Case No. RR336-00186

December 30, 1998

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Supplemental Order

Name of Petitioners: Citronelle-Mobile Gathering, Inc./

Globe Manufacturing Co., et al.

Date of Filing: December 7, 1998

Case Numbers: RR336-00186, et al.

On April 26, 1991, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order instituting special refund procedures for the distribution of funds collected from Citronelle-Mobile Gathering, Inc. (Citronelle) and Bart B. Chamberlain, the firm's president and principal owner, pursuant to a March 17, 1988, decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. See Citronelle-Mobile Gathering, Inc. v. Herrington, No. 77-101-A (S.D. Ala. March 17, 1988); Citronelle-Mobile Gathering, Inc., 21 DOE ¶ 85,233 (1991) (Citronelle). In accordance with the decision of the District Court and the goals of 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V, the OHA's Citronelle decision implemented a process by which purchasers of NEPCO refined petroleum products were afforded an opportunity to demonstrate that they were injured as a result of Citronelle's alleged violations. Pursuant to these procedures, the OHA has approved 37 claims, encompassing total purchase volumes of 1,222,722,167 gallons of petroleum products.

On August 12, 1992, the District Court ordered the transfer of the Citronelle overcharges funds from the registry of the Court to the DOE deposit escrow fund account, and ordered the transfer of any additional payments into the registry to the DOE escrow account on a quarterly basis. The Court authorized the disbursement by DOE of the Citronelle funds from the escrow fund to approved claimants in proportion to the number of gallons of refined petroleum products purchased by each claimant. In the past, DOE has disbursed funds to the claimants whenever the amount in the DOE escrow exceeds $1,000,000, and no less often than once every two years.

On June 19, 1998, DOE received $284,565.52 from the court registry. Since we do not anticipate receiving any additional funds in the near future, we will direct that the funds currently in the Citronelle escrow be disbursed to the 37 eligible claimants on a pro rata basis, as set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. The total volume for which payments are approved in this Decision is 1,222,722,167 gallons and the sum of the payments is $306,109. As additional funds are transferred from the court registry to the escrow account, we will order further disbursements in accordance with the August 12, 1992, order of the District Court.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller, of the Department of Energy shall take appropriate action to disburse from the DOE deposit escrow fund maintained at the Department of Treasury and funded by Citronelle Mobile Gathering, Inc., Account No. 421X00042Z, the amounts specified in the Appendix to this Decision and Order to the payees specified in that Appendix.

(2) This is a final order of the Department of Energy.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date:December 30, 1998