[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 183 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55627-55628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18883]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Settlement Agreement Pursuant to the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

    In accordance with 28 CFR 50.7 and 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is 
hereby given that on September 13, 2005, a Settlement Agreement was 
lodged with the United States District Court for the District of Puerto 
Rico in United States v. Tropical Fruit, S.E., et al., Civil Action No. 
97-1442-DRD. On October 25, 2001, the Court entered Decree between the 
United States, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(``EPA''), and defendants pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (``FIFRA''), 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq., and 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq., with respect to a Farm 
located in Rural Zone Boca, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The Consent Decree 
required Defendants to pay $35,000 in penalties

[[Page 55628]]

and CERCLA response costs and to comply with extensive injunctive 
relief measures, including the creation of a non-spray buffer zone on 
the northern and a portion of the western perimeter of the Farm which 
will vary in width up to 173 feet. In December 2004, the United States 
filed a Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree and for stipulated 
penalties in that the United States alleged that Defendants violated 
certain provisions of the Consent Decree including the requirement that 
Defendants remove ore relocate mango trees and banana trees from the 
buffer zone area, and replace them with plantain trees which would not 
be sprayed.
    The United States and Defendants have reached a proposed agreement 
to resolve the United States' Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree and 
its request for stipulated penalties, which Settlement Agreement 
requires Defendants, inter alia, to remove or relocate the mango trees 
they were required to remove or relocate under the Decree by April 1, 
2006, which schedule will allow Defendants to transplant the mango 
trees elsewhere at the Farm, and to replace them with bananas or 
plantains. The Settlement Agreement authorizes the Farm to plant, in 
two perimeter areas, an extra low of neem trees as a barrier instead of 
planting bananas of plantains. The Settlement Agreement allows 
Defendants to apply low-toxicity pesticides in limited circumstances 
and under application restrictions in buffer zone areas to address an 
outbreak of Sigatoka Negra. The Settlement Agreement also requires the 
Farm to pay a stipulated penalty of $50,000 over a one year period, 
plus interest.
    The proposed Settlement Agreement may be examined at the office of 
the United States Attorney, Federal Building Room 452, Carlos Chardon 
Avenue, Hato Rey, PR 00918, and at two offices of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region II: EPA, 290 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, 
NY 10007-1866 or EPA, Carribean Environmental Division, Centro Europa 
Building, Suite 417, 1492 Ponce De Leon, Stop 22, Santurce, Puerto 
Rico, 00907-4127. During the public comment period, the Settlement 
Agreement may also be examined on the following Department of Justice 
Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the proposed 
Settlement Agreement may also be obtained by mail from the Consent 
Decree Library, PO Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 
20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood 
(<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c2b6adacaba3eca4aea7a7b6b5adada682b7b1a6ada8eca5adb4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="eb9f8485828ac58d878e8e9f9c84848fab9e988f8481c58c849d">[email protected]</span></a>), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation 
no. (202) 514-1547, referencing DOJ No. 1-1700/1. For a copy of the 
proposed Settlement Agreement including the signature pages and 
attachments, in requesting a copy, please enclose a check (there is a 
25 cent per page reproduction cost) in the amount of $3.50 payable to 
the U.S. Treasury.

Ronald G. Gluck,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environmental & 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 05-18883 Filed 9-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M


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