Superfund program: National oil and hazardous substances contingency plan— National priorities list update,

[Federal Register: August 16, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 157)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 44458-44460]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr16au99-31]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6420-7]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site from the National Priority List; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 announces its intent to delete the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site from the National Priority List (NPL) and requests public comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes 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) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP) have determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public health or the environment and therefore, further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this site will be accepted on or before September 15, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Address comments to: Terrence Connelly, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA Region 1, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA 02114-2023.

Comprehensive information concerning this site is available through the EPA Region I public docket, which is located at EPA's Region I office. It is available for viewing by appointment only from Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests for appointment or copies of the contents from the Regional public docket should be directed to the EPA Region I Records Center.

The address for the Region I Records Center is: EPA Records Center, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA 02114-2023, (617) 918-1417.

Information concerning this Site is also available for viewing at the information repository at the following location: Dyer Library, 371 Main Street, Saco, Maine 04072, (207) 283-3861 or (207) 282-3031.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrence Connelly at (617) 918-1373.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

1. Introduction II. NPL Deletion Criteria III. Deletion Procedures IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion

1. Introduction

   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 announces its intent to delete the Saco Tannery Waste Pits (STWP) Site in Saco, Maine 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 this deletion. EPA identifies sites which appear to be a significant risk to the public health and welfare or to the environment. The NPL is maintained 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 without application of the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) in the unlikely event that conditions at the site warrant such action.

   EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site from the NPL for thirty days following publication of this notice in the Federal Register and in newspapers in the vicinity of Saco, Maine.

   Section II of this document 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 history of the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site, the

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   remedial action which has been carried out, and explains the manner in which the site meets the deletion criteria.

2. NPL Deletion Criteria

   Section 300.425(e)(1) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further remedial action is necessary. When deciding to delete a site from the NPL, EPA shall consider, in consultation with the state, whether the following criteria have been met:

   i. Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all appropriate response actions required;

   ii. All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further response 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 further 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. In the case of the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site, the selected remedy is protective of human health and the environment, but does not allow for unlimited and unrestricted use of the site. Due to this condition, surveys of the site will be conducted by the EPA and Maine DEP to ensure that the remedial action is meeting the requirements of protecting human health and the environment. If new information becomes available which indicates a need for further action, EPA will initiate further remedial actions. Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL without the application of the Hazard Ranking System.

3. Deletion Procedures

   EPA has taken the following steps in accordance with the agency's deletion procedures:

   i. EPA and the Maine DEP surveyed the Saco Tannery Waste Pit Site and declared that the remedial actions are complete and remain protective of human health and the environment. Following the survey, a Final Closure Report has documented that no further remedial action is necessary.

   ii. EPA has obtained Maine DEP concurrence with the proposed deletion decision;

   iii. A notice has been published in the local newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate state and local officials and other interested parties announcing the commencement of a 30-day public comment period of EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete;

   iv. All relevant documents have been made available for public review in the EPA Region 1 Records Center and in local Site information repository.

   Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or revoke any individual's rights or responsibilities. The NPL is designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist EPA 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 render the site ineligible for further response actions.

   Prior to deletion of the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site, EPA's Region 1 Office will accept and evaluate public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete the Site before making a final decision to delete. If necessary, the EPA will prepare a Responsive Summary to address any significant public comments received.

   A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator or his or her designee places a final notice 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 the Regional office.

4. Basis of Intended Site Deletion

   The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for the proposal to delete this site from the NPL.

   The 213-acre STWP Site is located in a rural section of Saco, Maine. The Site is bounded by the Maine Turnpike to the east, residential property along Hearn Road to the west, the Saco-Scarborough town line to the north, and Flag Pond Road to the south. Automotive entry to the Site is limited to Flag Pond Road; all-terrain vehicle trails enter the Site from the north and west.

   The Site is located in an area which is undergoing a transition from rural farming to suburban residential housing. There were approximately sixty single family homes located within a half-mile radius of the Site at the time of the remedy selection in 1989 and the number has gradually increased as farmland is being turned into residential properties. Residential development is concentrated along Hearn Road and Flag Pond Road. These homes rely on groundwater for their water supply from private drinking wells. The groundwater aquifer in the area of the Site is classified under federal standards as IIB, suitable for public water supplies.

   The majority of the Site is forested, both upland and wetland; unforested land consists of remediated areas, scrub-shrub wetlands, and bedrock outcrops. A 100-year flood plain is located within the property boundaries, but none of the waste pits or lagoons are located within the flood plain.

   The Saco Tanning Corporation used the site for waste disposal from 1959 to the late 1970s. Upon investigation, fifty-seven waste pits, two lagoons, and two separate areas beyond the waste pits totaling thirteen acres were determined to be contaminated with tannery waste. Contaminants within the site include arsenic, chromium, lead, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds.

   After conducting a Remedial Investigation, a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued in 1989 for the STWP Site. The Remedial Action objectives selected for this site were intended to prevent physical contact with the waste and exposure to the groundwater. The first objective has been met through the creation of a soil cover acting as a physical barrier between humans and wildlife and sludge and sediments in the pits, lagoons, wet and seep areas. The second objective has been met through the enactment of State legislation designating the Site as a Wildlife Preserve. This institutional control prohibits groundwater use on the Site. Long-term monitoring has shown that contaminated groundwater is not flowing off the STWP Site.

   The primary remedial action includes:

   ‹bullet› A soil cover system comprised of geotextile, rock, stone, till, and vegetation layers;

   ‹bullet› Permanent fencing enclosing the waste pits and lagoons;

   ‹bullet› Institutional control of designating the entire site, by State of Maine legislative act, as a wildlife preserve;

   ‹bullet› Long-term groundwater monitoring;

   ‹bullet› Long-term monitoring of surface water and sediments; and

   ‹bullet› Wetlands compensation on and offsite for the compensation of wetlands lost through the construction of the soil covers.

   The design for the Soil Cover System and Compensatory Wetland Construction was completed in September 1992. The remedial action was phased with initial site work completed in November 1992 and the soil covers phase completed in October

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   1993. On September 17, 1993 the EPA and the Maine DEP surveyed the site and declared that the soil cover system was completed according to the requirements in the ROD. Revegetation of the area was carried out in October of 1993. Purchase of 247 acres of the nearby Saco Heath from a peat mining company as compensation for the permanent loss of ten wetland acres onsite was completed in December 1993, and restoration of the remaining excavated wetland was completed in September 1994.

   Maintenance of the site has included quarterly inspections for the first five years of remediation and semi-annual inspections since then. Per the Superfund State Contract between EPA and Maine DEP, these inspections are to be carried out by the State for thirty years following the remediation. These inspections of the Site will be conducted to ensure that the actions taken to form a physical barrier between humans and wildlife and the waste in the pits and lagoons are maintained. Monitoring of groundwater, surface water, and sediment will continue, as outlined in the O&M Plan, to measure water quality within the site and around the perimeter. These State-performed inspections and monitoring activities began in April 1995.

   The survey of the Site and approval of the Remedial Action by the EPA and Maine DEP demonstrated that the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site no longer poses a threat to human health and welfare or the environment.

   As noted in section II above, EPA may delete a site from the NPL when ``all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is appropriate''. As EPA, with Maine DEP concurrence, has determined that this criterion is met, EPA announces its intent to delete the Saco Tannery Waste Pits Site from the National Priorities List.

   Dated: August 2, 1999. Patricia L. Meaney, Director, Office of Site Remediation and Restoration.

   [FR Doc. 99-21007Filed8-13-99; 8:45 am]

   BILLING CODE 6560-50-P