[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17159-17160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7526]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA)

    Notice is hereby given that on March 30, 2010, a Consent Decree in 
United States of America v. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Civil 
Action No. 10-cv-1382, was lodged with the United States District Court 
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
    The United States filed a complaint concurrently with the 
settlement agreement in which it asserts claims against the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pursuant to sections 107 and 113 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 
42 U.S.C. 9607 and 9613. The claims arise from asbestos contamination 
at the Valley Forge Asbestos Release Site (the ``Site''), located 
within the Valley Forge National Historical Park in Montgomery County, 
Pennsylvania. As alleged in the complaint, beginning in the late 
1890's, several companies owned and operated an asbestos manufacturing 
facility on 46 acres within the Site. The Commonwealth operated a State 
park at the Site adjacent to the manufacturing operations during the 
time of disposal of asbestos-containing wastes, and the area of the 
former State park also became contaminated with asbestos-containing 
wastes. In 1976, the United States purchased the property formerly 
owned by the asbestos manufacturers, and the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania transferred the former State park to the United States. 
The United States created the Valley Forge National Historical Park 
which is now comprised of the former State park and the property the 
United States acquired from the asbestos manufacturers. In the 
complaint, the United States, on behalf of the Department of the 
Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency, seeks reimbursement 
of costs incurred and to be incurred to remedy the asbestos 
contamination at the Site.
    The Settlement Agreement resolves the claims of the United States 
and the potential claims or counterclaims of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania at the Site. The National Park Service has selected a 
remedy for the Site and, under the Settlement Agreement, the 
Commonwealth will pay sixty percent of the cost of implementing the 
remedy at the Site and the United States will pay forty percent. 
Specifically, the Settlement Agreement obligates Pennsylvania to pay 
$5.2 million to the United States upon entry of the Agreement by the 
Court. No more than one year after entry of the Agreement, the 
Commonwealth will set aside $2 million into a special restricted 
account which will be used to pay sixty percent of the cost of 
performance of the remedy at the Site above $8.66 million up to a 
maximum of $12 million. In the event that the costs of the remedy 
exceed $12 million, the Agreement provides that the United States will 
pay $400,000 of each increment of $1 million and Pennsylvania will pay 
$600,000. The United States as the lead agency at the Site will oversee 
implementation of the remedy.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of sixty (60) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to this 
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, Attention: 
Nancy Flickinger (EES), and should refer to United States of America v. 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 10-cv-1382 and DOJ 
90-11-2-06991/2.
    The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 615 
Chestnut Street, Suite 1250, Philadelphia, PA 19016. The consent decree 
also may 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

[[Page 17160]]

([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 $35.75 (25 cents per 
page reproduction cost for a full copy) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Maureen Katz,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2010-7526 Filed 4-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P