[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50873-50875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25653]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5898-7]
National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan
National Priorities List Update
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of deletion, Bayou Sorrel superfund site.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the
deletion of the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site, located in Bayou Sorrel,
Iberville Parish, Louisiana, from the National Priorities List (NPL).
The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of
1980, as amended, constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300, which is
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
(NCP). This action is being taken by EPA and the State of Louisiana
because it has been determined that all appropriate response actions
have been implemented and remedial actions conducted at the site to
date remain protective of public health, welfare, and the environment.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 29, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comprehensive information on the Site is available through
the public docket which is available for viewing at the Bayou Sorrel
Superfund Site information repositories at the following locations:
U.S. EPA Region 6 Library (12th Floor), 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas
75202-2733, (214) 665-6424 / 665-6427; Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality, 7290 Bluebonnet Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
70809, (504) 765-0487; Police Jury of Iberville Parish, 510 Meriam,
Plaquemine, LA 70765, (504) 687-5190; Iberville Parish Library, 1501 J.
Gerald Berret Blvd., Plaquemine, LA 70765, (504) 687-2520.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Tzhone, Remedial Project
Manager (6SF-LP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445
Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-8409.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is:
Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site, Bayou Sorrel, Iberville Parish, Louisiana.
A Notice of Intent to Delete for this site was published on June 4,
1997 (62 FR 30554). The closing date for comments on the Notice of
Intent to Delete was July 3, 1997. EPA received comments during and
after the public comment period. All accepted comments, including those
received after the comment period, and the responses by EPA have been
included in the Responsiveness Summary (Appendix 1).
EPA identifies sites that appear to present significant risk to
public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as
the list of those
[[Page 50874]]
sites. 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 in the future; Sec. 300.425(2)(3) of the NCP.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible party
liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs associated with
response efforts.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals,
Hazardous Waste, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental relations,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water
Pollution control, Water supply.
Dated: September 18, 1997.
Myron O. Knudson,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 6.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 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
site ``Bayou Sorrel Site, Bayou Sorrel, Louisiana.''
Note: The following appendix will not appear in the Code of
Federal Regulations.
Appendix 1--Responsiveness Summary, Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site, Bayou
Sorrel, Iberville Parish, Louisiana
The Responsiveness Summary has been prepared to provide written
responses to comments submitted regarding the Notice of Intent to
Delete (62 FR 30554) for the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site. All accepted
comments are presented in the original, submitted format to the extent
possible, with similar comments combined.
1. I support the decision to delete the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site
from the NPL.
EPA appreciates all public support and input for its decisions. The
concerns of the community are a top priority in finalizing any actions
taken by the agency. The decision to delete the Bayou Sorrel Superfund
Site from the National Priorities List was only considered after all
remedial activities have been completed and concurrence given by the
State of Louisiana.
2. The people of the Bayou Sorrel area were not made aware of the
pollution in the waterways, fish, crawfish, and wildlife. The Bayou
Sorrel area residents were never informed of the dangers caused by the
migration of toxic wastes from the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site.
EPA has attempted in every possible way to share information on the
Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site with area residents and communities. A
Community Relations Plan (June 1984, revised July 1990) was developed
with the help of area residents and many factsheets have been mailed
out to interested citizens, congressional representatives, and the
media. A public meeting was also held in January 1986 to discuss the
cleanup remedy for the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site. Supporting
documentation concerning EPA action at the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site
can be found at the Iberville Parish Library, where a repository has
been set up for the public.
3. ERM Southwest, Inc. discovered the pollution in 1984. We are not
being advised of the results of monitor wells overseen by ERM
Southwest, Inc., or the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
ERM Southwest, Inc. is a company contracted out by the Bayou Sorrel
Steering Committee for technical activities concerning the Bayou Sorrel
Superfund Site. Sampling results from the monitoring wells are reviewed
by both EPA and the State of Louisiana. These results currently do not
suggest significant risk to public health or the environment. Data and
results are available for public review at the information
repositories.
4. On February 1994, President Clinton directed federal agencies to
make sure minorities and the poor aren't disproportionately exposed to
pollution and other environmental dangers. We feel that an
environmental injustice is being done to our communities. We would
welcome an investigation of these injustices in the very near future.
Our civil rights are being violated.
EPA is very interested in any environmental justice issues
concerning unfair biases of pollution exposure toward minorities and
the poor. At the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site, EPA has taken civil
actions against responsible parties and implemented site remedial
activities with cooperation from the responsible parties. However, if
further actions pertaining to environmental justice are warranted, the
Environmental Justice National Hotline at 1-800-962-6215, is available
for the community to request an investigation into this matter.
5. The cap and slurry walls are not adequate to protect the
environment. The clay can crack and leak, and the slurry walls can do
the same. The leaking wastes will contaminate the crawfish, fish,
rabbits and other animals/biota in the area that people consume for
food (not just in the area, but all over the country). The clay can't
be trusted to contain the wastes.
