[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9807-9808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03287]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
and Request for Comments on Draft Restoration Plans and Environmental 
Assessments

    On February 11, 2020, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed 
Consent Decree and two draft Restoration Plan and Environmental 
Assessments (``RP/EAs'') with the United States District Court for the 
Eastern District of Missouri in the lawsuit entitled United States and 
State of Missouri v. The Doe Run Resources Corporation, et al., Civil 
Action No. 4:20-cv-00234.
    The United States and State of Missouri asserted claims in this 
case under Section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9607, and Section 
644.096, Rev. Stat. Mo., of the Missouri Clean Water Law, seeking to 
recover natural resource damages (NRD) in response to releases of 
hazardous substances resulting from historic lead mining, milling, and 
smelting operations at eleven facilities located in the Viburnum Trend, 
a portion of the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District, and at the 
Herculaneum Lead Smelter in Jefferson County, Missouri. The proposed 
Consent Decree resolves these claims against The Doe Run Resources 
Corporation (``Doe Run'') (in its own capacity and on behalf of The Doe 
Run Company, a former Missouri general partnership, St. Joe Minerals 
Company, and St. Joseph Lead Company), the Buick Resource Recycling 
Facility, LLC, and Homestake Lead Company of Missouri (``Homestake'') 
(in its own capacity and on behalf of The Doe Run Company, a former 
Missouri general partnership).
    Under CERCLA, federal and state natural resource trustees have 
authority to seek compensation for natural resources harmed by 
hazardous substances released to the environment from historic lead 
mining, milling, and smelting operations in the Viburnum Trend and at 
the Herculaneum Lead Smelter. The natural resource trustees here 
include the U.S. Department of the Interior, acting through the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, acting 
through the U.S. Forest Service, and the State of Missouri, Department 
of Natural Resources (the ``Trustees'').
    Under the Proposed Consent Decree, Doe Run will perform natural 
resource restoration work in accordance with the RP/EAs on 
approximately 2,080 acres of land and 10 miles of streams, and will 
donate approximately 1,100 acres of ecologically significant property, 
in addition to reimbursing certain future restoration and 
implementation costs of the Trustees. Homestake will pay a total of 
$1.9 million to the Trustees for past assessment costs and future 
restoration and implementation costs and will provide funding and 
financial assurance for a portion of Doe Run's restoration measures. 
The United States will grant a covenant not to sue or to take 
administrative action against the Settling Defendants for NRD pursuant 
to Section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), and Section 311 of the 
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1321.
    The RP/EAs present the restoration projects proposed by the 
Trustees to restore natural resources injured by hazardous substances 
released in and around the Viburnum Trend and the Herculaneum Lead 
Smelter. Consistent with the natural resource damages assessment and 
restoration (``NRDAR'') regulations, 43 CFR part 11, and the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (``NEPA''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347 et seq., and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR parts 
1500-1508, the Trustees evaluated a suite of alternatives in each RP/EA 
for conducting the type and scale of restoration sufficient to 
compensate the public for natural resource injuries and service losses. 
Based on selection factors including location, technical feasibility, 
cost effectiveness, provision of natural resource services similar to 
those lost due to contamination, and net environmental consequences, 
the Trustees identified a preferred alternative in each RP/EA.
    The preferred alternative for the Viburnum Trend includes 
restoration of injured stream reaches, enhanced closure of areas 
impacted by tailings impoundments, restoration and revegetation of 
injured soils, and the transfer and protection of ecologically 
significant property to the Trustees or their designees. The preferred 
alternative for the Herculaneum Lead Smelter calls for the transfer and 
protection of ecologically significant property to the Trustees or 
their designees.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the Consent Decree and the RP/EAs.
    Comments on the Consent Decree should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and 
should refer to United States and State of Missouri v. The Doe Run 
Resources Corporation, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-3-10845/1. All 
comments must be submitted no later than forty-five (45) 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 $47.50 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper 
copy of the Consent Decree without the exhibits and signature pages, 
the cost is $12.00. For a paper copy of the RP/EAs only, the cost is 
$17.00.
    Comments on the RP/EA should be addressed to Dave Mosby, and 
reference ``Viburnum Trend and Herculaneum RP/EAs'' in the subject 
line. All comments on the RP/EAs must be submitted no later than forty-
five (45) days after the publication date of this notice.
    Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:

[[Page 9808]]



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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  [email protected].
By mail.............................  Dave Mosby, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
                                       Service, 101 Park DeVille Dr.,
                                       Suite A, Columbia, MO 65203.
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    During the public comment period, the RP/EAs may be examined and 
downloaded at this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region 
Natural Resource Damage Assessment website: https://www.fws.gov/midwest/es/ec/nrda/SEMONRDA/index.html. As described above, a paper 
copy of the RP/EAs may obtained from the Department of Justice as part 
of, or separately from, the Consent Decree upon written request and 
payment of reproduction costs.

Susan M. Akers,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-03287 Filed 2-19-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-15-P