[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 139 (Thursday, July 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17669]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 21, 1994]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5017-2]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency.
Action: Notice of intent to delete the C&J Disposal site from the
National Priorities List: request for comments.
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Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces
its intent to delete the C&J Disposal site from the National Priorities
List (NPL) and requests public comment on this action. The NPL is
Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the State of New York have
determined that no further cleanup by responsible parties is
appropriate under CERCLA. Moreover, EPA and the State have determined
that CERCLA activities conducted at the C&J Disposal site to date have
been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment.
Dates: Comments concerning the deletion of the C&J Disposal site from
the NPL may be submitted on or before August 19, 1994.
Addresses: Comments concerning the deletion of the C&J Disposal site
from the NPL may be submitted to: Jack O'Dell, Remedial Project
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 26 Federal
Plaza, Room 29-102, New York, NY 10278.
Comprehensive information on the C&J Disposal site is contained in
the EPA Region II public docket, which is located at EPA's Region II
office (room 2900), and is available for viewing, by appointment only,
from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
For further information, or to request an appointment to review the
public docket, please contact Mr. O'Dell at (212) 264-1263.
Background information from the Regional public docket is also
available for viewing at the C&J Disposal site's Administrative Record
repository located at: Hamilton Village Public Library, 13 Broad
Street, Hamilton, NY 13346.
Supplementary Information
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region II announces its intent to delete the C&J Disposal site
from the NPL and requests public comment on this action. The NPL is
Appendix B to the NCP, which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of
CERCLA, as amended. EPA identifies sites that appear to present a
significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment and
maintains the NPL as the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be
the subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances
Superfund Response Trust Fund (the ``Fund''). Pursuant to Section
300.425 (e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions, if conditions at such site
warrant action.
EPA will accept comments concerning the C&J Disposal site for
thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the Federal
Register (until August 19, 1994).
Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using for
this action. Section IV discusses how the C&J Disposal site meets the
deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
The NCP establishes the criteria that the Agency uses to delete
sites from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR Section 300.425 (e),
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making this determination, EPA will consider whether
any of the following criteria have been met:
1. That responsible or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; or
2. All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been
implemented, and no further cleanup by responsible parties is
appropriate; or
3. The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,
taking remedial measures is not appropriate.
III. Deletion Procedures
The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL
until the State in which the release was located has concurred, and the
public has been afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposed
deletion. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible
party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs associated
with response efforts. The NPL is designed primarily for informational
purposes and to assist agency management.
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of the
C&J Disposal site:
1. EPA Region II has recommended deletion and has prepared the
relevant documents.
2. The State of New York has concurred with the deletion decision.
3. Concurrent with this Notice of Intent to Delete, a notice has
been published in local newspapers and has been distributed to
appropriate federal, state and local officials, and other interested
parties. This notice announces a thirty (30) day public comment period
on the deletion package starting on July 20, 1994 and concluding on
August 19, 1994.
4. The Region has made all relevant documents available in the
regional office and the local site information repository.
EPA Region II will accept and evaluate public comments and prepare
a Responsiveness Summary which will address the comments received,
before a final decision is made. The Agency believes that deletion
procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local level.
Comments from the local community may be most pertinent to deletion
decisions.
If, after consideration of these comments, EPA decides to proceed
with deletion, the EPA Regional Administrator will place a Notice of
Deletion in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in
the next update. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness
Summary will be made available to local residents by EPA Region II.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
Site History and Background
The C&J Disposal site, located in the Town of Eaton, Madison
County, New York, included a rectangular disposal trench which measured
approximately 140 feet by 40 feet. The disposal trench was situated
between a former railroad bed and an active agricultural field, and was
on property immediately adjacent to residential property owned by C&J
Leasing of Paterson, New Jersey. Approximately 100 feet south of where
the trench was located is a small pond and adjacent wetlands which
drain to Woodman Pond, a back-up water supply for the Village of
Hamilton. There are twelve residences in the vicinity and downgradient
of the site which use private wells as their source of drinking water.
During the 1970s, the trench area was used for the disposal of
industrial wastes, although never licensed or permitted for that
purpose. In March 1976, C&J Leasing was observed dumping what appeared
to be paint sludges and other liquid industrial waste materials into
the trench. An inspection of the site by the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the Village of Hamilton
engineer revealed 75-100 drums lying in a pool of liquid waste. The
trench was subsequently covered with fill, reportedly by C&J Leasing,
apparently burying the drums observed in March 1976.
Sampling was conducted at the site by NYSDEC in 1985 and by EPA in
1986. Surficial soil samples obtained from the site revealed the
presence of phenolic compounds, phthalates, various volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and lead.
One of the phthalates, bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and elevated
levels of lead were detected in the sediments of the small pond. The
sampling of local residential wells in 1986 and later in 1988, by the
New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), did not detect any
contaminants from the site.
The site was placed on the NPL in March 1989.
In April 1989, prior to the start of the RI/FS, the site was
subject to an unauthorized excavation by the principals of C&J Leasing,
leaving two large holes and three stockpiles of soil and waste
material. The drums that were believed to have been previously buried
may have been removed at this time, or earlier, and taken off-site. An
extensive follow-up investigation failed to determine where the drums
may have been taken.
In October 1989, EPA initiated the RI/FS. Results from the RI
indicated that the contaminants at the site were confined to the waste
disposal trench, with the exception of some low levels of contamination
in the sediments of the small pond. The total volume of waste material
and contaminated soil and debris in the disposal trench was estimated
at 1,250 cubic yards (i.e., contained in the area of 140 feet by 40
feet and to a depth of 6 feet). The waste was determined to be non-
uniformly distributed and comprised of soil mixed with a light-colored,
friable, plastic-like residue and/or a similar synthetic matter,
crushed drums and plastic bags (drum liners) contaminated with the same
or similar plastic residue, and some wood debris.
