[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 153 (Wednesday, August 7, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41182-41183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20088]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water
Act
Pursuant to 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that a Consent
Decree in United States and the State of Montana v. Pegasus Gold
Corporation and Zortman Mining, Inc., Civil Act No. 95-95-BLG-JDS (D.
Mont.), entered into by the United States on behalf of the United
States Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Montana on behalf
of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Pegasus Gold
Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Zortman Mining, Inc.
(collectively ``Defendants''), was lodged on July 22, 1996 with the
United States District Court for the District of Montana. The Fort
Belknap Community Council, on behalf of the Assiniboine Tribe and the
Gros Ventre Tribe (the ``Tribes''), and Island Mountain Protectors
Association (``IMP''), are also parties to the Consent Decree. The
Tribes and IMP asserted claims against Defendants and Pegasus Gold,
Inc. in Civil Action No. 95-96 BLG-JDS (D. Mont.), which will be
consolidated with Civil Action No. 95-95 BLG-JDS upon entry of the
Consent Decree. The proposed Consent Decree resolves claims of the
United States against the Defendants under section 301(a) of the Clean
Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1311(a), claims of the State of Montana against
the Defendants under Mont. Code Ann. section 75-5-631, and claims of
the Tribes and IMP against the Defendants under section 505 of the
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1365, relating to the discharge of mine
drainage and other mine wastewaters at or from the Defendants' Zortman
and Landusky mines located next to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation
in northcentral Montana prior to the date of the lodging of the Consent
Decree.
The decree includes injunctive relief addressing all discharges of
mine wastewaters at or from the Zortman and Landusky mines. Defendants
will pay a civil penalty in the amount of $2 million split equally
between the United States and the State of Montana, and pay $1 million
to the Tribes in partial satisfaction of the Tribes' common law
aboriginal water rights claim. Defendants will perform three
[[Page 41183]]
supplemental environmental projects, including a human health study, an
aquatic health study, and a water system improvements project,
estimated to cost $1,490,000.00.
The Department of Justice will receive comments relating to the
proposed Consent Decree for 30 days following the publication of this
Notice. 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 and
the State of Montana v. Pegasus Gold Corporation and Zortman Mining,
Inc., Civil Action No. 95-95-BLG-JDS (D. Mont.), D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-
1-4217. The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of
the United States Attorney for the District of Montana, Suite 400, 2929
Third Avenue North, Billings, Montana 59103, and at the Montana
Operations Office of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VIII,
301 S. Park, Helena, Montana 59626-0096. Copies can also 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 $91.50 for
a copy of the Consent Decree with attachments, made payable to the
Consent Decree Library (25 cents per page reproduction costs).
Joel M. Gross,
Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 96-20088 Filed 8-6-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M
