[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 51178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20966]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980, as Amended
On September 19, 2019, the United States of America (``United
States''), through attorneys for the Department of Justice, and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection
(``PADEP''), lodged a proposed Consent Decree with the United States
District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the lawsuit
entitled United States et al. v. Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation,
Civil Action No. 3:19-cv-01620-UN4.
In their Complaint, also filed on September 19, 2019, pursuant to
Sections 106, 107(a), and 113(g) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended
(``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9606, 9607(a), and 9613(g), and pursuant to
Sections 507 and 1103 of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, Act of
October 18, 1988, Public Law 756, 35 P.S. Sec. Sec. 6020.507 and
6020.1103 (``HSCA''), the United States and PADEP (``Plaintiffs'')
allege that Defendant Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation (``FWEC'') is
liable for cleanup costs incurred and to be incurred by the United
States and PADEP in connection with the cleanup of the Foster Wheeler
Energy Corporation/Church Road TCE Superfund Alternative Site
(``Site'') in Mountain Top, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The Site
includes a former industrial site used to manufacture and fabricate
large pressure vessels that was formerly owned and operated by FWEC
(the ``Former FWEC Facility''). The Site also includes any areas at
which hazardous substances released at or from this facility have come
to be located, including an area of groundwater contamination located
south and southwest of the Former FWEC Facility and encompassing
approximately 295 acres of mixed land use (mainly residential), which
extends from east to west along Church Road and Watering Run, and eight
surrounding industrial properties located immediately south and west of
the Former FWEC Facility.
The proposed Consent Decree resolves all allegations asserted in
the Plaintiffs' Complaint and provides for FWEC to pay to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') $950,000.00 in past
response costs incurred with respect to the Site, and to pay to PADEP
$56,051.21 in past state response costs incurred with respect to the
Site. These payments are due within thirty (30) days after the Consent
Decree becomes effective as a judgment, if it is entered by the Court.
The proposed Consent Decree also requires FWEC to pay the United
States' and PADEP's future response costs and to perform the Interim
Remedy selected in EPA's Interim Record of Decision for the Site. In
exchange, FWEC receives from both Plaintiffs covenants not to sue for
the interim remedial work performed and payment of past and future
federal and state response costs, subject to certain reservations and
limitations.
The publication of this notice opens a federal 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 et al. v. Foster Wheeler Energy
Corporation, D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-12044. All comments must be
submitted no later than 30 days after the publication date of this
notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:
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To submit comments: Send them to:
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By email............................ [email protected].
By mail............................. Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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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 $39.50 (0.25 cents per
page reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury for a
copy of the full Consent Decree with appendices. For a paper copy
without the appendices, the cost is $12.00.
Jeffrey Sands,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-20966 Filed 9-26-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P