuant 
to a schedule of 29 interim construction milestones.
    The Decree further requires the Town to implement a number of 
interim measures to protect the quality of its drinking water until the 
Town has fully complied with the long term construction of the water 
treatment facility. For example, the Decree mandates ongoing monitoring 
of the water that the Town obtains from the Delaware Aqueduct for 
contaminants, as well as monthly reporting of the monitoring data to 
EPA, the State of New York and Orange County. Under the Decree, the 
Town's water must also meet water quality standards applicable to water 
systems that are not required to install treatment facilities.
    The Town will pay a $100,000 civil monetary penalty to the United 
States pursuant to the Decree. The Town must also implement three 
environmental projects to improve the water quality in and around the 
Town. Specifically, the Town will purchase and maintain vacant 
undeveloped real properties around the Chadwick Lake Reservoir, an 
alternate drinking water source for the Town, in order to protect the 
watershed. The Town will also connect residential and commercial 
properties in the Town along North Carpenter Avenue and West Stone 
Street to the City of Newburgh's sanitary sewer system. This project 
will prevent waste in septic systems from discharging directly into the 
ground and, in some cases, running above ground to other water bodies 
in the area, such as Orange Lake and tributaries to the Hudson River. 
In addition, the Town agreed to replace existing catch basins connected 
to pipes that discharge into Orange Lake with new catch basins equipped 
to prevent sediment and floatable debris from flowing into the lake. 
The value of these supplemental environmental projects is estimated at 
$912,000.
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the 
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. Town of Newburgh, New York, D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-08838.
    The Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney, 86 Chambers Street, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10007, and 
at U.S. EPA Region 2, Office of Regional Counsel, 290 Broadway, New 
York, New York 10007-1866. During the public comment period, the 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 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 $4.75 (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.

Maureen M. Katz,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. E8-15806 Filed 7-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P