[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 61 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13794-13796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7602]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5447-7]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Howe Valley Landfill Superfund Site,
Hardin County, Kentucky, from the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces
its intent to delete the Howe Valley Landfill Site (the Site) from the
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this
proposed action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300
which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan
(NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the Commonwealth of Kentucky have
determined that the responsible parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required at the Site and therefore,
further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.
DATES: Comments may be submitted by midnight April 30, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Nestor Young, Remedial Project
Manager, North Superfund Remedial Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 4, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30365.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the
public docket which is available for viewing at the Howe Valley
Landfill Site information repositories at the following locations:
Hardin County Public Library, 201 West Dixie Avenue, Elizabethtown, KY,
42701.
[[Page 13795]]
U.S. EPA Record Center, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA, 30365.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nestor Young, U.S. EPA Region 4, 345
Courtland St., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30365, 404-347-3555 Ext. 2023 or 1-
800-435-9233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces its
intent to delete the Howe Valley Landfill Site, Hardin County,
Kentucky, from the National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
40 CFR Part 300, and requests comments on its deletion. 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 these
sites. As described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted
from the NPL remain eligible for remedial actions in the unlikely event
that conditions at the site warrant such action.
The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site
for thirty days after publication of this action in the Federal
Register.
Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that EPA is using
for this action. Section IV discusses the Howe Valley Landfill Site and
explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that releases may be deleted
from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a release from the
NPL, EPA shall consider, in consultation with the state, whether any of
the following criteria have been met:
(i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
(ii) All appropriate responses under CERCLA have been implemented,
and no further action by responsible parties is appropriate; or
(iii) The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses
no significant threat to public health or the environment and,
therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.
Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow
for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA's policy is that a
subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five
years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure
that the site remains protective of public health and the environment.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of
this site: (1) EPA Region 4 has recommended deletion and has prepared
the relevant documents, (2) The Commonwealth of Kentucky has concurred
with the deletion decision, (3) Concurrent with this Notice of Intent
to Delete, a local notice has been published in local newspapers and
has been distributed to appropriate federal, state and local officials,
and other interested parties. This local notice announces a thirty (30)
day public comment period, provides an address and telephone number for
submission of comments, and identifies the location of the local site
repository; and (4) Region 4 has made all relevant documents available
in the Regional Office and local site information repository.
Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or
revoke any individuals rights or obligations. The NPL is designed
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.
As mentioned in Section II of this document, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the
NCP states that the deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude
eligibility for future response actions.
For deletion of this Site, EPA Region 4 will accept and evaluate
public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before making a
final decision to delete. If necessary, the Agency will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments
received.
A deletion occurs when the EPA Regional Administrator places a
final action in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect
deletions in the final update following the Notice. Public notices and
copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local
residents by Region 4.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.
A. Site Background
The sparsely vegetated, eleven (11) acre Howe Valley Landfill Site
is situated at the end of Tom Duvall Lane, approximately 1.4 miles
south of State Road 86 near the towns of Cecilia and Vertrees,
Kentucky. The nearest community to the site is the unincorporated area
of Howe Valley.
B. History
Beginning in 1967, Kentucky Industrial Services, Inc. (KIS) used
the Howe Valley Site as an industrial waste landfill. The landfill
operated under the State-issued solid waste permit until June 1976,
when the Site was formally closed.
Upon the State's request, EPA conducted a Preliminary Assessment
(PA) and Site Investigation (SI). EPA found that between 2,000 and
5,000 drums were buried at the landfill, and confirmed that water
flowed towards Linders Creek. EPA proposed the site for inclusion on
the National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1986. The site was formally
included on the NPL in July 1987.
Under an Administrative Order with EPA, two Potentially Responsible
Parties (PRPS) agreed to conduct a Removal Action and a Remedial
Investigation (RI)/Feasibility Study (FS). The Removal Action,
performed in the summer of 1988, involved excavating a total of 9,150
full or partially filled drums; 1,621 empty drums; 6,000 small
containers; and 3,000 cubic yards of non-containerized waste. All
wastes and highly contaminated soils were sent off-site for permanent
disposal at a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) approved
landfill.
