Superfund program: National oil and hazardous substances contingency plan National priorities list update,
[Federal Register: August 31, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 168)]
[Proposed Rules]
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From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31au99-53]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6429-2]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the PAB Oil and Chemical Services, Inc. superfund site from the National Priorities List and request for comments.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 announces its intent to delete the PAB Oil and Chemical Services, Inc. Superfund Site (the ``Site'') from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this proposed action. All public comments regarding this proposed action which are submitted within 30 days of the date of this notice, to the address indicated below, will be considered by EPA. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9605, is codified at appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA in consultation with the State of Louisiana, through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), has determined that no further response is appropriate, and that, consequently, the Site should be deleted from the NPL.
DATES: Comments should be submitted regarding its proposal to delete this Site from the NPL on or before September 30, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Ms. Janetta Coats, Community Involvement Coordinator (6SF-PO), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-7308.
Information Repositories
Comprehensive information on the Site has been compiled in a public deletion docket which may be reviewed and copied during normal business hours at the following PAB Oil and
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Chemical Services, Inc., Superfund Site information repositories:
U.S. EPA Region 6 Library (12th Floor), 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, 1-800-533-3508; and Vermilion Parish Public Library, 200 N. Magdalen Square, Abbeville, Louisiana 70511, (318) 893-2674.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Caroline A. Ziegler, Remedial Project Manager (6SF-LP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-2178.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
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Introduction II. NPL Deletion Criteria III. Deletion Procedures IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
Appendices
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Site Map B. Deletion Docket Information
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Introduction
This is the Region 6 Notice of Intent to Delete (NOID) the Site from the NPL. The NPL is the list, compiled by EPA pursuant to CERCLA section 105, of uncontrolled hazardous substance releases in the United States that are priorities for long-term remedial evaluation and response. As described in 40 CFR 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 consider comments concerning this NOID which are submitted within thirty days of the date of this NOID. The EPA has also published a notice of the availability of this NOID in a major local newspaper of general circulation at or near the Site.
Section II of this NOID explains the NCP criteria for deleting sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using for this action. Section IV discusses the PAB Oil and Chemical Services, Inc., Superfund Site and explains that the Site meets the NCP deletion criteria.
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NPL Deletion Criteria
The NCP, at 40 CFR 300.425(e), provides that releases may be deleted from 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 persons have implemented all appropriate response actions required;
ii. All appropriate Fund-financed ‹SUP›1‹/SUP› response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further action by responsible parties is appropriate; or
\1\ The ``Fund'' referred to here is the Hazardous Substance Superfund established by section 9507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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.
If, at the site of a release, EPA selects a remedial action that results in any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the site, CERCLA subsection 121(c), 42 U.S.C. 121(c), requires that EPA review such remedial action no less often than each five years to assure that human health and the environment are being protected by the remedial action. Since hazardous substances will remain at the Site,‹SUP›2‹/SUP› EPA shall conduct such reviews. If new information becomes available which indicates a need for further action, EPA may initiate remedial actions. Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL without application of the Hazard Ranking System.‹SUP›3‹/SUP›
\2\ Hazardous substances remain on the Site under a multi-layer soil cap which covers approximately seven acres of the Site. EPA considers the cap to be protective; nonetheless, since hazardous substances will remain on the Site, EPA must conduct the CERCLA- required five-year reviews.
\3\ The Hazardous Ranking System is the method used by EPA to evaluate the relative potential of hazardous substance releases to cause health or safety problems, or ecological or environmental damage.
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Deletion Procedures
The EPA followed these procedures regarding the proposed deletion:
(1) EPA Region 6 made a determination that no further response action is appropriate and that the Site may be deleted from the NPL;
(2) EPA has consulted with LDEQ, and by letter dated July 14, 1999, LDEQ concurred in EPA's deletion decision;
(3) EPA has published, in a major local newspaper of general circulation at or near the Site, a notice of availability of the NOID, which includes an announcement of a 30-day public comment period regarding the NOID, and EPA distributed the NOID to appropriate State, local and Federal officials, and to other interested parties; and,
(4) EPA placed copies of information supporting the proposed deletion (i.e., the public deletion docket) in the Site information repositories (the locations of these repositories are identified above).
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist EPA management. As mentioned in Section II of this Notice, 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility of the site for future response actions.
The EPA Region 6 will accept and evaluate public comments on this NOID before making a final decision to delete. If necessary, EPA will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments received.
Deletion of the Site from the NPL will occur when the EPA Regional Administrator places a final notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect deletions in the final update following the NOID. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local residents upon request to the EPA Remedial Project Manager, Caroline Ziegler, at the address listed above. These will also be placed in both repository locations listed above, where they can be obtained by request.
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Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following information provides the EPA's rationale for the proposal to delete the Site from the NPL.
