[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 63959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31722]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decrees Pursuant to the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR 50.7, Section 122(d)
(2) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(d)(2), and Section 7003(d)
of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (``RCRA''), 42 U.S.C.
6973(d), notice is hereby given that proposed consent decrees in United
States, et al. v. Alcan Aluminum, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 88-
4970, and in United States v. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., et al.,
Civil Action No. 97-7140, were lodged on November 21, 1997, with the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The proposed consent decrees, which together are intended to comprise a
global settlement with respect to remaining issues involving the Kline
Township location of the Site, would settle actions that the United
States brought on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under Sections 106 and 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42
U.S.C. 9606, 9607(a), to compel environmental response actions to be
taken and for recovery of response costs incurred by the United States
in connection with the McAdoo Associates Superfund Site, located in
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in or near the Borough of McAdoo
(``the Site''). The consent decrees would also resolve the claims of
some of the settling defendants against other of the settling
defendants arising out of this and an earlier settlement related to the
Site in United States and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Air Products
and Chemicals, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 87-7352 (E.D. Pa.)
(consent decree entered June 3, 1988) (``the 1988 decree''). Under the
terms of the proposed consent decrees, (1) the United States will
recover on behalf of the EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund, from those
settling defendants that did not settle with the United States under
the 1988 decree (``the Alcan parties''), the sum of $970,000, plus a
designated share of interest that has accrued on funds that the Alcan
parties paid into an escrow account pending finalization of a 1992
consent decree, whose entry was vacated by the United States Court of
Appeals in United States v. Alcan Aluminum, Inc., 25 F. 3d 1174 (3d
Cir. 1994); (2) those settling defendants that settled under the 1988
decree (``the Air Products parties'') will receive $1.2 million from
the Alcan parties and from the escrow account to resolve the Air
Products parties' claims for contribution against the Alcan parties
($170,000), and to resolve the Air Products parties' reauthorized claim
for reimbursement from the EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund under the
1988 decree ($1.03 million); (3) the Air Products parties will perform
a groundwater monitoring remedy selected by EPA under a Record of
Decision for the Site issued on September 30, 1991 for Operable Unit
Two (OU2) at the Site; and (4) the settling defendants will pay the
United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's past costs
relating to OU2 at the Site (totaling $75,000 and $5,000,
respectively).
The consent decrees include a covenant not to sue by the United
States under Sections 106 and 107 of CERCLA, and under Section 7003 of
RCRA.
The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30)
days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the
proposed consent decrees. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division,
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to
United States v. Alcan Aluminum, Inc., et al., DOJ Ref. Nos. 90-11-3-
142A and 90-11-3-142E. Commenters may request an opportunity for a
public meeting in the affected area, in accordance with Section 7003(d)
of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6973(d).
The proposed consent decrees may be examined at the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 615
Chestnut Street, Suite 1250, Philadelphia, PA 19106; the Region III
Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, 841 Chestnut Building,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107; and at the Consent Decree Library,
1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 624-0892.
A copy of the proposed consent decrees may be obtained in person or by
mail from the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor,
Washington, D.C. 20005. In requesting a copy, please refer to the
referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $33.50 (25 cents
per page reproduction costs) payable to the Consent Decree Library (or
$89.75 for a copy that includes all signature pages and exhibits).
Walker Smith,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 97-31722 Filed 12-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M
