[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 183 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55627-55628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18883]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Settlement Agreement Pursuant to the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
In accordance with 28 CFR 50.7 and 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is
hereby given that on September 13, 2005, a Settlement Agreement was
lodged with the United States District Court for the District of Puerto
Rico in United States v. Tropical Fruit, S.E., et al., Civil Action No.
97-1442-DRD. On October 25, 2001, the Court entered Decree between the
United States, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(``EPA''), and defendants pursuant to the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (``FIFRA''), 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq., and
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq., with respect to a Farm
located in Rural Zone Boca, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The Consent Decree
required Defendants to pay $35,000 in penalties
[[Page 55628]]
and CERCLA response costs and to comply with extensive injunctive
relief measures, including the creation of a non-spray buffer zone on
the northern and a portion of the western perimeter of the Farm which
will vary in width up to 173 feet. In December 2004, the United States
filed a Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree and for stipulated
penalties in that the United States alleged that Defendants violated
certain provisions of the Consent Decree including the requirement that
Defendants remove ore relocate mango trees and banana trees from the
buffer zone area, and replace them with plantain trees which would not
be sprayed.
The United States and Defendants have reached a proposed agreement
to resolve the United States' Motion to Enforce the Consent Decree and
its request for stipulated penalties, which Settlement Agreement
requires Defendants, inter alia, to remove or relocate the mango trees
they were required to remove or relocate under the Decree by April 1,
2006, which schedule will allow Defendants to transplant the mango
trees elsewhere at the Farm, and to replace them with bananas or
plantains. The Settlement Agreement authorizes the Farm to plant, in
two perimeter areas, an extra low of neem trees as a barrier instead of
planting bananas of plantains. The Settlement Agreement allows
Defendants to apply low-toxicity pesticides in limited circumstances
and under application restrictions in buffer zone areas to address an
outbreak of Sigatoka Negra. The Settlement Agreement also requires the
Farm to pay a stipulated penalty of $50,000 over a one year period,
plus interest.
The proposed Settlement Agreement may be examined at the office of
the United States Attorney, Federal Building Room 452, Carlos Chardon
Avenue, Hato Rey, PR 00918, and at two offices of the Environmental
Protection Agency, Region II: EPA, 290 Broadway, 17th floor, New York,
NY 10007-1866 or EPA, Carribean Environmental Division, Centro Europa
Building, Suite 417, 1492 Ponce De Leon, Stop 22, Santurce, Puerto
Rico, 00907-4127. During the public comment period, the Settlement
Agreement may also be examined on the following Department of Justice
Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the proposed
Settlement Agreement may also be obtained by mail from the Consent
Decree Library, PO Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC
20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood
([email protected]), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation
no. (202) 514-1547, referencing DOJ No. 1-1700/1. For a copy of the
proposed Settlement Agreement including the signature pages and
attachments, in requesting a copy, please enclose a check (there is a
25 cent per page reproduction cost) in the amount of $3.50 payable to
the U.S. Treasury.
Ronald G. Gluck,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environmental &
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 05-18883 Filed 9-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M