[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 117 (Friday, June 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35470-35471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15014]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Water Act

    In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is 
hereby given that on June 13, 2011, a proposed consent decree was 
lodged with the

[[Page 35471]]

United States District Court for the District of Idaho in United States 
of America et al. v. Hecla Limited, Civil Action No. 96-0122-N-EJL (D. 
Idaho), and two consolidated cases (Civil Action Nos. 91-0342-N-EJL and 
94-0206-N-HLR). The proposed Consent Decree settles claims of the 
United States, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and the State of Idaho against 
Hecla Limited, Hecla Mining Company, Hecla Silver Valley, Inc., HLT, 
Inc., and Silver Hunter Mining Company for response costs and natural 
resource damages stemming from certain releases of hazardous substances 
from historic mining and mining-related operations at the Bunker Hill 
Mining and Metallurgical Complex Superfund Site. The Site is generally 
located in the Coeur d'Alene Basin watershed in Idaho.
    The lawsuit seeks damages for injuries to natural resources such as 
fish and birds caused by millions of tons of mining wastes that had 
been released into the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and its 
tributaries. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has been 
performing cleanup work in the Coeur d'Alene Basin since the early 
1980s, and the suit also seeks reimbursement of EPA's cleanup costs.
    Most of the defendants settled before trial. After a 78-day trial, 
the district court in Idaho ruled in 2003 that the remaining 
defendants, Hecla and ASARCO, had liability for natural resource 
damages and response costs and that the amount of their liability would 
be determined in a second phase of litigation. The litigation in the 
district court in Idaho was stayed in 2005 when ASARCO filed a petition 
for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the 
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. 
ASARCO reached settlement with the United States in 2008, and paid the 
settlement amounts in full after the bankruptcy court in Texas approved 
ASARCO's plan of reorganization. Accordingly, the federal district 
court in Idaho dismissed the claims against ASARCO on September 8, 
2010. The court also postponed the second phase of the trial against 
Hecla to allow time to negotiate a settlement. Hecla is the only 
remaining defendant.
    Among other things, the proposed consent decree will require Hecla 
to pay $263.4 million plus interest to the United States, the Coeur 
d'Alene Tribe, and the State. Of that total, about $180 million would 
go toward the United States' past response costs and future response 
actions to address the mining waste being remediated by EPA; $60 
million would go toward natural resources damages for joint federal/
state/tribal resources, including the United States Department of the 
Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture; $17 million 
would go toward satisfying Hecla's remaining obligations under an 
earlier consent decree to fund response actions for part of the Site; 
$4 million would go toward the Tribe's past costs; and $2 million would 
go toward a State/Tribe management plan for Lake Couer d'Alene.
    Those payments are within Hecla's financial means. A settlement 
based purely on litigation concerns would have been beyond Hecla's 
ability to fund and remain financially viable. The settlement process 
involved an in-depth review by the United States' mining and financial 
experts of Hecla's finances, including proprietary and confidential 
internal financial information. That review determined that Hecla could 
not fully pay its alleged liability. The payments to be made by Hecla 
under the proposed Consent Decree therefore reflect Hecla's ability to 
pay, given Hecla's financial condition, the highly volatile nature of 
metal prices, and the fact that Hecla's profitability is extremely 
sensitive to those metals' prices.
    The settlement also includes a process for coordinating Hecla's 
future mining operations with EPA's cleanup activities in the Couer 
d'Alene Basin. These provisions are designed to avoid and minimize 
potential conflicts between cleanup activities and mining operations 
wherever possible. The proposed consent decree includes a covenant not 
to sue by the United States under Sections 106 and 107(a) of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 
42 U.S.C. 9606 & 9607(a); Section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6973; and Sections 309, 311 and 504 of the 
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1319, 1321 & 1364.
    For 30 days after the date of this publication, the Department of 
Justice will receive 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. Hecla Limited, DJ Reference Nos. 90-11-3-128L. 
Commenters may request an opportunity for a public meeting in the 
affected area, in accordance with Section 7003(d) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 
6973(d).
    The proposed consent decree may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney for the District of Idaho, Washington Group 
Plaza IV, 800 Park Blvd., Suite 600, Boise, ID 83712. During the public 
comment period, the 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 be 
obtained by mailing a request to the Consent Decree Library, P.O. Box 
7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611. When 
requesting a copy by mail, please enclose a check payable to the U.S. 
Treasury in the amount of $65.50 for the complete consent decree or 
$16.50 for the consent decree without the appendices (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost). A copy may also be obtained by faxing or e-mailing 
a request to Tonia Fleetwood, [email protected], fax number 
(202) 514-0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547, and sending a 
check to the Consent Decree Library at the stated address.

Robert E. Maher, Jr.,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-15014 Filed 6-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P