[Federal Register: October 6, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 194)]
[Notices]               
[Page 58267]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06oc08-114]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act

    Pursuant to 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given that, on September 
30, 2008, a proposed Consent Decree in United States v. Merit Energy 
Company, LLC and Shell Exploration & Production Co., Civil Action No. 
1:08-cv-917 (W.D. Mich.) was lodged with the United States District 
Court for the Western District of Michigan. The Consent Decree 
addresses alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401-
7671q, and its implementing regulations at a natural gas processing 
facility that is located approximately eight miles northeast of 
Manistee, Michigan. Shell Exploration & Production Co. (``Shell'') 
constructed the facility in the late 1970s and Shell owned and operated 
the facility until it sold it to Merit Energy Company, LLC (``Merit'') 
in December 2003. The facility includes a natural gas sweetening unit 
that is used to separate sulfur-containing compounds from natural gas 
extracted from nearby production wells. The facility also has two Claus 
sulfur recovery units that recover elemental sulfur from the 
concentrated sulfur-containing gases generated by the sweetening unit.
    The proposed Consent Decree would resolve the claims alleged in the 
Complaint in exchange for the Defendants' commitment to implement 
appropriate injunctive relief, pay a $500,000 civil penalty, and 
perform a $1 million Supplemental Environmental Project. Among other 
things, the injunctive relief provisions of the Decree would require 
Merit to eliminate all routine emission of sulfur dioxide from the 
facility by September 1, 2009, either by shutting the facility down or 
by installing and operating a separately-permitted acid gas injection 
control system. The Decree also would impose strict limits on emissions 
from the facility in non-routine situations, such as during any control 
equipment malfunction. Shell and Merit are jointly liable for payment 
of the $500,000 civil penalty under the Decree. Finally, the Decree 
would require Merit to perform a Supplemental Environmental Project, at 
a cost of at least $1 million, that would involve reducing air 
pollutant emissions from gas-fired compressors at several other gas 
handing facilities near the Manistee natural gas processing facility.
    The Department of Justice will receive comments relating to the 
Consent Decree for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of this 
publication. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney 
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and mailed either 
electronically to pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or in hard copy to P.O. 
Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611. 
Comments should refer to United States v. Merit Energy Company, LLC and 
Shell Exploration & Production Co., Civil Action No. 1:08-cv-917 (W.D. 
Mich.) and D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-2-1-09003.
    The Consent Decree may be examined at: (1) The offices of the 
United States Attorney, 330 Ionia Avenue, NW., Suite 501, Grand Rapids, 
Michigan; and (2) the offices of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 14th Floor, Chicago, 
Illinois. 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 Department of Justice Consent 
Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611 or by faxing 
or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood (tonia.fleetwood@usdoj.gov), 
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 $14.50 (58 pages at 25 cents per page 
reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Maureen M. Katz,
Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and 
Natural Resources Division.
 [FR Doc. E8-23423 Filed 10-3-08; 8:45 am]

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