[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 203 (Friday, October 18, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54343-54344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26453]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5634-6]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List Update
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from
the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces
the deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from the National
Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which
is 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 all appropriate Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Fund)-
financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and that no
further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA
and the State of New York have determined that remedial actions
conducted at the site to date have been protective of public health,
welfare, and the environment.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 18, 1996.
ADDRESSES: For further information contact: Pamela Tames, P.E.,
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region
II, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866, (212) 637-4255
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Tames at (212) 637-4255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is:
Marathon Battery Company site, Cold Spring, New York.
The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was
June 10, 1996. EPA received five comment letters.
One commenter expressed concern about the discrepancies between the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) 20
milligram/kilogram (mg/kg) cadmium cleanup level for residential soils
and the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) 10 mg/kg
cadmium cleanup level. In response, it was explained that the 20 mg/kg
cleanup level for cadmium in residential soils was based upon the
results of a risk assessment performed by ATSDR, which made certain
assumptions regarding the quantity of vegetables grown in the cadmium-
contaminated residential soils and subsequently ingested by the
residents. Using different assumptions, NYSDOH concluded that 10 mg/kg
was protective of public health. While EPA and New York State did not
agree on a residential soil remediation cleanup level, New York State
agreed to remediate all contaminated residential soils between NYSDOH's
10 mg/kg cadmium cleanup level and ATSDR's 20 mg/kg cadmium cleanup
level.
Several commenters expressed concern that post-excavation soil
samples were not collected by New York State's contractors. In
response, it was indicated that six inches of soil were removed from
the entire front and back yards (cadmium contamination in the
residential yards did not exist below 6 inches) if contamination was
found above the State's cleanup level of 10 mg/kg. In those areas where
the residents indicated that they intended to plant vegetables, 12
inches of soil was removed. Since soils in those areas that had cadmium
contamination exceeding the cleanup level have been removed and
replaced with clean soil and fresh sod, confirmatory sampling was not
deemed necessary.
A commenter expressed concern about the presence of cadmium
contamination twenty-two feet beneath the surface on the former battery
facility grounds. This contamination resulted from a tank located
adjacent to the former battery facility which had leaked cadmium
nitrate, thereby contaminating the underlying soil. In response, it was
noted that, while post-excavation sampling in one area of the site
showed that some cadmium contamination remained in the saturated soils,
it is believed that by placing two feet of limestone at the bottom of
the twenty-by sixty-foot excavation (to keep the cadmium insoluble) and
backfilling the twenty foot deep excavation will be protective of
public health and the environment and should in no way impact the
ability to redevelop the former battery plant grounds.
A commenter expressed concern regarding the retention of the
temporary haul road's guardrail and the construction of a barrier at
the intersection of the temporary haul road and Chestnut Street, in
that these improvements are inconsistent with zoning and Planning Board
regulations. In response, it was explained that EPA's approved
engineering design called for scarifying the temporary haul road (which
was constructed to alleviate truck traffic on the Village's narrow
roadways during the remediation of the site), planting grass, and
installing a barrier to eliminate access from Chestnut Street. While
the haul road was rendered nonfunctional and inaccessible to vehicles
from Chestnut Street, the wooden guardrail, consisting of approximately
two-foot-high telephone poles with a horizontal wooden rail running
through it (which originally was used to prevent trucks from driving
off the haul road), was left in place at the request of the property
owner to protect hikers from falling from the steep slope. The Village
of Cold Spring Planning Board has requested the submission of site plan
documentation showing the changes that have been made to his property
so that it can review the matter. EPA is working with the property
owner and the contractor that performed the
[[Page 54344]]
remediation of the site so that this information can be provided to the
Planning Board.
EPA identifies sites which appear to present a significant risk to
public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as
the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of Fund-
financed remedial actions. Any site deleted from the NPL remains
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely event that
conditions at the site warrant such action. Section 300.66(c)(8) of the
NCP states that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted
from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect
responsible party liability or impede EPA efforts to recover costs
associated with response efforts.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals,
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
Dated: September 20, 1996.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.
40 CFR part 300 is amended as follows:
PART 300--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321 (c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O.
12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp.: p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR
2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp.: p. 193.
Appendix B--[Amended]
2. Table 1 of Appendix B to Part 300 is amended by removing the
Marathon Battery Corporation site, Cold Spring, New York.
[FR Doc. 96-26453 Filed 10-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 6560-50-P