Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

Notice is hereby given that a proposed Consent Decree in United

States v. Conoco Inc. was lodged on March 6, 1997 with the United

States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The

parties to the Decree are Conoco Inc. (``Conoco'') and the relevant

natural resource trustees: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration; the Department of the Interior, and the State of

Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality,

the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana

Department of Natural Resources. Under the terms of the Decree, Conoco

agrees to implement and fund a restoration-based settlement as

compensation for natural resource damages suffered as a result of a

March, 1994 release of 1,2 dichloroethane (``EDC'') from Conoco's

facility in Westlake, Louisiana. The claim being settled arose under

Section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9607.

Contemporaneously with lodging the Consent Decree, the United

States and the State of Louisiana jointly filed a complaint alleging

that Conoco is an owner or operator of the facility that released the

EDC within the meaning of sections 107(a)(1) and 107(a)(2) of the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

(``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9607(a)(1) and 9607(a)(2).

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

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

proposed Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant

Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division,

Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530, and should refer to C.A.

97-0445. United States v. Conoco, DOJ Reference Number 90-11-3-1655.

The proposed Consent Decree may be examined at the Consent Decree

Library, 1120 G Street, NW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 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, NW.,

4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. In requesting a copy please refer to

the referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $21.75 (25

cents per page reproduction costs), payable to the Consent Decree

Library.

Joel Gross,

Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and

Natural Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 97-8927 Filed 4-7-97; 8:45 am]

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