[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26296]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 24, 1994]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water
Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act
In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is
hereby given that a Consent Decree in Golden Gate Audubon Society,
Inc., et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engrs. & City of Oakland,
et al., Civil No. C-87-6063-TEH (N.D. Cal.), and consolidated action
People of the State of California, et al. v. Togo West & City of
Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-86-5817-RHS, was lodged with the United
States District Court for the Northern District of California on
September 27, 1994.
The proposed Consent Decree concerns alleged violations of section
301(a) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1311(a), and section 10
of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 403, as a result
of unpermitted discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands
and other waters of the United States and the unauthorized dredging of
a channel. The Defendants, Port of Oakland, the Board of Port
Commissioners of the City of Oakland, and the City of Oakland, acting
by and through that Board (herein ``Port Defendants''), allegedly
filled approximately 34 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and other
waters of the United States, including seasonal ponds, at the Port of
Oakland Distribution Center in the City of Oakland, Alameda County,
California during the period 1972-1986. The Port Defendants also
allegedly dredged an unauthorized channel in 1979 through a portion of
the Port of Oakland Distribution Center property, all of which is owned
by the Port Defendants, in violation of section 10 of the Rivers and
Harbors Act of 1899. Additionally, the Port Defendants allegedly
graded, scraped and/or filled approximately 26 acres of Wetlands and
other waters of the United States at the Air Cargo Site, which is
located at the South Field of the Metropolitan Oakland International
Airport in the City of Oakland. A permit authorizing that work was
issued by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1986, but the permit was
subsequently vacated by the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California and, therefore, the work was
unauthorized.
The proposed Consent Decree would require the Port Defendants to
provide substantial mitigation in accordance with a Corps-approved
mitigation/restoration plan. The mitigation project would include the
restoration and/or enhancement of at least 68 acres within a 71-acre
Mitigation Project Site located at the Port of Oakland Distribution
Center and provides for the creation and enhancement of tidal wetlands,
seasonal wetlands, seasonal ponds and other habitat features. The Port
Defendants would be required to make available $2.5 million to finance
the mitigation and post-mitigation activities, to include a 5-year
monitoring program. Upon completion of the mitigation project, the Port
Defendants would be required to transfer title to the 71-acre parcel to
the East Bay Regional Park District (``EBRPD''), a state chartered
regional agency, to assure that no future development occurs on the
Mitigation Project Site. The Consent Decree would also require the Port
Defendants to apply for a permit under section 404 of the Clean Water
Act and section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act in order to construct
a new parking area on approximately .1 acre adjacent to the Mitigation
Project Site and to deposit 150,000-200,000 cubic yards of excess fill
material removed from the Site on an undeveloped area of the
Distribution Center property. The new parking area is necessary to
replace a part of the existing parking area which would be destroyed as
part of the proposed mitigation project. Approximately 2.5 acres of
existing wetlands in undeveloped areas of the Distribution Center Site
would be filled under the requested permit to allow for these
activities. Additionally, the previously unauthorized fill material at
both sites would be retained under the authority of Nationwide Permit
32 and the Consent Decree. The proposed Consent Decree would also
require the payment of a $5,000 civil penalty to the United States.
The Department of Justice will receive written comments relating to
the proposed Consent Decree for a period of 30 days from the date of
publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to Karen
Egbert, Esquire, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Defense
Section, P.O. Box 23986, Washington, D.C. 20026-3986 and should refer
to Golden Gate Audubon Society, Inc., et al. v. United States Army
Corps of Engrs. & City of Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-87-6063-TEH
(N.D. Cal.), and consolidated action People of the State of California,
et al. v. Togo West & City of Oakland, et al., Civil No. C-86-5817-RHS,
and should also make reference to DJ# 90-5-1-1-3048.
The Consent Decree, with attachments, may be examined at the
Clerk's Office, United States District Court for the Northern District
of California, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Lois J. Schiffer,
Acting Assistant Attorney General, Environment & Natural Resources
Division.
[FR Doc. 94-26296 Filed 10-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M
