[Federal Register: June 18, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 117)]
[Notices]               
[Page 41448]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18jn02-90]                         

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 
Notice of Lodging of a Modified Consent Decree Under the Clean 
Water Act and Toxic Substances Control Act

    Notice is hereby given that on April 30, 2002, a proposed Modified 
Consent Decree and Judgment was lodged in United States, et al. v. City 
of Gary, Indiana, et al., Civil Action Nos. H 78-29 and H 86-540, in 
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana 
(Hammond Division).
    Under previous resolutions of these civil actions, including the 
most recent one in 1992, the United States and certain agencies of the 
State of Indiana secured relief under the Clean Water Act and the Toxic 
Substances Control Act to address violations of those laws as they 
relate the wastewater treatment plant that is owned and/or operated by 
the Defendants--City of Gary, Indiana, and the Gary Sanitary District 
(a component of the City government).
    While prior settlement of these enforcement actions have secured 
parts of the compliance and clean up sought by the United States and 
the State, the federal and state governments concluded that the 
Defendants needed to make additional efforts to secure compliance with 
the prior settlement. Negotiations over the appropriate scope and 
nature of that work resulted in the Modified consent Decree, which is 
signed by the Defendants, the United States, and the State, and which 
is now lodged with the District Court.
    Like the prior settlement of these actions, the Modified Consent 
Decree proposed here addresses two major areas: the wastewater 
treatment plant and the Ralston Street Lagoon, which is located near 
the treatment plant and contains contaminated sludges and other wastes.
    The Modified Consent Decree preserves many substantive provisions 
of the prior settlement, including enforcement under the Decree of 
water pollution discharge limits that apply to the wastewater treatment 
plant.
    The Modified Consent Decree imposes new requirements on the 
Defendants concerning the Ralston Street Lagoon, including (i) 
undertaking of a detailed assessment of competing methods for disposing 
of waste material in that lagoon, and (ii) completing the disposal 
method selected for the lagoon by the federal government, under 
criteria supplied by the Modified Consent Decree.
    The Modified Consent Decree also requires the City and its Sanitary 
District to carry out some additional clean up of the contaminated 
sediment now found in the Grand Calumet River--which is the receiving 
water for the wastewater treatment plant. The Defendants also must pay 
a $150,000 civil penalty under the Decree. Finally, the Office of 
Special Administrator, created under the prior settlement of this 
matter as part of encouraging compliance with settlement by the City, 
remains in place under the Modified Consent Decree.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the 
Modified Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 
7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611. The 
comments should refer to United States, et al. v. City of Gary, 
Indiana, et al., (N.D. Ind.), D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-2601B.
    The Modified Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, at 5400 Federal 
Plaza, Suite 1500, Hammond, IN 46320. A copy of the Modified Consent 
Decree may also be obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library, 
P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, 
or by faxing a request to Tonia Fleetwood, fax no. (202) 514-0097, 
phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy, please 
enclose a check in the amount of $17.00 (25 cents per page reproduction 
cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Thomas A. Mariani, Jr.,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 02-15324 Filed 6-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M