Notice of Lodging of De Minimis Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of De Minimis Consent Decree Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is

hereby given that a proposed Early De Minimis Consent Decree in United

States and State of Connecticut v. A.F. Murphy Die & Machine Co., Inc.,

et al., Civil Actions Nos. 394:CV1667 and 394:CV1668 was lodged on

September 29, 1994 with the United States District Court for the

District of Connecticut. The complaint in this action seeks (1) to

recover, pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA'') 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.,

response costs incurred and to be incurred by EPA at the Solvents

Recovery Service of New England, Inc. Superfund Site located in the

Town of Southington, Connecticut (``Site'') and natural resources

damages at the Site; and (2) injunctive relief under Section 106 of

CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606, and Section 7003 of the Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act (``RCRA''), 42 U.S.C. 9673.

The proposed Early De Minimis Consent Decree embodies an agreement

with 840 parties, representing 882 potentially responsible parties

(``PRPs'') at the Site pursuant to Section 122(g) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C.

9622(g): (1) To reimburse EPA and the State of Connecticut for a

portion of their past and future response costs at the Site; (2) to pay

partial damages to the U.S. Department of the Interior for injury to,

destruction of, or loss of natural resources at the Site under the

trusteeship of the Secretary of the Interior. Of the $6.7 million

generated by the settlement, approximately $1.9 million and $420,000

will be paid to EPA and the State of Connecticut, respectively, for

reimbursement of past response costs; $60,000 will be paid to the

Department of the Interior for natural resource damages; $1.8 million

will be used for the partial funding of a non-time-critical removal

action (``NTCRA'') being performed at the Site by the larger-volume

generator PRPs; and the remaining $2.5 million will be set aside for

the funding of future remedial actions at the Site. The NTCRA

comprises, inter alia, the installation and operation of a groundwater

containment system designed to prevent further migration from the Site

of contaminated groundwater. The Early De Minimis Consent Decree also

provides the settling defendants with a release for civil liability for

EPA's and the State's past and future CERCLA response costs and natural

resource damages at the Site for resources under the trusteeship of the

Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, through the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30)

days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the

proposed Early De Minimis Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed

to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental and Natural

Resources Division, Department of Justice, P.O. Box 7611, Ben Franklin

Station, Washington, D.C. 20044, and should refer to United States and

State of Connecticut v. A.F. Murphy Die & Machine Co., Inc., et al.,

DOJ Ref. No. 90-7-1-23C.

The proposed consent decree may be examined at the Office of the

United States Attorney, 157 Church Street, 23rd Floor, New Haven,

Connecticut 06510; the Region I Office of the Environmental Protection

Agency, Region I Records Center, 90 Canal Street, First Floor, Boston,

MA 02203; and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W.,

Fourth 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, Fourth Floor, N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20005. In requesting a copy, please refer to the referenced case

and enclose a check in the amount of $244.00 (25 cents per page

reproduction costs), payable to the Consent Decree Library. If you wish

to receive a copy without the settlers' signature pages, please so

indicate, and enclose a check in the amount of $34.00 payable to the

Consent Decree Library.

Bruce S. Gelber,

Acting Chief Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural

Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 94-25767 Filed 10-17-94; 8:45 am]

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