ELR Citation: ELR 20369
No(s). A76-245 (D. Alaska Mar 18, 1977)

Over the objections of intervening environmental groups, the court approves and enters a consent decree in a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) enforcement action regarding effluent discharges from a pulp plant. Once parties intervening as a matter of right under §505(b)(1)(B) of the Act have been given an opportunity to specify their objections to such a degree, the court may enter judgment on consent between the original parties. The proposed decree in this case adequately protect the public interest and is in accord with the congressional intent reflected in the FWPCA. An additional evidentiary hearing or factual presentation to justify the decree is not necessary unless there is some apparent fault in the decree or the intervenor has raised some substantive claim against it. None of the intervenors' specific objections in this case have any merit, and the decree is therefore approved.

Copies of the consent decree are available from ELR (14 pp. $1.75, ELR Order No. C-1114).

Counsel are listed at 7 ELR 20368.