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

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-21499

## Record

- **Collection:** Federal Register
- **Document type:** Notice
- **Published:** August 11, 1998
- **Citation:** 63 FR 42874

## Text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

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

In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is
hereby given that a consent decree was lodged in United States v.
Acadiana Treatment Systems, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:98CV0687 (W.D.
La.), on July 24, 1998, with the United States District Court for the
Western District of Louisiana.
Johnson Properties, Inc. and its subsidiaries own and operate more
than 170 sewage treatment plants located throughout the state of
Louisiana. The United States' Complaint was brought pursuant to Section
309(b), of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1319(b), for injunctive
relief and civil penalties for discharge of pollutants into the
navigable waters of the United States in violation of Section 301 of
the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1311, and for violations of certain
terms, conditions and limitations of National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued to Defendants pursuant to
Section 402 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1342. The United States
filed an Amended Complaint and a Second Amended Complaint to include
all of the subsidiaries of Johnson Properties, Inc., Glenn K. Johnson,
and Darren K. Johnson as defendants in this action. The Louisiana
Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) filed a Complaint in
Intervention as a plaintiff in these proceedings.
The United States and LDEQ have entered into a consent decree with
the defendants in this action that resolves the claims for injunctive
relief asserted by the United States and LDEQ against the defendants.
Under the Consent Decree the defendants must implement specific
compliance measures at all the sewage treatment plants that they own
and operate in Louisiana. The consent decree also provides that the
defendants must hire an environmental auditor to assess and monitor
compliance at the sewage treatment plants for a period of five years.
The consent decree does not settle the penalties portion of the case,
and it expressly reserves to the United States and to LDEQ the right to
seek civil penalties for the violations alleged in the second amended
compliant at any time in the future.
The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of 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, D.C. 20530, and should refer to United States
v. Acadiana Treatment Systems, Inc., DOJ Ref. #90-5-1-1-4375.
The proposed consent decree may be examined at the office of the
United States Attorney, Western District of Louisiana, First National
Bank Tower, 600 Jefferson Street, Suite 1000, Lafayette, Louisiana
70501-7206, and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th
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, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005.
To request a copy of the consent decree in United States v. Acadiana
Treatment Systems, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:98CV0687 (W.D. La.), please
refer to that case title, and DOJ No. 90-5-1-1-4375, and enclose a
check for the amount of $11.00 (25 cents per page reproduction cost)
payable to the Consent Decree Library.
Joel Gross,
Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural
Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 98-21499 Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-21499. Public record. Not legal advice.