1809 Utica Mutual Insurance Group v. DEP; doc. no. 96-229-MG

ENVIRONMENTAL
HEARING BOARD

Utica Mutual Insurance Company v. DEP; Doc. No. 95-229-MG

[26 Pa.B. 5181]

   The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) Utica Mutual Insurance Company (Utica), and the Bankruptcy Trustee for Mon Valley Steel Company, Inc. (Trustee) have agreed to a settlement of the matter. On September 28, 1995, the Department forfeited two bonds posted by Mon Valley Steel Company, Inc. (Mon Valley) and issued by Utica to guarantee that Mon Valley would operate the Clyde Underground Mine, located in Washington and Green Counties, in conformance with the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act, The Clean Streams Law, The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The Department forfeited the bonds because Mon Valley abandoned the Clyde Mine without performing the necessary sealing and reclamation work required by the pertinent statutes. Mon Valley later filed for bankruptcy.

   The parties have agreed to a settlement, the major provisions of which include:

   1.  Utica shall seal all of the mine openings and perform all surface reclamation work at the Clyde Mine.

   2.  The Bankruptcy Trustee for Mon Valley Steel shall remove a transformer containing PCBs which has been abandoned at the Clyde Mine and shall remediate an oil spill from the abandoned transformer.

   3.  The Department will release Utica from liability for payment under the bonds.

   4.  Utica shall withdraw its appeal.

   Copies of the full agreement are in the possession of:

   Diana J. Stares, Esquire, Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Chief Counsel, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4745;

   William T. Gorton, III, Esquire, Stites and Harbison, 2300 Lexington Financial Center, 250 West Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507;

   Harry F. Klaodowski, Jr., Esquire, 330 Grant Street, Suite 3321, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2301;

and at the offices of the Environmental Hearing Board, and may be reviewed by any interested person on request during normal business hours.

   Persons who are aggrieved by the above settlement have a right to appeal to the Environmental Hearing Board, Second Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market Street, P. O. Box 8457, Harrisburg, PA 17105- 8457. Appeals must be filed within 20 days of this publication.

   If information concerning this notice is required in an alternative form, contact the Secretary to the Board at [phone]. TDD users may telephone the Board through the AT&T Pennsylvania Relay Center at 1 [phone].

   The Environmental Hearing Board is empowered to approve this settlement if no objection is timely filed with the Board.

GEORGE J. MILLER,   
Chairperson

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-1809. Filed for public inspection October 25, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]