Notice of Lodging of Three Proposed Consent Decrees Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 18315-18316 [2014-07168]

Agencies

• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18315-18316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07168]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Three Proposed Consent Decrees Under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

    On March 26, 2014, the Department of Justice lodged three proposed 
Consent Decrees with the United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Wisconsin in the lawsuit entitled United States and the 
State of Wisconsin v. NCR Corp., et al., Civil Action No. 10-cv-910 
(E.D. Wis.).
    In 2010, the United States and the State of Wisconsin filed a 
lawsuit against multiple defendants that had contributed to 
polychlorinated biphenyl (``PCB'') contamination in sediment at the 
Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund Site in northeastern Wisconsin 
(the ``Fox River Site'' or the ``Site''). That lawsuit--brought under 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9601-75--sought enforcement of a U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency order requiring cleanup work at the 
Site, reimbursement of response costs that the United States and the 
State have incurred in addressing the PCB contamination at the Site, 
and recovery of damages for injuries to natural resources resulting 
from the PCBs at the Site. The three proposed Consent Decrees contain 
the terms of proposed CERCLA settlements with nine parties for the Fox 
River Site.
    The first proposed Consent Decree is with the City of Appleton, CBC 
Coating Inc., Menasha Corporation, the Neenah-Menasha Sewerage 
Commission, U.S. Paper Mills Corporation, and WTM I Company. Those six 
Settling Defendants would pay a total of $54 million toward the 
response costs and natural resource damages associated with the Site. 
The State would pay an additional $100,000 to resolve its own potential 
CERCLA liability, as alleged in certain counterclaims asserted by some 
of the defendants in the lawsuit.
    The second proposed Consent Decree is with Settling Defendant 
Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Kimberly-Clark would pay the United States 
and the State a total of $1,350,000 under this de minimis settlement 
pursuant to CERCLA Section 122(g), 42 U.S.C. 9622(g).
    The third proposed Consent Decree is with Settling Defendant 
NewPage Wisconsin System Inc. (``NewPage''). NewPage filed a petition 
for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in 2011. The 
proposed Consent Decree with NewPage would grant the United States and 
the State allowed general unsecured claims for a total of $1,157,254 
that would be paid as allowed claims under NewPage's court-approved 
Reorganization Plan. Because such claims are paid on a discounted basis 
under the Reorganization Plan, the actual distributions that the United 
States and the State will receive on those allowed claims may be as 
little as $50,000.
    Taken together, the three Consent Decrees would yield a total of 
approximately $55.5 million, which would be allocated as follows: (1) 
Slightly more than $45.9 million would be applied toward natural 
resource damages; (2) slightly more than $8 million would be paid into 
a segregated fund managed by the State to defray future costs that the 
State will continue to incur in overseeing ongoing cleanup work by non-
settlers; and (3) slightly less than $1.6 million would be paid into a 
Site-specific Superfund Special Account as partial reimbursement of 
past and future costs incurred by the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency.
    The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on 
each of the three Consent Decrees. Comments should be addressed to the 
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
and should refer to United States and the State of Wisconsin v. NCR 
Corp., et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-11-2-1045/3. All comments must be 
submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the publication date of 
this notice. Comments may be submitted either by email or by mail:

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         To submit comments:                     Send them to:
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By email............................  pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov.
By mail.............................  Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
                                       DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
                                       Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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    During the public comment period, the Consent Decrees may be 
examined and downloaded at this Justice Department Web site: https://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. We will provide a paper copy 
of any of the Consent Decrees upon written request and payment of

[[Page 18316]]

reproduction costs (at 25 cents per page). Please mail your request and 
a check or money order payable to the United States Treasury to: 
Consent Decree Library, U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 
20044-7611.
    The cost for paper copies is $14.75 for the Consent Decree with the 
six Settling Defendants and the State, $8.00 for the Consent Decree 
with Kimberly Clark, and $7.50 for the Consent Decree with NewPage.

Maureen M. Katz,
Assistant Section Chief,Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment 
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-07168 Filed 3-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P