[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 7 (Monday, January 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1246-1247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-347]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of a Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act

    Notice is hereby given that on January 6, 2009, a proposed Consent 
Decree in United States v. City of Ironton and the State of Ohio, Civil 
Action No. 09-cv-00012, was lodged with the United States District 
Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
    In this action the United States seeks civil penalties and 
injunctive relief for violations of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 
et seq., in connection with the City of Ironton's operation of its 
municipal wastewater and sewer system. The Complaint alleges that the 
City's discharges from its combined

[[Page 1247]]

sewer overflows (``CSOs'') violate the Clean Water Act because the 
City's discharge of untreated sewage into the Ohio River violates 
limitations and conditions in the City's National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The Complaint further alleges that 
the City failed to adequately control for solids and floatables as well 
as failed to timely submit a control plan to address its CSO discharge.
    Under the proposed Consent Decree, the City would be required to: 
(1) Implement injunctive measures that will eliminate all discharges 
from its CSOs, at a total cost of approximately $12.5 million; (2) pay 
the United States a civil penalty of $49,000; and (3) pay the State of 
Ohio a civil penalty of $49,000. The proposed Decree would require the 
sewer improvements to be implemented over an 18-year period.
    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. City of Ironton and the State of Ohio, D.J. 
Ref. 90-5-1-1-08729.
    The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney, Southern District of Ohio, 221 East Forth 
Street, Suite 400, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (contact Assistant United 
States Attorney Donetta Wiethe (513/684-3711)), and at U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, IL 60604-3590 (contact Associate Regional Counsel Steven 
Kaiser (312/353-3804)). During the public comment period, the proposed 
Consent Decree, may also be examined on the following Department of 
Justice Web site, to 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 $37.75 
(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.

William Brighton,
Assistant Chief. Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. E9-347 Filed 1-9-09; 8:45 am]
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