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

[Federal Register: May 22, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 99)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 28317-28322]

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

[DOCID:fr22my98-26]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6101-2]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Operable Units 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 of the Hanford 100 Area Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces its intent to delete portions of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Superfund Site. The portions proposed to be deleted are the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units from the National Priories List. The 100-IU-1 and IU-3 Operable Units are part of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site located at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State. EPA is requesting comment on this action.

The NPL constitutes Appendix B to the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300, which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This partial deletion of the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units is proposed in accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e) and the Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the National Priorities List. 60 FR 55466 (Nov. 1995).

This proposal for partial deletion pertains to all known waste areas located in the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units. The waste areas in 100-IU-3 were associated with former military sites used to defend the Hanford Site during the Cold War. In addition, a 2-4,D burial ground is located in the 100-IU-3 Operable Unit. The primary waste areas in the 100-IU-1 Operable Unit were associated with decontamination of rail cars at the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit, a munitions cache, a pesticide container area, and a 2-4,D container area.

DATES: EPA will accept comments concerning its proposal for partial deletion for thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal Register and a newspaper of record.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Dennis Faulk, Superfund Site Manager, USEPA, 712 Swift #5, Richland, Washington 99352; (509) 376- 8631.

Information Repositories: Information and the deletion docket is available for review at the information repository listed below:

U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Washington State University, Tri-Cities Consolidated Information Center, Room 101L, 2770 University Drive, Richland, Washington 99352.

In addition, the Notice of Intent to Delete can be reviewed at the following information repositories: Portland State University, Branford Price Millar Library, Science and Engineering Floor, 934 SW Harrison and Park, Portland, Oregon; University of Washington, Suzzallo Library, Government Publications Room, Seattle, Washington; Gonzaga University, Foley Center, East 502 Boone, Spokane, Washington.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Faulk; (509)376-8631.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

1. Introduction

   The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces its intent to delete the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units from the National Priories List. The 100-IU-1 and IU-3 Operable Units are part of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site located at The U.S. Department of Energy(DOE) Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State. EPA is requesting comment on this action.

   EPA proposes to delete the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units from the 100 Area NPL because all appropriate CERCLA response activities have been completed. The waste areas in the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units were cleaned up by the DOE between 1992 and 1994 using expedited response actions (ERA). At the Hanford Site, the term ERA is used to describe actions taken under CERCLA removal authority as described in 40 CFR 300.415. In February 1996, a no further action record of decision was signed documenting that previous ERA's had removed all contaminants from the waste areas in the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units to below cleanup levels for residential use established under the Washington State Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). It should be noted, cleanup activities are continuing at other operable units of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site.

   The NPL is a list maintained by EPA of sites that EPA has determined present a significant risk to human health, welfare, or the environment. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Fund). Pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e) of the NCP, any site or portion of a site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for remedial actions if conditions at the site warrant such action.

   EPA will accept comments concerning its intent for partial deletion for thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register and a newspaper of record.

2. NPL Deletion Criteria

   The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate to protect human health or the environment. In making such a determination pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e), EPA will consider, in consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have been met:

   Section 300.425(e)(1)(I). Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all appropriate response actions required; or

   Section 300.425(e)(1)(ii). All appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been implemented under DOE's removal authority, and no further response action is deemed necessary; or

   Section 300.425(e)(1)(iii). The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no significant threat to human 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 remedial actions at the area deleted if future site conditions warrant

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   such actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP provides that remedial 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.

3. Deletion Procedures

   Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or revoke any person's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed primarily for information purposes and to assist Agency management.

   The following procedures were used for the proposed deletion of the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units:

   (1) EPA Region 10 has recommended the partial deletion and has prepared the relevant documents.

   (2) The State of Washington, through the Washington Department of Ecology, concurs with this proposed partial deletion.

   (3) Concurrent with this national Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion, a notice has been published in a newspaper of record and has been distributed to appropriate federal, State, and local officials and other interested parties. These notices announce a thirty (30) day public comment period on the deletion package, which commences on the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register and newspaper of record.

   (4) EPA has made all relevant documents available at the information repositories listed previously.

   This Federal Register document, and a concurrent notice in a newspaper of record, announce the initiation of a thirty (30) day public comment period and the availability of the Notice of Intent of Partial Deletion. The public is asked to comment on EPA's proposal to delete the operable units from the NPL. All critical documents needed to evaluate EPA's decision are included in the Deletion Docket and are available for review at the information repository previously listed.

   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 repository previously listed. Members of the public are encouraged to contact EPA Region 10 to obtain a copy of the Responsiveness Summary. 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 partial deletion in the Federal Register. Deletion of the operable units does not actually occur until the final Notice of Partial Deletion is published in the Federal Register.

4. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

   The following provides EPA's rationale for deletion of the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site and EPA's finding that the criteria in 40 CFR 300.425(e) are satisfied.

   Background

   The Hanford 100 Area Site was added to the NPL in November 1989. EPA Region 10 is proposing deletion of portions of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site. Specifically the 100-IU-1 Operable Unit and 100-IU-3 Operable Unit. The 100-IU-1 Operable Unit is a 13 square mile area with boundaries of Washington State Route 240 on the east, Washington State Highway 24 on the south, Hanford Site boundary on the west, and the Columbia River on the north. The 100-IU-3 Operable Unit is a 140 square mile area located at the northern most extent of the Hanford 100 Area NPL Site, north of the Columbia River.

   100-IU-1 Operable Unit

   Based on past disposal practices two waste areas; the Army Munitions Burial Site (munitions cache) and the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit were included as subunits in the 100-IU-1 Operable Unit. In addition, during investigations a pesticide container disposal area and a 2-4,D container area were also discovered and included as part of the operable unit.

