[Federal Register: August 11, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 154)]
[Notices]               
[Page 42874]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11au98-128]


[[Page 42874]]

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water 
Act

    In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is 
hereby given that a consent decree was lodged in United States v. 
Acadiana Treatment Systems, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:98CV0687 (W.D. 
La.), on July 24, 1998, with the United States District Court for the 
Western District of Louisiana.
    Johnson Properties, Inc. and its subsidiaries own and operate more 
than 170 sewage treatment plants located throughout the state of 
Louisiana. The United States' Complaint was brought pursuant to Section 
309(b), of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1319(b), for injunctive 
relief and civil penalties for discharge of pollutants into the 
navigable waters of the United States in violation of Section 301 of 
the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1311, and for violations of certain 
terms, conditions and limitations of National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued to Defendants pursuant to 
Section 402 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1342. The United States 
filed an Amended Complaint and a Second Amended Complaint to include 
all of the subsidiaries of Johnson Properties, Inc., Glenn K. Johnson, 
and Darren K. Johnson as defendants in this action. The Louisiana 
Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) filed a Complaint in 
Intervention as a plaintiff in these proceedings.
    The United States and LDEQ have entered into a consent decree with 
the defendants in this action that resolves the claims for injunctive 
relief asserted by the United States and LDEQ against the defendants. 
Under the Consent Decree the defendants must implement specific 
compliance measures at all the sewage treatment plants that they own 
and operate in Louisiana. The consent decree also provides that the 
defendants must hire an environmental auditor to assess and monitor 
compliance at the sewage treatment plants for a period of five years. 
The consent decree does not settle the penalties portion of the case, 
and it expressly reserves to the United States and to LDEQ the right to 
seek civil penalties for the violations alleged in the second amended 
compliant at any time in the future.
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of 30 days 
from the date of this publication, comments relating to the proposed 
consent decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department 
of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to United States 
v. Acadiana Treatment Systems, Inc., DOJ Ref. #90-5-1-1-4375.
    The proposed consent decree may be examined at the office of the 
United States Attorney, Western District of Louisiana, First National 
Bank Tower, 600 Jefferson Street, Suite 1000, Lafayette, Louisiana 
70501-7206, and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th 
Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of the proposed 
consent decree may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent 
Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005. 
To request a copy of the consent decree in United States v. Acadiana 
Treatment Systems, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:98CV0687 (W.D. La.), please 
refer to that case title, and DOJ No. 90-5-1-1-4375, and enclose a 
check for the amount of $11.00 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) 
payable to the Consent Decree Library.
Joel Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 98-21499 Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M