Case No. RJ272-00042

May 30, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Supplemental Order

Name of Applicant: American Tar Company (ATCO)

Date of Filing: March 31, 1997

Case Number: RJ272-00042

On September 4, 1996, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order granting supplemental Subpart V crude oil refunds to 49 applicants. Shadow Lake Ranch, Case No. RK272-03385 (September 4, 1996). In that Decision and Order, the OHA granted American Tar Company (ATCO) a refund of $7,533 based on the purchase of 9,416,315 gallons of petroleum products between August 1973 and January 1981.(1)

The OHA has since determined that the original refund, issued to the former American Tar Company (n/k/a NORTAR) on July 10, 1990, should not have been granted. That refund, granted in Case No. RF272-67871, was rescinded from NORTAR on May 23, 1997. NORTAR (f/k/a American Tar Company), Case No. RC272-00364 (May 23, 1997).

Accordingly, the supplemental refund based on that Application must also be rescinded.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Supplemental Order issued by the DOE on September 4, 1996, Shadow Lake Ranch, Case No. RK272-03385 (September 4, 1996), is hereby rescinded with respect to American Tar Company, Case No. RK272-03815. For purposes of the recision, the case has been redesignated RJ272-00042. The total amount rescinded from American Tar Company is $7,533. This amount shall be remitted to the Department of Energy as instructed in Paragraph (2) of this Order.

(2) American Tar Company is hereby directed to remit the sum of $7,533 within thirty (30) days of this Decision and Order. The check shall be made payable to the “U.S. Department of Energy,” shall prominently display the redesignated Case No., RJ272-00042, and shall be sent to:

Department of Energy

Office of the Controller

Cash Control Branch

P.O. Box 500

Germantown, MD 20874

(3) In the event that this payment is not made within thirty (30) days of the date of this Decision and Order, interest shall accrue on the amount due at the rate generally assessed by the Department of Energy on overdue receivables. Other charges generally assessed on overdue DOE receivables shall also apply.

(4) Upon notification by the Office of the Controller of the receipt of these funds, the Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of the Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller of the Department of Energy, shall deposit these funds into the deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z.

(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: May 30, 1997

(1)The gallons were actually purchased by the former American Tar Company, which is now known as NORTAR. The current American Tar Company (ATCO), received the supplemental refund monies due to the former company after a representative of ATCO informed the OHA in a telephone conversation on July 3, 1996 that its parent corporation, Fields Corporation, purchased “the corporation” ATCO in 1990. See Record of Telephone Conversation between Janet Freimuth, OHA Staff Attorney, and Nancy Ferry of ATCO, dated July 3, 1996. We have subsequently been informed that the purchase involved the assets only of American Tar Company and that none of the corporate stock of the firm was acquired by Fields Corporation. That would indicate that ATCO was not entitled to receive refund monies due to the corporation American Tar Company (n/k/a NORTAR), because the right to receive a refund generally remains with the capital stock of an injured corporation. However, because the original and supplemental refunds must already be rescinded for other reasons, we will not consider the issue of ATCO’s refund eligibility in this Decision.