[Federal Register: August 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 161)]
[Notices]
[Page 46662]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21au07-100]
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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 C.F.R. 50.7, notice is
hereby given that a proposed consent decree in United States v. TE
Products Pipeline Company, LLC and TEPPCO Crude Pipeline, LLC (E.D.
Tex.), No. 1:07-CV-0569-TH, was lodged in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Texas on August 15, 2007. The Decree
will resolve the liability of the named Defendants to the United States
for civil penalties and injunctive relief for their violations of
Sections 301 and 311(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act (``CWA''), 33 U.S.C.
1311 and 1321(b)(3), resulting from spills of crude and refined
petroleum products from Defendants' pipelines in four separate spill
events dated November 27, 2001, March 12, 2004, February 28, 2005, and
May 13, 2005, at locations in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Under the proposed Consent Decree, Defendants are jointly and
severally liable to perform injunctive relief on the impacted pipelines
and pay a civil penalty. Specifically, Defendants will (a) conduct a
close interval survey of a segment of the pipeline system from
Beaumont, Texas to Many, Louisiana, and take corrective action to bring
the cathodic protection into compliance with standards, (b) install
remote surveillance cameras at specified points on the pipeline to
ensure constant monitoring of pipeline systems and provide surveillance
of the pipeline system equipment, and (c) update the Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (`SCADA'') system on the pipeline system
to enable Defendants to monitor and balance the volume of product in
the pipeline and pipeline pressure and temperature deviations which can
be indicators of leaks or spills from the pipeline. Additionally,
Defendants will pay a civil penalty of $2,865,000 for the four spills.
The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30)
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the
proposed Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and
either e-mailed to pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mailed to P.O. Box
7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should
refer to United States v. TE Products Pipeline Company, LLC and TEPPCO
Crude Pipeline, LLC, DOJ 90-5-1-1-08194. The proposed Consent
Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States Attorney,
Eastern District of Texas, 350 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 150, Beaumont, TX
77701-2237, and at U.S. EPA REgion 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200,
Dallas, Texas, 75202. During the public comment period, the proposed
Consent Decree may also be examined on the following Department of
Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. A
copy of the proposed 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 or e-mailing a request to Tonia
Fleetwood (tonia.fleetwood@usdoj.gov), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone
confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the
Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $7.75
for the Consent Decree (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to
the U.S. Treasury, or if by e-mail or fax, forward a check in that
amount to the Consent Decree Library at the stated address.
Thomas Mariani,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 07-4089 Filed 8-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M