On September 28, 1990, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) which
selected a remedy for contaminated soil still remaining on-site. The
major components of the remedy selected consisted of excavation and
off-site disposal of contaminated soil from the outer area and, on-site
treatment of contaminated soil from the central area.
The selected remedy included the following:
Excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil
containing elevated concentrations of inorganic compounds.
Implementation of a bench-scale treatability study to
insure that the selected aeration treatment (rototilling) will reduce
organic concentrations to acceptable levels.
Excavation and treatment of central area soil by aeration
via rototilling.
Five years of quarterly monitoring of Boutwell Spring and
any additional springs or wells that lay along the groundwater conduit
between the site and Boutwell Spring.
Placement of deed restrictions to limit usage of the
property and its associated groundwater.
Following issuance of the ROD in September 1990, EPA entered into
negotiations with Dow Corning
[[Page 13796]]
Corporation (Dow) to conduct the final clean-up. An agreement between
EPA and Dow was entered in the United States District Court on May 22,
1991.
Final cleanup actions were conducted between November 1991 and July
1994. On August 30, 1994, Dow's contractor submitted a Remedial Action
Report signifying successful completion of the remedial activities. The
report documents and discusses the work performed at the site. KDEP
concurred with the Remedial Action Report. The work was completed at a
cost of $2,928,681.
C. Characterization of Risk
Samples collected during the Removal and findings made in the RI/FS
indicated unacceptable levels of contamination in subsurface soils,
located in the central area and an outlying area of the site. Organic
contaminants were concentrated primarily in the central area, and the
outlying area contained only inorganic contaminants. In both these
areas, the contaminants were located within the near-surface (1 to 2
feet deep) and subsurface (3 to 9 feet deep) of the Site.
At completion of the remedial action, confirmatory sampling
verified that: (1) The ROD cleanup objectives were achieved, (2) all
actions specified in the ROD were implemented, and (3) the Site no
longer posed any threats to human health and the environment.
D. Operation and Maintenance
Since all of the contaminated soil was remediated, and quarterly
monitoring of Boutwell Spring was terminated, no long term Operation
and Maintenance (O&M) activities associated with the site are required.
E. Five-Year Review
EPA Region 4 has determined that the remedial action completed has
attained the site remediation objectives outlined in the ROD and that
no hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain on-site
exceeding concentrations that will restrict unlimited use of the site
or threaten human health through unlimited exposure. Therefore, a 5-
year review of this site will not be required.
F. Explanation of Significant Differences
The remedy selected in the ROD was modified in two instances by
issuance of an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD). The first
ESD was issued in March 1993. This ESD modified the remedy to include:
removal of additional drums and contaminated material; identification
of subsurface soils containing an organic liquid and development of a
cleanup plan; and treatment of contaminated rainwater collected during
the excavation.
The second ESD was issued in August 1995 and it was done primarily
to eliminate the ROD requirement for 5 years of monitoring of Boutwell
Spring and the requirement for deed restrictions. Both of these
requirements were dropped due to the fact that the cleanup objectives
in the ROD were met, and no hazardous substances, pollutants, or
contaminants remained onsite that would restrict unlimited use of or
exposure to the Site.
G. State Concurrence to Delete the Howe Valley Site
The Commonwealth of Kentucky concurred with the deletion of the
Site by letter dated December 7, 1995. EPA, with concurrence of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, believes that the following criterion for
deletion have been met: (1) Responsible parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; and (2) No further response
action by responsible parties is appropriate. Subsequently, EPA is
proposing deletion of Howe Valley Landfill Site from the NPL. Documents
supporting this action are available from the public docket.
Dated: March 14, 1996.
Phyllis P. Harris,
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 4.
[FR Doc. 96-7602 Filed 3-27-96; 8:45 am]
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