[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 26705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11981]
[[Page 26705]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean
Water Act and Oil Pollution Act
On June 3, 2019, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed
Consent Decree with the United States District Court for the Western
District of Washington in the lawsuit entitled United States, State of
Washington through the Washington Department of Ecology, Suquamish
Tribe, and Tulalip Tribes v. Port of Everett, Civil Action No. 2:19-cv-
00843.
The proposed Consent Decree resolves claims alleged by the U.S.
Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the State of Washington, the Suquamish Tribe, and the
Tulalip Tribes (``the Port Gardner Bay Trustees'') against the
Defendant Port of Everett (``the Port'') for natural resource damages
caused by discharges of hazardous substances and oil to the Port
Gardner Bay Area in Everett, Washington. The settlement requires the
Port to construct and maintain the Blue Heron Slough Restoration
Project, which will restore 338 acres of intertidal estuarine and
upland habitats in the lower Snohomish River estuary, and to resolve
its liability by retiring conservation bank credits equivalent to
approximately 35 acres of the Project. The Port will also pay a
proportionate share of assessment costs incurred by the Port Gardner
Bay Trustees, totaling $703,496. The United States, on behalf of the
U.S. Navy, will make a payment of $789,840 to be used towards
construction of the Project, and pay assessment costs totaling
$135,931. In exchange for the payment from the Navy and prior
settlement payments from other parties, the Port will retire additional
conservation bank credits equivalent to approximately 36 additional
acres of the Project. The Port and the Navy will receive covenants not
to sue under federal statutory law and state statutory or common law,
for natural resource damages caused by discharges of hazardous
substances and oil from their facilities (identified in Appendix B to
the Decree) to the Port Gardner Bay Area.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and
should refer to United States, State of Washington through the
Washington Department of Ecology, Suquamish Tribe, and Tulalip Tribes
v. Port of Everett, D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-10859/1. All comments must be
submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date of
this notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To submit comments: Send them to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By email............................ [email protected].
By mail............................. Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
Washington, D.C. 20044-7611.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the public comment period, the Consent Decree may be
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. We will provide a paper copy of
the Consent Decree upon written request and payment of reproduction
costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree Library,
U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $47.00 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper
copy without appendices, the cost is $19.00.
Susan Akers,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-11981 Filed 6-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P