United States v. Cyprus Amax Minerals Co., CV-17-00140-PHX-DLR

Decision Date22 May 2017
Docket NumberNo. CV-17-00140-PHX-DLR,CV-17-00140-PHX-DLR
PartiesUnited States of America, Plaintiff, v. Cyprus Amax Minerals Company; and Western Nuclear, Inc., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Arizona

United States of America, Plaintiff,
v.
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company;
and Western Nuclear, Inc., Defendants.

No. CV-17-00140-PHX-DLR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

May 22, 2017


(Related Case No. CV-17-08007-PCT-DLR)

ORDER

The United States, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, filed an unopposed motion to enter the parties' proposed consent decree. (Docs. 18, 18-6.) The Navajo Nation filed a similar motion in its related suit against Defendants. (Doc. 23, No. CV-17-08007-PCT-DLR.) The Court granted the motions, finding the consent decree to be fair, reasonable, and consistent with the objectives of CERCLA.

IT IS ORDERED that the consent decree is hereby entered:

CONSENT DECREE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 1

II. JURISDICTION ............................................................................................................. 3

III. PARTIES BOUND ......................................................................................................... 4

IV. DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................... 4

V. GENERAL PROVISIONS ........................................................................................... 11

VI. PERFORMANCE OF THE WORK ............................................................................ 13

VII. REMEDY REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 19

VIII. PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................. 20

IX. FINANCIAL ASSURANCE ........................................................................................ 22

X. PAYMENTS FOR RESPONSE COSTS ..................................................................... 29

XI. INDEMNIFICATION AND INSURANCE ................................................................ 41

XII. FORCE MAJEURE ...................................................................................................... 43

XIII. DISPUTE RESOLUTION ........................................................................................... 45

XIV. STIPULATED PENALTIES ....................................................................................... 49

XV. COVENANTS BY THE UNITED STATES ............................................................... 54

XVI. COVENANTS BY THE NAVAJO NATION ............................................................. 58

XVII. COVENANTS BY SETTLING DEFENDANTS AND SFAS .................................... 61

XVIII. EFFECT OF SETTLEMENT; CONTRIBUTION ....................................................... 65

XIX. ACCESS TO INFORMATION .................................................................................... 67

XX. RETENTION OF RECORDS ...................................................................................... 69

XXI. NOTICES AND SUBMISSIONS ................................................................................ 71

XXII. RETENTION OF JURISDICTION ............................................................................. 75

XXIII. APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 75

XXIV. MODIFICATION ......................................................................................................... 76

XXV. NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF WORK ................................................................... 76

XXVI. LODGING AND OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ................................ 77

XXVII. SIGNATORIES/SERVICE .......................................................................................... 77

XXVIII. FINAL JUDGMENT .................................................................................................... 78

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I. BACKGROUND

A. The United States of America ("United States"), on behalf of the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), filed a complaint in this matter pursuant to Sections 106 and 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9606 and 9607, against Cyprus Amax Minerals Company ("Cyprus Amax") and Western Nuclear, Inc. ("Western Nuclear") (collectively, "Settling Defendants").

B. The Navajo Nation filed a complaint in this matter pursuant to Section 107 of CERCLA and Sections 2403, 2501 and 2503 of the Navajo Nation CERCLA ("NNCERCLA"), 4 N.N.C. §§ 2403, 2501 and 2503, against Settling Defendants.

C. The United States and the Navajo Nation (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), in their complaint against the Settling Defendants, each seek, inter alia: (1) reimbursement of Past and Future Response Costs incurred, in the case of the United States, by EPA and other federal agencies, and in the case of the Navajo Nation, by the Navajo Nation, including the Navajo Nation EPA ("NNEPA") and the Navajo Nation DOJ ("NNDOJ"), for response actions at the abandoned uranium mine sites and one transfer station in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, located on Navajo Nation lands, and listed in Appendix A ("Mine Sites"), together with accrued interest; and (2) performance of response actions by Settling Defendants at the Mine Sites consistent with the National Contingency Plan, 40 C.F.R. Part 300 ("NCP").

D. Cyprus Amax acknowledges that it is the successor in interest to Climax Uranium Company and has a contractual obligation to indemnify Chemetall Foote Corporation, the corporate successor to Vanadium Corporation of America and its affiliates. Cyprus Amax further acknowledges that Climax Uranium Company, Vanadium Corporation of America, or another corporate affiliate of Cyprus Amax was historically involved in uranium mining at each of the abandoned uranium mines listed in Appendix A except for the Ruby Mines Site and the Proximate Mine Sites. Western

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Nuclear acknowledges that it was historically involved in uranium mining at the Ruby Mines Site identified in Appendix A.

E. Western Nuclear recently entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent for Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis in In the Matter of: Ruby Mines Site, U.S. EPA Region 9, CERCLA Docket No. 2016-10 and will perform that work separately from this Consent Decree ("CD"). The Parties agree that all future work at the Ruby Mines Site after the Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis ("EE/CA") is completed will be performed pursuant to the terms of this Consent Decree.

F. Pursuant to the settlement of the Tronox Incorporated bankruptcy proceeding, In re Tronox Inc., No. 09-10156 (ALG) (Bkr. S.D.N.Y.), the United States and the Navajo Nation settled, resolved, and recovered funds from Tronox Incorporated, Kerr-McGee Corporation, and related subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to address certain abandoned uranium mines located on Navajo Nation lands, including the 23 abandoned uranium mines listed and identified in Appendix B. Settling Defendants acknowledge that Vanadium Corporation of America was historically involved in uranium mining at each of the abandoned uranium mines identified in Appendix B. This CD does not require Settling Defendants to perform any work at any of the abandoned uranium mines identified in Appendix B.

G. In accordance with Section 122(j)(1) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9622(j)(1), EPA notified the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources, Navajo Nation Department of Justice, U.S. Department of the Interior, New Mexico Office of Natural Resources Trustee, Arizona Natural Resources Trustee, State of Utah Lead Trustee, and State of Utah Co-Trustee on December 13, 2016, of negotiations with the Settling Defendants regarding the release of hazardous substances that may have resulted in injury to the natural resources under federal trusteeship and encouraged the trustee(s) to participate in the negotiation of this CD.

H. Settling Defendants do not admit any liability to Plaintiffs arising out of the transactions or occurrences alleged in the complaints, do not admit that any release or

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threatened release of hazardous substances occurred while they operated any Mine Site, nor do they acknowledge that the release or threatened release of hazardous substance(s) at or from any of the Mine Sites constitutes an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or the environment. Settling Federal Agencies do not admit any liability arising out of the transactions or occurrences as may be alleged in any claims by the Navajo Nation or counterclaims by Settling Defendants.

I. Based on the information presently available to EPA and the Navajo Nation, EPA and the Navajo Nation believe that the Work at the Mine Sites will be promptly conducted by Settling Defendants if conducted in accordance with this CD and its appendices.

J. Solely for the purposes of Section 113(j) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9613(j), the Work to be performed by Settling Defendants shall constitute a response action taken or ordered by the President for which judicial review shall be limited to the administrative record.

K. The Parties recognize, and the Court by entering this CD finds, that this CD has been negotiated by the Parties in good faith and implementation of this CD will expedite the cleanup of the Mine Sites and will avoid prolonged and complicated litigation between the Parties, and that this CD is fair, reasonable, and in the public interest.

NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby Ordered, Adjudged, and Decreed:

II. JURISDICTION

1. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1367, and 1345, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 9606, 9607, and 9613(b). This Court also has personal jurisdiction over the Parties. Solely for the purposes of this CD and the underlying complaints, the Parties waive all objections and defenses that they may have...

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