[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55987-55988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22739]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Second Amendment To Consent Decree 
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

    On October 10, 2019, the Department of Justice and the State of 
California on behalf of the California Department of Toxic Substances 
Control and Toxic Substances Control Account (``DTSC'') lodged a 
proposed amendment (``Amendment 2'') to a Consent Decree with the 
United States District Court for the Central District of California 
(``Court'') in the matter of United States of America and State of 
California on behalf of the Department of Toxic Substances Control and 
Toxic Substances Control Account vs. Abex Aerospace et al., Civil 
Action No. 2:16-cv-02696 (C.D. Cal.). This Amendment 2 amends 
Appendices D, E, and F of the Consent Decree previously approved by the 
Court on March 31, 2017 (for which the Court also approved an amendment 
on April 5, 2018, ``Amendment 1''); that Consent Decree pertains to 
environmental contamination at Operable Unit 2 (``OU2'') of the Omega 
Chemical Corporation Superfund Site (Site) in Los Angeles County, 
California. Amendment 2 is for the purpose of adding additional 
settling parties to the Consent Decree, and follows the mechanisms that 
the previously approved Consent Decree sets forth for adding additional 
settlors.
    The Consent Decree resolves certain claims under Sections 106 and 
107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9606, 9607, and Section 7003 of the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6973, as well as related state 
law claims, in connection with environmental contamination at OU2. 
Amendment 2 does the following:
    (a) Adds the following parties, each of which has owned or operated 
a facility within the commingled OU2 groundwater plume area, as 
Settling Cash Defendants:
     Exxon Mobil Oil Corporation, together with related 
entities Mobil Foundation Inc.; General Petroleum Corporation; and 
Mobil Oil Corporation; and
     Continental Heat Treating Inc., together with related 
entities Tower Industries, Inc.; Continental Development Co., L.P.; 
James Stull, an individual; Metallurgical Group, Inc. (formerly Smith 
Heat Treating, Inc.); 10643 Norwalk, LLC; The Anna A. Hathaway 
Revocable Trust; The Estate of Anna A. Hathaway; J Benjamin Hathaway; 
James G. Stull Living Trust; and James C. Stull Irrevocable Trust.
    These parties are ``Certain Noticed Parties'' within the meaning of 
Paragraph 75 and Appendix G of the Consent Decree.
    (b) Moves the following parties who were previously denoted as 
Settling Work Defendants in Appendix E of the Consent Decree to the 
category of Settling Cash Defendants in Appendix D of the Consent 
Decree: Alpha Therapeutic Corporation; American Standard, Inc.; Arlon 
Products Inc.; Astro Aluminum Treating Co. Inc.; Atlantic Richfield; BP 
Amoco Chemical Company; Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation; Hitachi Home 
Electronics; Howmet Aluminum Casting, Inc.; Johns Manville Celite 
Corporation; Kimberly Clark Worldwide Inc., Fullerton Mill; Kinder 
Morgan Liquids Terminals LLC; Luxfer USA Limited by British Alcan 
Aluminum plc; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; NBC/
Universal City Studios; Pacific Bell Telephone Company; Pfizer Inc.; 
Scripto-Tokai Corporation; Sempra Energy Solutions; Signet Armorlite, 
Inc.; Sonoco Products Company; Texaco Inc.; Texas Instruments 
Incorporated; The Sherwin-Williams Company; Union Oil of California; 
Weber Aircraft Corporation; and Yort, Inc. This is the process 
described in Paragraph 79 of the Consent Decree.
    (c) Adds as Settling Cash Defendants two parties that had 
previously resolved their liability associated with the Omega Chemical 
Corporation facility: Kennedy-Wilson Properties and Radiant 
Technologies.
    This Amendment 2 requires the additional settling parties in 
category (a) to pay $4,700,000 into Qualified Settlement Funds, as 
provided for in Paragraph 27(a) of the Consent Decree. The parties in 
category (b) are pre-existing settling parties under this Consent 
Decree, and their movement from the Settling Work Defendants to 
Settling Cash Defendants category does not require them to pay money to 
the United States and DTSC. The parties in category (c) are parties 
that have previously resolved their liability within the group of 
generators at the Omega Chemical Corporation facility, and are not 
required to pay money to the United States and DTSC.
    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 of America and State of California on 
behalf of the Department of Toxic Substances Control and Toxic 
Substances Control Account vs. Abex Aerospace et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-
11-3-06529/10. 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:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By e-mail...........................  [email protected].

[[Page 55988]]

 
By mail.............................  Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
                                       DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
                                       Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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    As provided by RCRA, a public meeting will be held on the proposed 
settlement if requested in writing by fifteen (15) days after the 
publication date of this notice. Requests for a public meeting may be 
made by contacting the EPA Remedial Project Manager for OU2, Julie 
Sullivan, by email at [email protected]. If a public meeting is 
requested, information about the date and time of the meeting will be 
published in the local newspaper, The Whittier Daily, and will be sent 
to persons on the EPA Omega Superfund Site mailing list.
    During the public comment period, the lodged proposed Amendment 2 
and the previously approved Consent Decree may be examined and 
downloaded at this Justice Department website: https://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
    We will provide a paper copy of the Consent Decree and the proposed 
Amendment 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 $90.25 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury, for a paper 
copy of the initial Consent Decree, the previous Amendment 1, and the 
proposed Amendment 2. For a paper copy of the initial Consent Decree, 
the previous Amendment 1, and the proposed Amendment 2 without the 
appendices and signature pages to the initial Consent Decree, the cost 
is $25.25. For a paper copy of Amendment 2 only (without the initial 
Consent Decree or Amendment 1), together with its signature pages, the 
cost is $2.00.

Henry S. Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-22739 Filed 10-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-15-P