[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 173 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46749-46752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-22646]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5606-1]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion of the Harbor Island
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces
its intent to delete the Lockheed Shipyard portion of the Harbor Island
Superfund Site, known as Operable Unit (OU) No. 3, located in Seattle
(King County), Washington, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and
requests public comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes
Appendix B to 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). This partial deletion of the Harbor Island site
is proposed in accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e) and the Notice of
Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the NPL, published
in the Federal Register on November 1, 1995 at (60 FR 55466).
This proposal for partial deletion pertains to OU No. 3, which is
defined as the Lockheed Shipyard facility, located in the Harbor Island
site. EPA bases its proposal to delete OU No. 3 on the determination by
EPA and the State of Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) that
all appropriate actions under CERCLA have been implemented to protect
health, welfare, and the environment at OU No. 3.
This partial deletion pertains only to OU No. 3 of the Harbor
Island site. Response activities at OU Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 of this Site
are not yet complete and these OUs will remain on the National
Priorities List and are not subject of this partial deletion.
DATES: EPA will accept comments concerning its proposal for partial
deletion for thirty days (30) after publication of this document in the
Federal Register and a newspaper of record.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Mr. Keith Rose, Remedial Project
Manager, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail
Stop: ECL-111, Seattle, Washington 98101.
Comprehensive information on the Harbor Island site as well as
information specific to this proposed partial deletion is available for
review at the Harbor Island information repository at the following
location: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10,
Environmental Cleanup Office Records Center, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Seattle, Washington 98101. Attn: Lynn Williams.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Rose, U.S. EPA, 1200 Sixth
Avenue, Mail Stop: ECL-111, Seattle, Washington 98101, (206) 553-7721.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis of Intended Partial Site Deletion
I. Introduction
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10
announces its intent to delete a portion of the Harbor Island site
(Site) from the NPL, Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300, and requests
comments on this proposal. Sites listed on the NPL are those which
present a significant risk to human health or the environment. As
described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL
remain eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely
event that conditions at the site warrant such actions.
This proposal for partial deletion pertains to OU No. 3, which
consists of the Lockheed Shipyard in the Harbor Island site. OU No. 3
is located at 2929 16th Avenue Southwest, and is bounded on the north
by the ARCO petroleum storage tank facility, on the east by 16th Avenue
Southwest, on the south by the Fisher Mills facility, and on the west
by the West Waterway of the Duwamish River.
Lockheed Martin, the Potentially Responsible Party for OU No. 3,
completed a Remedial Investigation and feasibility study for this OU.
EPA conducted a risk assessment of OU No. 3 as part of a Site-wide risk
assessment conducted during the Site-wide Remedial Investigation. On
June 28, 1994, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for OU No. 3. In
September 1995, Lockheed Martin completed the remedial action selected
in the ROD. EPA proposes to delete OU No. 3 because all appropriate
CERCLA response activities have been completed in this OU. Response
activities at OU Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 of this Site are not yet complete
and these OUs will remain on the NPL and are not subject of this
partial deletion.
EPA will accept comments concerning its intent for partial deletion
for thirty days (30) after publication of this document in the Federal
Register and a newspaper of record.
Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using
for this action. Section IV discusses the Lockheed Shipyard OU and
explains how this OU meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites, where a release
of hazardous substances have occurred, may be deleted from, or
recategorized on the NPL, where no further response is appropriate. In
making a determination to delete a site 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 persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; or
(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed response 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.
Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not preclude
eligibility for subsequent Fund-financed actions at the area deleted if
future site conditions warrant such actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of
the NCP provides that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites that
have been deleted from the NPL. A partial deletion of a site from the
NPL does not affect or impede EPA's ability to conduct CERCLA response
activities at areas not deleted and remaining on the NPL. In addition,
deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not affect the
liability of responsible parties or impede agency efforts to recover
costs associated with response efforts.
III. Deletion Procedures
Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not itself
create, alter, or
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revoke any person's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.