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Site Location
The Site is located approximately three miles north of Abbeville, Louisiana, adjacent to U.S. Route 167, in Vermilion Parish. The site encompasses approximately 16.7 acres of land located in a generally rural area. Adjacent properties are used primarily for livestock grazing and crops. Residential properties are situated sparsely along U.S. Route 167 west of the site and Parish Road.
The majority of the Site had consisted of disposal pits/ponds and related berms or levees. The pits contained solid and/or liquid wastes that had the potential to migrate into the surrounding environment. The pits extended to within less than ten feet of a ground water-bearing zone in the area, the Upper Chicot Aquifer. Hazardous substances present in the pits, could have migrated into the Upper Chicot Aquifer. There are more than fifty-five residential wells within \1/2\ mile of the Site used for drinking water and agricultural purposes.
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Site History
The Site was used for the disposal of oil and gas exploration and production wastes including drilling muds, drilling fluids and produced waters between
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1979 and 1983. The Site consisted of three impoundments or pits that were used to receive the drilling wastes: Northwest, Northeast and South pits. The pits are believed to have been operated in series-- where the solids would settle out, oil would be skimmed off and the remaining water flowed to the next pit through connecting piping. The series began in the Northwest pit and ended in the South pit. The Site also contained one other impounded area called the Saltwater Pond. This area was used to receive produced water (i.e., production waters generated from oil field activites) and the residual water from the South pit during the years of operation.
In June, 1980, a citizen's complaint of discharge from the site to an off-site drainage ditch led to site identification by EPA. As a result, site inspections were conducted by EPA, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), including initial preliminary assessments, sampling inspections and expanded site inspections during the time period between 1980 and August 1987. Significant inorganic contamination was found at the Site. The main contaminants included arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, zinc, benzene, xylene, naphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene. Based in part on the findings from these investigations, the site was proposed to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in June, 1988. The Site was finalized on the NPL in March, 1989, 54 FR 13296, as set forth at 40 CFR part 300, appendix B.
An emergency removal action was conducted by the Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) group in accordance with an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), effective date October 8, 1991. Four tanks were present on site and were the target of the removal action. Three of the four tanks were located in a bermed area near the Northwest pit and the fourth tank was located at the northwest corner of the Saltwater Pond. Two of the larger tanks in the bermed area contained only minor amounts of material, but the third tank contained an estimated 10,500 gallons of an oil and waste mixture. The ``oil'' phase of this waste mixture had a measured flash point of 90 deg.F. Materials with flash points below 140 deg.F are potential fire or explosion threats. In the event of tank collapse, fumes from a fire or explosion could drift off-site. There are residences nearby and a highway borders the Site. In addition, the tank contents could flow through breaks in the dikes into the saltwater pond and via surface drainage into the nearby irrigation canals, resulting in the potential for direct human contact. The fourth tank had a capacity of about 250 gallons and reportedly contained about 85 gallons of sludge/oil mixture and a thin layer of oil on top. Analysis of the contents of this fourth tank indicated the presence of the following parameters: chromium, lead, benzene, xylene, naphthalene and toluene. All of these substances are listed in 40 CFR Table 302.4 as hazardous substances. It was deemed necessary to perform the removal action due to the potential for release of these hazardous substances to the environment. The removal action was deemed complete by EPA in February 1992.
Remedial Investigation (RI) field activities for the Site were conducted from January, 1991 through October, 1991 and the final report was issued in February, 1993. In association with the RI activities, a baseline risk assessment was prepared to evaluate the potential adverse health effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous substances found to be present at the site. In addition, an environmental baseline risk assessment was conducted to evaluate risks to environmental species.
The main site features or potential contaminant source areas that were identified and investigated as part of the RI field activities include three open waste impoundments or pits and their associated berms, another impounded area referred to as the Saltwater Pond, four aboveground storage tanks and their associated underlying soils, site drainage/runoff areas, an adjacent abandoned canal which borders the eastern edge of the site and other areas of suspected waste dumping. Additionally, on-site and off-site subsurface geologic and hydrogeologic conditions and contaminant impacts to groundwater were investigated through drilling of soil borings and the installation of groundwater monitoring wells. The result of the investigation indicated that the principal concerns were from contaminated sludges, soil and sediments, surface water, and to a lesser extent, ground water.
The EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) ‹SUP›4‹/SUP› on September 22, 1993. The selected remedy called for removal and on-site treatment of surface water; excavation and biological treatment of organic sludge, soil and sediment; solidification/stabilization of biologically treated residuals to address inorganic contamination and any remaining organic contaminants; final disposal of treated residuals in an on-site disposal unit; long-term ground water monitoring and long-term site operation and maintenance. The estimated cost of the cleanup was $13 million including annual operation and maintenance costs.