The integrity of the cap, slurry walls, and the underlying clay
geology ensures that no leakage of the contained wastes can occur. Data
collected from the continued monitoring of groundwater demonstrate that
no significant risk to public health or the environment is posed by the
hazardous materials remaining within the cap. The Bayou Sorrel
Superfund Site is currently under an Operations & Maintenance plan
which calls for water sampling from the monitoring wells and engineer
inspections of the cap and site. Based on results from all these
activities to date, and the public health consultation by the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, EPA verifies the implemented
site remedy is protective of human health and the environment.
6. Water wells aren't being tested--how do we know that chemicals
from the site aren't leaching into residents' drinking water?
Data from the monitoring wells surrounding the capped areas would
immediately reveal if structural integrity had been breached and wastes
were leaching out. The sampling results from these monitoring wells
have indicated that the cap and slurry walls are operational as
planned. Also, in August 1993, the Louisiana Office of Public Health
conducted a private well survey in the Bayou Sorrel vicinity to
determine if shallow groundwater in the area had been contaminated.
Most of the private wells that were used near the site in the early
1980's have been abandoned and are no longer in use except for one
private well located in the town of Bayou Sorrel on Bayou Sorrel Road.
A water sample from this well was analyzed for volatile organic
compounds and metals including arsenic. No volatile organic compounds
or metals were detected in the private well water. Municipal water for
the town of Bayou Sorrel is supplied by the Iberville Parish Waterworks
3 which draws water out of the Intracoastal
Waterway near the confluence with the Upper Grand River near Jack
Miller's Landing. This new water system has been inspected and surveyed
during the first year of operation and meets all Federal regulations
for primary drinking
[[Page 50875]]
water standards. Additional information can be found in the Health
Consultation by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
dated May 8, 1995.
7. No one has ever followed up ``on anything'' at the site--only
one rabbit and one fish were tested during the cleanup. How do we know
that animals and fish aren't still being contaminated? Is animal/biota
testing still taking place?
Seventy-five fish samples were taken in the area near the site and
analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, volatile organic
compounds, and metals, including arsenic, mercury, and thallium. The
samples were collected by the Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality and Louisiana Office of Public Health in June and July of 1993.
No elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides were
detected in the fish. No volatile organic compounds were detected in
the fish, either. Additional information can be found in the Health
Consultation by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
dated May 8, 1995.
8. Pesticides and PCBs have been detected in channel catfish,
crappie bass, * * *. Everybody in this area are consumers of the fish,
crawfish, and wild game obtained in these waterways and woods. A
fishing and hunting ban should be established in the area of the site.
EPA is unaware of the alleged pesticide and polychlorinated
biphenyls detections in the fish. Sampling results and data collected
from supporting state agencies and EPA indicate otherwise. In addition,
EPA does not establish hunting and fishing bans. Those actions are
taken by state and local health agencies.
9. The site should be fenced and clearly marked as a hazard--
establish institutional controls.
Installation of fences around all capped areas to restrict access
has been in place since the remedial construction activities were
completed. The fences are inspected and maintained as part of the
ongoing Operations & Maintenance site activities. Institutional
controls such as deed restrictions were established along with posting
of warning signs on all fenced areas. The gravel roads around the
fenced areas allow for continued recreational use of adjacent lands and
the borrow lake while diverting traffic around and away from the capped
areas.
10. The site is adding to the overall pollution of the area--such
as the ``illegal'' injection well in Bayou Sorrel. The permit for that
well should have never been renewed--that well is ``illegal.''
The permits for injection wells in Louisiana are given by the
Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and checked for federal
regulations compliance by EPA. The permitted, legal injection well
within Bayou Sorrel currently meets all federal standards and has
satisfactorily passed state inspections.
11. The community unanimously objected to the cap/containment
remedy for this site, but EPA, the State and the industries that
polluted the site went ahead and did what they wanted to anyway. Has
the public ever ``gotten their wishes'' when it comes to Superfund
cleanups or permits? Or can someone high up in EPA tell them that the
``fix is already in'' so we can stop wasting our time commenting on
things that have already been decided?
EPA encourages the community to participate at all points during
the Superfund process. EPA invited the community to participate in
selecting the remedy for the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site during the
Record of Decision phase in 1986. At that time, the community raised a
number of questions and concerns regarding remediation of the site.
These comments can be found in the Record of Decision dated November
14, 1986. As a result of the community's input and other
considerations, the cap/containment remedy for the Bayou Sorrel
Superfund Site was selected as the best alternative after evaluating
performance, reliability, engineering implementability, public health
and welfare, environmental impacts, institutional factors, and costs.
EPA solicited and reviewed comments regarding its intent to delete
the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site from the National Priorities List. The
decision to delete any Superfund site from the National Priorities List
is not final until EPA has extended an opportunity to the public to
comment on the proposed action. At this time, EPA has decided to move
forward with its decision to delete the Bayou Sorrel Superfund Site
from the National Priorities List, but only after careful consideration
and response to all public comments. EPA has also established a
Superfund Ombudsman position to address any concerns from the public on
the Superfund process. Please feel free to contact the EPA Region 6
Superfund Ombudsman at 1-800-533-3508, to share any concerns which were
not resolved to your satisfaction.
[FR Doc. 97-25653 Filed 9-26-97; 8:45 am]
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