[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 93 (Thursday, May 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26825-26826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12790]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Water Act and 
the Clean Air Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7 notice is hereby given that on April 8, 1998, a 
proposed Consent Decree (``Decree'') in United States and League of 
Women Voters of

[[Page 26826]]

New Orleans, et al. v. Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, et al., 
Civil Action No. 93-3212, was lodged with the United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
    In this action the United States sought civil penalties and 
injunctive relief for violations of the Clean Air Act and the Clean 
Water Act that occurred at the East Bank Sewage Treatment Plant and its 
collection system in New Orleans, Louisiana. The League of Women 
Voters, Lake Ponchartrain Basin Foundation, Orleans Audubon Society, 
and Louisiana Environmental Action Network also were Plaintiff-
Intervenors in this action, and the State of Louisiana was a statutory 
Defendant.
    Under the Decree, the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans 
(``Board'') and the City of New Orleans agreed to perform Clean Water 
Act remedial measures, estimated at more than $200 million, including 
renovating the sewer collection system, implementing a preventive 
maintenance program, improving reporting procedures for unauthorized 
discharges from the sewer collection system, implementing a response 
action plan when sewage is discharged, and conducting storm sewer 
monitoring. The Board agreed to Clean Air Act remedial measures 
contained in the Operation and Maintenance Plan for the Fluidized Bed 
Incinerator at the East Bank Sewage Treatment Plant. The Board also 
agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million and to perform a $2 
million Supplemental Environmental Project that creates wetlands and a 
vegetative buffer at an abandoned local beach area. The Decree does not 
resolve the contingent liability of the State under Section 309(e) of 
the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1319(e).
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Decree. 
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 
League of Women Voters of New Orleans, et al. v. Sewerage & Water Board 
of New Orleans, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-4032.
    The Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney, Hale Boggs Building, Room 210, 501 Magazine Street, New 
Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, at U.S. EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 
Dallas, Texas 75202, and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, 
NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of the 
Decree may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent Decree 
Library, 1120 G Street, NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. In 
requesting a copy, please indicate whether you want the text of the 
Decree only, the Decree with all attachments (except oversize maps) in 
black and white, or the Decree with all attachments (except oversize 
maps) in color. Enclose a check in the amount of $15,75 for the text of 
the Decree only, $527.00 for the Decree with all attachments (except 
oversize maps) in black and white, $785.00 for the Decree with all 
attachments (except oversize maps) in color, payable to the Consent 
Decree Library. Reproduction costs are 25 cents per page for normal 
pages and $1.15 per page for color copies. For copies of the oversize 
maps, please add on additional $325.000 to the total amount.
Joel M. Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 98-12790 Filed 5-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M