MAINE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Notice of Lodging
of Consent Decree
DATE: April 12, 2007
Notice is hereby
given that on April 11, 2007, a proposed Consent Decree was lodged with the
United States District Court for the District of Maine in the Lawsuit captioned
as City of Bangor v. Citizens Communications Company, Civil Action No. 02-183-B-S (“Lawsuit”).
In this Lawsuit, the
City of Bangor (“City”) filed a Complaint against Citizens Communications
Company (“Citizens”) under both the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 6972(a)(1)(B), and the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9607(a) and 9613(f)(1),
as well as various State laws claiming that the manufactured gas plant that
operated in Bangor from approximately 1852 until at least 1963 (the “Bangor
MGP”) was the source of the deposit of tar underlying a portion of the
Penobscot River located in Bangor, Maine, known as Dunnett’s Cove. The City further asserted that this manufactured gas plant
had been owned and operated by Citizens’ corporate predecessor. The City’s complaint
asserted claims against Citizens, under section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), for recovery of
response costs incurred by the City regarding the Site. The City also sought an
injunction, pursuant to RCRA, requiring Citizens to clean up the tar deposit.
Citizens filed an answer in the Lawsuit denying all of the material allegations
set forth in the City’s Complaint and also filed a counterclaim against the
City as well as third party claims against a number of other parties.
The State of Maine has claims
against both the City and Citizens under section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9607(a), and RCRA as well as under the Maine Uncontrolled Sites
Law, 38 M.R.S.A. § 1361 et seq.,
for recovery of response costs incurred by the State regarding the Site as well
as for an injunction requiring these parties to clean up the Site. The proposed
Consent Decree requires Citizens to pay a sum certain to the City to settle the
City’s claims against Citizens and requires the City to assume all of Citizens’
liabilities related to the State’s claims. The proposed Consent Decree also
provides for the City to pay $334,886.00 to the Maine Department of Environmental
Protection (“DEP”) in reimbursement of past response costs at the Site, to pay
all of DEP’s future response costs at the Site, and to remediate the Site subject
to the oversight of the DEP.
DEP will receive comments on this proposed Consent Decree for a
period of thirty (30) days from the date of this publication. Comments
should be addressed to Kathy Howatt, Project Manager, Uncontrolled Sites
Program, Bureau of Remediation
& Waste Management, Division of Remediation, Maine
Department of Environmental Protection, 17 State
House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0017. DEP will report to the Court regarding any
comments that it receives within the comment period. Following the comment
period the District Court may enter the Consent Decree without further notice
or opportunity to be heard.
The Consent Decree may be examined
at the Office of the City Solicitor,
Henry Aho, Acting Division Director
Bureau of Remediation & Waste Management
Maine Department of Environmental
Protection