[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55133-55134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22256]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decrees Under the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

    Pursuant to 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on September 
17, 2008, two proposed consent decrees in United States and Alabama 
Department of Environmental Management v. Brown Wood Preserving Co., 
Inc., and the James Graham Brown Foundation, Inc., Civil Action No. 
2:08-CV-1720-RDP, were lodged with the United States District Court for 
the Northern District of Alabama.
    These Consent Decrees will resolve claims asserted by the United 
States and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management 
(``ADEM'') against Brown Wood Preserving Co., Inc. (``Brown Wood'') and 
the James Graham Brown Foundation, Inc. (``JGBF'') for injunctive 
relief and civil penalties based on violations of the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (``RCRA''), 42 U.S.C. 6928, that occurred 
at a wood treatment facility located in Northport, Alabama, formerly 
owned and operated by JGBF and presently owned and operated by Brown 
Wood. The complaint in this action alleges that Brown Wood operated a 
hazardous waste disposal facility without a permit or interim status, 
in violation of 42 U.S.C. 6925(a), 40 CFR parts 264 and 270, and failed 
to properly respond to hazardous waste leaks from storage tanks, in 
violation of 40 CFR 264.196, and applicable parallel administrative 
provisions under Alabama state law. The complaint further alleges that 
the facility will be transferred back to JGBF by the end of 2008, and 
that injunctive relief against both defendants is necessary in order to 
prevent continuing violations of RCRA.
    The proposed Consent Decrees settle these claims by requiring Brown 
Wood to shut down all wood preserving and treatment operations at the 
Facility and to transfer the Facility back to JGBF, which will, in 
turn, clean up the hazardous waste contamination at the Facility 
pursuant to a RCRA corrective action agreement between ADEM and JGBF.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the consent 
decrees. 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

[[Page 55134]]

20044-7611, and should refer to United States v. Brown Wood Preserving 
Co., Inc., et al., D.J. Ref. 90-7-1-07281.
    The consent decrees may be examined at the Office of the United 
States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, 1801 Fourth Ave. 
North, Birmingham, Alabama, and at U.S. EPA Region 4, Office of 
Regional Counsel, 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta, GA 30303. During the 
public comment period, the consent decrees may also be examined on the 
following Department of Justice Web site: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. Copies of the consent decrees 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 copies of both consent decrees from the Consent Decree 
Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $48.25 (25 cents per 
page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Henry Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
 [FR Doc. E8-22256 Filed 9-23-08; 8:45 am]
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