[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 94 (Thursday, May 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28984-28985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10306]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Proposed Modification of Consent Decree
Under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act
On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice lodged with the United
States District Court for the Western District of Michigan a proposed
Fifth Modification of Consent Decree in the lawsuit entitled United
States v. Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership, et al., Civil Action
No. 1:16-cv-914.
On May 23, 2017, the United States District Court for the Western
District of Michigan approved and entered a Consent Decree that
resolved specified claims asserted by the United States against
Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership and eight affiliated entities
(``Enbridge'') under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act arising
from two separate 2010 oil spills resulting from failures of Enbridge
oil transmission pipelines near Marshall, Michigan and Romeoville,
Illinois. The complaint filed by the United States alleged that
Enbridge's pipelines had unlawfully discharged oil into waters of the
United States and sought civil penalties, recovery of removal costs,
and injunctive relief. The Consent Decree established various
requirements applicable to a network of 14 pipelines that comprise
Enbridge's Lakehead
[[Page 28985]]
System--including requirements governing excavation, repair or
mitigation, and imposition of interim pressure restrictions for various
features, such as dents, corrosion and cracks, that are detected
through In-Line Inspections (``ILI'') of such pipelines.
The proposed Fifth Modification of Consent Decree
(``Modification'') revises several different provisions of the Consent
Decree. A major focus of the proposed Modification is to clarify and
revise requirements applicable to one specific type of feature detected
on Lakehead System pipelines--dent features that intersect or interact
with corrosion features (``dent/corrosion features''). The Modification
clarifies that Enbridge must identify all dent features, regardless of
the dent depth, and determine whether detected dent features intersect
with corrosion features. The Modification establishes requirements for
evaluation of dent/corrosion features applying new analytical
techniques that would be used to determine whether such features
require excavation, repair or mitigation, or interim pressure
restrictions. In addition to requiring use of the new methodologies
going forward, the Modification includes requirements for re-examining
certain previously collected ILI data to identify shallow dent features
that Enbridge had not evaluated in the period prior to March 31, 2019,
as well as requirements to apply the new analytical methodologies to
any additional dent/corrosion features identified based on the re-
examination of old data.
In addition to revisions that support new requirements governing
the evaluation of dent/corrosion features, the proposed Modification
revises the definition of Established Maximum Operating Pressure
(``MOP'') to incorporate revised MOP values for Enbridge's Line 61. The
revised MOP values reflect corrected information on pipe wall thickness
obtained during a data quality review of Enbridge's pipeline
information. The proposed Modification also revises and clarifies
provisions of the Consent Decree relating to Priority Feature
notifications. In the proposed revision of Appendix A, features
referred to as ``ovalities'' would be subject to a separate Priority
Feature notification criterion from the criterion applicable to other
geometric features. Finally, the proposed Modification would revise
Table 4 of the Consent Decree to clarify that a dig selection criterion
applicable to dents on portions of Line 61 is intended to apply only to
dents with depths greater than a specified depth.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on
the proposed Fifth Modification of Consent Decree. Comments should be
addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, and should refer to United States v. Enbridge
Energy, Limited Partnership, et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-10099. All
comments must be submitted no later than thirty (30) days after the
publication date of this notice. Comments may be submitted either by
email or by mail:
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To submit comments: Send them to:
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By email............................ [email protected].
By mail............................. Assistant Attorney General, U.S.
DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611,
Washington, DC 20044-7611.
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During the public comment period, the proposed Fifth Modification
of Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this Justice
Department website: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. The
Justice Department will provide a paper copy of the proposed Fifth
Modification of Consent Decree upon written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent
Decree Library, U.S. DOJ--ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-
7611.
In requesting a paper copy, please enclose a check or money order
for $7.50 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the United
States Treasury.
Patricia A. McKenna,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment
and Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-10306 Filed 5-13-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P