[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 123 (Monday, June 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31048-31049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15306]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Notice of Lodging of Proposed Amendment to Consent Decree Under 
the Clean Water Act

    Notice is hereby given that on June 23, 2009, a proposed Consent 
Decree, pertaining to United States and State of Minnesota v. City of 
Duluth, Minnesota and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, Civ. 
No. 09-cv-1590, was lodged with the United States District Court for 
the District of Minnesota.
    In this action, the United States and the State seek civil 
penalties and injunctive relief for alleged violations of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act), 33 
U.S.C. 1251, et seq., applicable provisions of Minn. Stat. section 115 
and Minnesota Rules, and certain terms and conditions of a National 
Pollution Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System permit 
that MPCA issued jointly to Duluth and WLSSD, in connection with 
alleged wastewater discharges, into waters of the United States and the 
State, from a sanitary sewer system which is jointly owned and operated 
by Duluth and WLSSD.
    The proposed Consent Decree would require the Defendants, by 2016, 
to complete a variety of programs and capital improvements, which are 
expected to cost a total of approximately $130 million, and are 
intended to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows. The Decree also would 
require WLSSD and the City each to pay the United States $106,000 and 
the State $94,000 in civil penalties (total civil penalty is $400,000).
    The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30) 
days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the 
Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either e-
mailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, 
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer 
to United States and State of Minnesota v. City of Duluth, Minnesota 
and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary Commission, D.J. Ref. 90-5-1-1-
08428. The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Office of the 
United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, 600 U. S. 
Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415 
(contact Asst. U.S. Attorney Fred Siekert (612-664-5697)), and at U.S. 
EPA Region 5, 7th Floor Records Center, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, 
Illinois 60604 (contact Assoc. Regional Counsel

[[Page 31049]]

Charles Mikalian (312-886-2242)). During the public comment period, the 
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 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 ([email protected]), 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 $20.50 
(25 cents per page reproduction cost), for the consent decree alone, or 
in the amount of $158.00 (for the consent decree and all appendices) 
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.

Maureen Katz,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. E9-15306 Filed 6-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P