The following procedures were used for the proposed deletion of OU
No. 3 of the Harbor Island site:
(1) EPA has recommended the partial deletion and has prepared the
relevant documents.
(2) The Washington State Department of Ecology has concurred with
this partial deletion.
(3) Concurrent with this national Notice of Intent for Partial
Deletion, a display ad has been published in a newspaper of record and
has been distributed to appropriate federal, State, and local
officials, and interested members of the community. These notices
announce a thirty (30) day public comment period on the deletion, which
commences on the date of publication of this document in the Federal
Register and a newspaper of record.
(4) EPA has made all relevant documents available at the
information repositories listed previously.
For deletion of the Lockheed Shipyard OU, EPA's Regional Office
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 in response to any
significant public comments received.
Upon completion of the thirty (30) day public comment period, EPA
will evaluate all comments received before issuing the final decision
on the partial deletion. EPA will prepare a Responsiveness Summary for
comments received during the public comment period and will address
concerns presented in the comments. The Responsiveness Summary will be
made available to the public at the information repositories listed
previously.
If, after review of all public comments, EPA determines that the
partial deletion from the NPL is appropriate, EPA will publish a final
notice of deletion in the Federal Register. Deletion of OU 3 does not
actually occur until the final Notice of Deletion is published in the
Federal Register.
IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion
The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for deletion
of OU No. 3 of the Harbor Island site from the NPL and EPA's finding
that the criteria in 40 CFR 300.425(e) are satisfied:
A. Site Background
Harbor Island is a man-made island, of approximately 400 acres in
size, located about one mile southwest of Seattle, in King County,
Washington. Since its construction at the turn of the century, the
island has been used for commercial and industrial activities including
ship building and maintenance, cargo shipping, secondary lead smelting,
bulk petroleum storage and transfer, and metal fabrication. Primary
contaminants of concern at the Harbor Island site include arsenic,
lead, mercury, PCBs, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and
petroleum products. The Harbor Island site was added to the NPL in
1983.
In order to expedite Superfund response actions at this large Site,
EPA has divided the Site into five OUs:
(1) The Soil and Groundwater OU
(2) The Petroleum Storage Tank OU
(3) The Lockheed Shipyard OU
(4) The Shipyard Sediment OU
(5) The Island-wide Sediment OU
EPA has been investigating and making CERCLA response action decisions
for each OU separately.
The Lockheed Shipyard OU is an 18 acre shipbuilding facility
located on the west side of Harbor Island at 2929 16th Avenue
Southwest. This OU is bounded on the north by the ARCO petroleum
storage tank facility, on the east by 16th Avenue Southwest, on the
south by the Fisher Mills facility, and on the west by the West
Waterway of the Duwamish River. The Lockheed Shipyard was used as a
shipbuilding facility from the 1930's until 1986. Shipbuilding
activities included metal fabrication, sandblasting and painting.
Paints used at this facility contained copper, lead, mercury, and zinc.
The sandblast grit used at this facility contained arsenic and lead.
B. Response Actions Taken at the Lockheed Shipyard OU
A Remedial Investigation of the Lockheed Shipyard was completed in
1993 by Lockheed Martin, the Potentially Responsible Party. Based on
data collected during the Remedial Investigation, a risk assessment was
conducted to identify contaminants of concern, potential exposure
pathways, and potential human health risks resulting from exposure to
contaminants found at the Lockheed Shipyard. This risk assessment
determined that the most significant potential human health risk was
exposure to arsenic, lead, and PAHs through accidental ingestion of
contaminated soil by industrial workers.
During the Remedial Investigation, high concentrations of petroleum
products in the soil, referred to as ``hot spots'', were also
identified at four locations on the Lockheed Shipyard OU. These
petroleum hot spots were considered to be potential sources of
contamination to the groundwater.
Contaminants found in the groundwater included benzene,
tetrachloroethylene, copper, lead, and zinc. Since the groundwater at
Harbor Island is not a drinking water source, groundwater contaminants
do not pose a risk to human health. However, groundwater contaminants
which reach the shoreline and enter the adjacent surface water are of
concern because of their potential adverse effects on marine organisms.
