[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 213 (Thursday, November 2, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65879-65880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28174]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Safe Drinking 
Water Act

    Under 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that on October 24, 2000, 
a proposed Consent Decree (``the Decree'') in United States v. Blue 
River Exploration, Inc., Civil Action No. 4:99 CV-10-M, was lodged with 
the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

[[Page 65880]]

    The Defendants are Stephen Pile, two partnerships in which he is 
the general partner, namely, Blue River/Veazey Project, Ltd. and Blue 
River Oil Income Fund 1983, Ltd., and his company, Blue River 
Exploration, Inc. The Defendants are the owners and operators of 
underground injection wells located in Daviess and Hopkins Counties, 
Kentucky. The Complaint filed by the United States alleged that the 
Defendants violated the Safe Drinking Water Act (``the SDWA''), an 
Administrative Order on Consent issued by the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency to Defendants under the SDWA, and 
several regulations contained in the Underground Injection Control 
(``UIC'') program for Kentucky in their operation of their injection 
wells. The United States' Complaint requested the District Court to 
assess civil penalties against the Defendants for those violations, and 
also to order Defendants to comply with the SDWA and the UIC program 
regulations by plugging and abandoning their underground injection 
wells in accordance with an EPA-approved plugging and abandonment plan.
    The Decree will resolve all of the United States' claims against 
all of the Defendants. Under the Decree, Defendants have agreed to (1) 
pay the United States a civil penalty of $10,000 for their violations, 
and (2) plug and abandon all of their underground injections wells by 
September 30, 2001, in accordance with an EPA-approved plugging and 
abandonment plan.
    The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Decree. 
Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, 
Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 
P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to United 
States v. Blue River Exploration, Inc., DOJ No. 90-5-1-1-4506.
    The Decree may be examined at the Office of the United States 
Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, 510 W. Broadway, 10th 
Fl., Louisville, Kentucky, and also at the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, Environmental Accountability Division, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia.
    A copy of the Decree may also be obtained by mail from the Consent 
Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, 
D.C. 20044-7611. In requesting a copy of the Decree, please enclosed a 
check in the amount of $7.25 (25 cents per page reproduction cost), 
made payable to the ``Consent Decree Library.''

Walker B. Smith,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment & Natural 
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 00-28174 Filed 11-1-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M