Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Water

Act

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

hereby given of a consent decree lodged on November 13, 1996, United

States v. Maine Department of Transportation, Bridgecorp, Robert

Wardwell & Sons, Inc., and T.Y. Lin International, Civ. Act. No. 96-

0249-B (D. Maine). The proposed decree concerns alleged violations of

Sections 301 and 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1311 and

1344, as the result of defendants' unlawful discharge of dredged or

fill material onto jurisdictional wetlands at the site of a proposed

cargo terminal (the ``Terminal Site'') and in the course of

construction of an access road to the Terminal Site (the ``Access

Road'') on Sears Island, Waldo County, Maine. The Sierra Club and the

Conservation Law Foundation have intervened in the case and are

signatories to the consent decree.

The terms of the consent decree include the following: (a) The

defendants are permanently enjoined from discharging fill materials in

waters of the United States at the Terminal Site and the Access Road,

except in compliance with applicable permits; (b) the defendants are

required to pay a $10,000 civil penalty; (c) defendant Maine Department

of Transportation (``Maine DOT'') will restore approximately 3.2 acres

of filled wetlands and create a number of vernal pools at the Terminal

Site; (d) Maine DOT will create or enhance approximately 17 acres of

riparian wetlands and associated uplands at Dyer Creek in Newcastle,

Lincoln County, Maine, (e) Maine DOT will restore and enhance

approximately three-quarters of an acre of degraded former wetland on

the south-central portion of Sears Island; and (f) Maine DOT will fund

a supplemental environmental project, providing at least $100,000 for

the acquisition of one or more properties located in the Ducktrap River

watershed in Maine through the Land for Maine's Future Board.

The Department of Justice will receive written comment on this

consent decree for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of

publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Comments should be

addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural

Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Attention: Daniel W.

Pinkston, Environmental Defense Section. P.O. Box 23986, Washington,

D.C. 20026-3986, and should refer to United States v. Maine Dept. of

Transportation, et al., DJ Reference No. 90-5-1-1-4184.

The proposed consent decree may be examined at the Consent Decree

Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005. In

requesting a copy of the consent decree with attachments, please

enclose a check in the amount of $14.25. In addition to the Consent

Decree Library, the consent may be viewed at the EPA New England

Library, located on the Eleventh Floor, One Congress Street, Boston,

Massachusetts, and the Office of the Clerk of the United States

District Court for the District of Maine, Room 357, 202 Harlow Street,

Bangor, Maine.

Letitia J. Grishaw,

Chief, Environmental Defense Section, Environment and Natural Resources

Division, United States Department of Justice.

[FR Doc. 97-2896 Filed 2-5-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410-15-M