[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44056-44057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17093]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean 
Water Act

    On August 5, 2021, the Department of Justice filed a complaint and 
lodged a proposed consent decree with the United States District Court 
for the District of North Dakota in the lawsuit entitled United States 
and North Dakota v. Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark 
Midstream Company, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-00161. The Department 
of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, the North Dakota 
Department of Environmental Quality, and the North Dakota Department of 
Game and Fish (``Trustees'') are also providing notice of an 
opportunity for public comment on a Draft Restoration Plan.
    The United States and the State of North Dakota filed this lawsuit 
under the Clean Water Act and North Dakota water pollution control 
laws. The complaint names Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark 
Midstream Company, LLC as defendants. The complaint seeks injunctive 
relief, civil penalties, and natural resource damages for violations of 
the Clean Water Act and North Dakota law as a result of a produced 
water spill from a pipeline owned and operated by Defendants. 
Defendants' pipeline discharged more than 700,000 barrels of produced 
water between August 2014 and January 2015; produced water from the 
spill reached groundwater, a nearby creek, and downstream rivers.
    The Consent Decree requires Defendants to perform injunctive 
relief; remediate environmental impacts; pay $250,000 in natural 
resource damage assessment costs; pay $1,000,000 to be used by the 
Trustees for the costs of projects that restore, rehabilitate, replace, 
or acquire the equivalent of natural resources; and pay a $20,000,000 
civil penalty to be split evenly between the United States and North 
Dakota. Based on certain ability to pay limitations, the civil penalty 
will be paid over six years, subject to interest. The Consent Decree 
resolves the civil claims alleged by the United States and North Dakota 
in the complaint. Under the Consent Decree, the United States and North 
Dakota also agreed not to sue Defendants for natural resource damages 
resulting from the produced water spill.
    The Trustees have written a Draft Restoration Plan that describes 
proposed alternatives for restoring natural resources and natural 
resource services injured by the produced water spill. The preferred 
alternatives include three restoration project types: (1) Aquatic 
service enhancements; (2) conservation of environmentally sensitive 
lands; and (3) recreational access enhancement.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
the Consent Decree and the Draft Restoration Plan. 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 North Dakota v. Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and 
Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-11253. 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 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 $23.00 (25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the United States Treasury. For a paper 
copy without the appendices and signature pages, the cost is $16.25.
    Comments on the Draft Restoration Plan may be submitted to the 
Trustees, and should refer to Blacktail Creek--Summit Midstream 
Pipeline Release Settlement Agreement, DOI Reference #9590. All 
comments on the Draft Restoration Plan must be submitted no later than 
30 days after the publication date of this notice. Comments on the 
Draft Restoration Plan 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].

[[Page 44057]]

 
By mail.............................  Jessica Johnson
                                      U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                      3425 Miriam Ave.,
                                      Bismarck, ND 58501.
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    During the public comment period, a copy of the Draft Restoration 
Plan will be available electronically at https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/pressrel/archives/index.php and at https://deq.nd.gov/EHSRulesRegs.aspx. A link to the Draft Restoration Plan and updates 
about it will also be made available on the Listserv of the North 
Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (``NDDEQ''). To be placed on 
the Listserv, please visit https://deq.nd.gov/subscriptions/ and self-
register, or contact the NDDEQ by phone at (701) 328-5150, or by email 
at [email protected]. A copy of the Draft Restoration Plan may also be 
examined at 3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck ND 58501. Arrangements to view 
the Draft Restoration Plan must be made in advance by contacting (701) 
250-4402.

Susan Akers,
Assistant Section Chief,Environmental Enforcement Section,Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-17093 Filed 8-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P