Groundwater modeling conducted during the Remedial Investigation
indicate that it is unlikely that groundwater contaminants would reach
the shoreline at concentrations exceeding the marine chronic criteria
in less than 50 years.
A Record of Decision (ROD) for the Lockheed Shipyard OU was signed
EPA's Regional Administrator on June 28, 1994. The ROD established
cleanup levels for arsenic, lead, PAHs, and petroleum in soil based on
standards in the State of Washington Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA).
The ROD also established the marine chronic criteria as the cleanup
goal for groundwater at the shoreline, which would be protective of
marine organisms. The main components of the selected remedy were: (1)
excavation and treatment of petroleum hot spot soil by thermal
desorption, (2) placing three inches of asphalt over exposed soil
contaminated above MTCA cleanup goals, (3) consolidating and capping
sandblast grit on-site or disposing the grit off-site, and (4)
monitoring groundwater quality semi-annually to verify that response
actions taken will prevent groundwater contaminants from reaching the
shoreline at concentrations which exceed the marine chronic criteria.
The selected remedy was completed by Lockheed Martin in September
1995. Confirmational soil sampling conducted after completing the
remedy demonstrates that no significant risk to public health or the
environment is posed by residual levels of contamination remaining in
the soil. Groundwater monitoring conducted to date indicate that
groundwater contaminant have not reached the shoreline at
concentrations exceeding the marine chronic criteria. Semi-annual
groundwater monitoring will be conducted at the Lockheed Shipyard until
it is confirmed that groundwater contaminants will not exceed the
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marine chronic criteria at the shoreline in the future.
C. Community Involvement
During the remedial activities at the Site, including the Lockheed
Shipyard OU, EPA kept the community informed of its cleanup actions
primarily through fact sheets, public meetings, and newspaper articles.
EPA representatives met with facility owners and operators, local
officials, and interested members of the community in order to develop
a Community Relations Plan. EPA representatives also met several times
with the Potentially Responsible Parties to discuss their potential
liability for cleanup at the Site. A Proposed Plan for the Lockheed OU
was issued on April 22, 1994, and subject to public comment for 30
days. This Proposed Plan was mailed to individuals on EPA's mailing
list and was also announced in a local newspaper notice. EPA also held
a public meeting on the Proposed Plan in EPA's regional office in
Seattle on May 11, 1994. EPA responded to all comments received in the
Responsiveness Summary, which is attached to the ROD.
D. Current Status
One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may
delete a site from the NPL if ``Responsible parties or other persons
have implemented all appropriate response actions required.'' EPA, with
concurrence of Ecology, believes that this criterion for deletion has
been met for the Lockheed Shipyard OU. Groundwater quality will be
monitored semi-annually to verify that response actions taken will
prevent groundwater contaminants from reaching the shoreline at
concentrations which exceed the marine chronic criteria. Five-year
reviews will be conducted by EPA to evaluate trends in groundwater
contamination until it has been determined that cleanup goals will not
be exceeded at the shoreline and that additional groundwater monitoring
is not necessary.
While EPA does not believe that any future response actions in OU
No. 3 will be needed, if future conditions warrant such action, the
proposed deletion area of the Harbor Island site remains eligible for
future Fund-financed response actions. Furthermore, this partial
deletion does not alter the status of OU Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 of the
Site which are not proposed for deletion and remain on the NPL.
EPA, with concurrence from the State of Washington, has determined
that all appropriate CERCLA response actions have been completed at OU
No. 3 of the Harbor Island site and protection of human health and the
environment has been achieved in this area. Therefore, EPA makes this
proposal to delete only OU No. 3 of the Harbor Island Superfund site
from the NPL.
Dated: August 28, 1996.
Charles E. Findley,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 10.
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[FR Doc. 96-22646 Filed 9-4-96; 8:45 am]
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