\4\ EPA's Record of Decision documents the selection of the remedial alternative which will be used to cleanup the site in question.
The biological treatment portion of the originally prescribed remedy was to treat all carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) in soils and sludges to below the established Remedial Action Objective (RAO) of 3 ppm. During pre-design investigation activities, new EPA-approved laboratory procedures for cPAHs which were not previously available during Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) activities were used to test the soils and sludges. The analytical data from this testing, which took place in 1993 and 1995, showed that all cPAHs in the site soils and sludges were below the RAO of 3 ppm. Biological treatment, therefore, was deemed unnecessary as part of the remedial action. All aspects of the remedy remained the same, with the exception of biological treatment, resulting in a cost savings of approximately $4 million dollars. This change to the remedy was made and documented in the Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) signed by EPA on March 12, 1997.
On September 27, 1994, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) for Remedial Design and Remedial Action. It also included the performance of operation and maintenance subsequent to completion of implementation of the remedy. Under the terms of the UAO, the PRP group, known as PAB Site Remediation Group, L.L.C. (PAB Group) conducted the remedial action with EPA oversight. The remedial action began in June, 1997 with the site mobilization and ended in June, 1998 with the completion of capping, grading and revegetation.
Dewatering and backfilling of the Saltwater Pond began soon after site mobilization. Approximately six million gallons of water were removed from this large pond; all of the water was treated in an electro-precipitation unit and tested for the discharge standards prior to being discharged into a drainage ditch which leads to the drainage system along Highway 167.
The pond bottom sediment was sampled and tested for both total arsenic and barium, as well as for PAHs. Some of the samples exceeded the RAOs of 5,400 ppm for barium and 10 ppm for arsenic. Therefore, the top six inches of
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the entire saltwater pond bottom was removed, and this material was incorporated into the soils/sludges that were being treated by solidification/stabilization in the pit area. Approximately 7,000 cubic yards of this material were treated. The entire area was then brought up to grade with clean backfill and revegetated with grass seed.
The major component of the remedial program was to stabilize/ solidify the sludge pit material. The contaminated soils and sludges were combined with reagent materials including cement, ferrous sulfate, and organophyllic clay in order to achieve the main performance standards which included an unconfined compressive strength exceeding 50 psi and Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) values for arsenic and barium of less than 0.05 ppm and 2.0 ppm, respectively. Once the treated material was tested and found to meet these standards, it was placed back into the pit area for final disposal, after verification sampling of the pit bottoms was conducted and found to be free of contamination. A total of approximately 25,000 cubic yards of material was treated in this manner. Once the pits were filled up with treated material, all of the pits were brought up to grade and the low permeability cap was installed according to the approved grading specifications. A topsoil layer was then applied, and the area was revegetated with grass seed.
The cleanup levels and all cleanup actions and other measures identified in the ROD were met by the successful implementation of the remedial action. The constructed remedies are operational and performing according to engineering specifications. The EPA and the LDEQ have determined that the remedy, which includes long-term groundwater monitoring as well as an inspection and maintenance program for the Site, is performing as designed, and is operational and functional. No additional treatment or other measures to restore ground-or surface-water quality have been identified as being required.
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Characterization of Risk
Continued monitoring of groundwater demonstrates that no significant risk to public health or the environment is posed by the hazardous materials remaining at the Site. Based on the successful remedial actions addressing the hazardous materials onsite, the monitoring results of operation and maintenance (O & M) activities to date, and the public health consultation by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), EPA verifies the implemented Site remedy is protective of human health and the environment.
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Community Involvement
As required in CERCLA section 113(k)(2)(B)(i-v) and 117, public participation activities for this site were met by holding open houses and public meetings and by mailing fact sheets. The EPA conducted numerous open houses and informal meetings prior to remedy selection. Community interest in the site has been relatively low. At the November 8, 1997 community open house, EPA reported on the progress of the remedial action underway at that time. The majority of the people attending were pleased with the site status. There were no complaints or opposition.
Documents in the deletion docket on which EPA relied for recommendation of the Site deletion from the NPL have been made available to the public in the two information repositories, the location of which is identified above.
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Proposed Action
In consultation with the LDEQ, EPA has concluded that responsible parties have implemented all appropriate response actions required at the Site (neither the CERCLA-required five-year reviews, nor operation and maintenance of the constructed remedy is considered further response action for these purposes), that all appropriate Fund-financed response actions under CERCLA have been implemented, and that no further response action by responsible parties is appropriate.
Moreover, EPA, in consultation with LDEQ, has determined that Site investigations show that the Site now poses no significant threat to public health or the environment. Consequently, EPA proposes to delete the Site from the NPL.
Dated: August 16, 1999. Jerry Clifford, Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 6.
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[FR Doc. 99-22318Filed8-30-99; 8:45 am]
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