The primary contaminants found in the trench area were various
phthalates (i.e., bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, di-n-octylphthalate, and
di-n-butylphthalate), phenols (i.e., 2,4-dimethyl phenol, and 4-
methylphenol) and VOCs (i.e., benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylenes,
and 4-methyl-2-pentanone). Lead, which was found at elevated levels
during limited testing by EPA in 1986, was detected above background
levels in only one sample during extensive RI sampling. Lead was also
found at significantly elevated levels during EPA's post-RI sampling in
1991. A wide variety of PAHs were also found in the disposal trench and
in surrounding surface soils. Since the PAHs were attributable to the
old railroad bed (due to their association with products used for
railroad construction, operation, and maintenance, as well as where the
PAHs were located at the site), they were considered to be background.
While some of the waste materials in the trench were in direct
contact with the shallow ground water, the contaminants were found to
be bound in the waste material and/or adsorbed to the adjacent soils
and, therefore, were not migrating to the ground water from the trench.
Extensive chemical analysis of the eight local residential wells
(serving twelve residences) during the RI confirmed the prior results
(i.e., that no contaminants from the site had migrated to these wells).
Seven ground-water monitoring wells (four shallow and three deep),
including one well in the center of the trench, also indicated no
migration of contaminants from the trench to the ground water.
Testing of the water in the small pond indicated no migration of
soluble contaminants from the site. The low levels of bis(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate and lead found in the sediments in the pond were attributable
to overland soil transport by surface-water runoff.
The RI concluded that the potential for direct human and animal
exposure, as well as the potential for future contaminant migration to
the ground water and surface water, existed at the site and there were
no permanent controls in place to prevent contaminant migration from
the trench as a result of any deterioration or disturbance of the
waste.
Following completion of the RI/FS, site security was upgraded by
EPA. The upgrade included installing two locked gates, additional
fencing, and posting of warning signs to restrict access of
unauthorized persons. Also at this time, EPA performed additional
sampling at the site, in preparation for the off-site disposal/
treatment of the contaminated soil and debris.
On March 28, 1991, a Record of Decision was signed, selecting as
the remedy for the site the excavation and removal of approximately
1,250 cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris, followed by its
transportation to a permitted, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-
compliant waste management facility for treatment/disposal. The
selected remedy included backfilling the trench with clean soil, re-
vegetating the area, and quarterly monitoring of the ground water and
downgradient residential wells for a period of one year. In addition,
no remediation of the small pond was necessary because of the
insignificant amount of contaminants in the sediments and because of
the adverse impact excavation would have on the pond and its ecosystem.
Following the completion of the remedial design (RD) in August
1992, the remedial action (RA) commenced. Over the course of the RA,
which was completed in June 1993, over 2,400 cubic yards of
contaminated soil and debris (i.e., 173 truckloads containing 3,514
tons of material) were removed from the site. No intact drums were
encountered during the excavation. Analysis of samples collected from
monitoring wells located downgradient of the disposal trench two weeks
after backfilling the trench indicated no contaminants had migrated to
the wells as a result of excavation activities. Post-RA sampling by
NYSDOH, as well as post-RA quarterly sampling by EPA, also indicated no
contamination migration to residential wells.
Summary of Community Relations Activities
Overall, there has been moderate community interest shown with
respect to activities at the site. Initially, interest was high due to
the unauthorized excavation at the site, reports of neighborhood
children playing at the site, the possibility of contaminated wells in
the neighborhood, and the potential to pollute Woodman Pond (which, in
part, contributed to the Village of Hamilton's decision to install
municipal wells instead of continuing to use Woodman Pond for municipal
drinking water). Interest in the site declined, however, when the
testing and re-testing of local residential wells indicated that no
contaminants attributable to the site were present in local wells,
visible improvements were made in site security, and on-going contact
was maintained with local officials and the community. At a public
meeting on February 13, 1991, EPA presented the results of the RI/FS
and identified the preferred remedial alternative for the site. The
remedy presented for the site was extremely well received since it
satisfied the prior requests of local officials and citizens for the
complete removal of the chemicals at the site from their community.
Summary of Operation and Maintenance and Five-Year Review Requirements
There are no operation and maintenance requirements since all
remediation activities have been completed. Because the implemented
remedy does not result in hazardous substances remaining on-site above
health-based levels, the five-year review does not apply.
Summary of How the Deletion Criteria Has Been Met
Residential well monitoring since 1986 has consistently indicated
no contaminant migration to any of the local residential wells from the
site. RI and RD sampling results indicated no site-related contaminants
in on- or off-site monitoring wells. One year of post-RA quarterly
sampling completed by EPA in January 1994 did not show any contaminants
from the site in either the on-site monitoring wells or the local
residential wells.
The primary pathways that threatened public health at the C&J
Disposal site were direct exposure and possible ingestion of the
chemicals at the site, as well as the possible future contamination of
the ground water and local wells and the impact to the local
environment from deterioration or disturbance of the contaminated
waste. The results of the post-RA monitoring confirm that excavation
and removal of the contaminants of concern from the C&J Disposal site
renders both current and future pathways incomplete.
EPA and the State have determined that the response actions
undertaken at the C&J Disposal site are protective of human health and
the environment.
In accordance with 40 CFR Section 300.425(e), sites may be deleted
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. EPA, in
consultation with the State, has determined that all appropriate
responses under CERCLA have been implemented and that no further
cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Having met the deletion
criteria, EPA proposes to delete the C&J Disposal site from the NPL.
Dated: July 1, 1994.
William J. Muzynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-17669 Filed 7-20-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P