   The Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit operated from 1943 until 1956 and was used to decontaminate railcars. Radioactive decontamination was required before railroad maintenance personnel could work on the railcars and locomotives.

   An operable unit visual inspection found one homestead area containing a pile of empty pesticide containers. Characterization activities identified aldrin and dieldrin as contaminants of concern in the soil. Aldrin and dieldrin are carcinogenic and relatively immobile in soils. The chemicals were produced for about 10 years, from the early 1950s to early 1960s.

   A 2-4,D container area was discovered in July 1994 during an archaeological survey performed by Pacific Northwest Laboratories. Two 5-gallon containers were found on the surface among some sage brush. In addition, nine 5-gallon containers, with just the pour spouts exposed, were found buried among the sage brush. Partial container markings indicated that the containers may have contained 2-4,D.

   The munitions cache received various military explosives in the 1970s. The explosives were remnants left from various military exercises in the area. The area consisted of a wooden box placed in a hole in the ground about 0.6 m by 0.9 m by 0.6 m (2 ft by 3 ft by 2 ft) deep. On May 22, 1986, the box with contents went to the Yakima Firing Range for destruction.

   Characterization activities confirmed the presence of diesel fuel contamination in the concrete and soil at the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit and pesticide soil contamination at the pesticide container area. Characterization of the 2-4,D container area did not find any contaminated soil around or beneath the containers. Based on results of sampling at the 2-4,D container area, the empty containers were designated nonregulated. At the pesticide container area, sampling indicated the primary hazardous constituents of concern were aldrin and dieldrin contaminated soils. The munitions cache was sampled and no contamination was present.

   There is no known groundwater contamination associated with the 100-IU-1 Operable Unit. There are two shallow depth groundwater monitoring wells within the Operable Unit. One well is located down gradient of the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit and the second well is located down gradient and to the northwest. Sample analysis data from as far back as 1971 do not show groundwater contamination.

   EPA and Ecology issued an action memorandum to DOE in June, 1993 requiring the removal of all pesticide contaminated soils, filling in the munitions cache hole, performing an explosive ordnance survey, and cleaning up the diesel contaminated concrete and soils at the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit.

   The munitions cache hole was filled in on July 27, 1993. The Riverland Ordnance Survey was part of the Hanford Site-wide ordnance and explosive waste (OEW) archive search conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. This search indicated that

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   the potential for ordnance in 100-IU-1 was minimal and, therefore, no further action was required regarding ordnance.

   The pesticide container area cleanup activities started on July 6, 1993. On-site immunoassay field screening was used to monitor cleanup activity success. Drums containing crushed pesticide containers and drums containing aldrin and dieldrin contaminated soils were sent to an appropriate disposal facility located in the 200 Area of Hanford. The pesticide area was backfilled on September 1, 1993 after laboratory sample results confirmed that the soil contamination levels were below 2 parts per million (pmm) which is the cleanup level for aldrin and dieldrin as specified by the MTCA.

   The Riverland Railroad Wash Car Pit cleanup activities started on July 12, 1993 when the soil covering the shop concrete pad was removed. The entire cleanup action was monitored with immunoassay field screening kits that detected diesel (TPH) concentrations at or above 200 ppm. Demolition of the concrete pad began on September 21, 1993 and diesel contaminated soil removal started on September 27, 1993. The contaminated material consisted of soils beneath the concrete pad, clay drain pipes and associated soils, and drainage ditch soils. A total of 430 cubic yards of material were removed and hauled to a bioremediation facility onsite. Bioremediation activities were completed in 1996. Sample results indicated that all soils were below the MTCA cleanup level of 200 ppm for TPH. All excavations were backfilled with clean soil.

   100-IU-3

   In April of 1992, Ecology and the EPA recommended that the 100-IU-3 Operable Unit be investigated and remediated using a non-time critical ERA. Results of field work which commenced in the summer of 1992 indicated that full scale hazard mitigation and the proper abandonment of water wells needed to be performed. Field work also indicated investigation and remediation of the 100-IU-3 military landfills was warranted. The H-O6-L landfill, considered to be the largest and suspected to contain the most hazardous waste, would be fully characterized (i.e., anomalous areas identified within the landfill boundaries would be fully excavated to undisturbed or natural horizons; excavated materials would be field screened, sampled and analyzed if necessary). Materials identified as hazardous or regulated would be stockpiled for treatment or off-site disposal.

   Additional characterization and remediation of the other landfills would be dependent on the amounts and types of wastes found at the H- O6-L landfill. It was reasoned that because the military areas were under the same command, similar operating practices would be in place for each. Therefore, using an analogous approach, environmental waste found at the H-O6-L landfill would be expected to be present at the other landfills. Similarly, if no environmental waste was discovered at the H-O6-L landfill, the expectation was that the other landfills would also be free of contamination.

   The Action Memorandum also required that DOE investigate the possible presence of ordnance in the 100-IU-3 Operable Unit. Ordnance, if found, was to be handled and disposed of in accordance with current U.S. Army regulations. An ordnance and explosive waste (OEW) record search was initiated in November of 1993. The search consisted of a records review and site visit, ordnance and explosive waste contamination analysis, and an archives search. The search concluded that there is a very small potential for the presence of OEW. Given the expanse of the 100-IU-3 Operable Unit, the likelihood of finding any ordnance through a field search would be minimal, and the costs would be great. Therefore, no further action was recommended.

   Decommissioning of water wells began in June 1994 and was concluded in October 1994. In all, 9 water supply wells and one monitoring well were decommissioned in accordance with requirements set forth by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Localized contamination was discovered in three 100-IU-3 Operable Unit water supply wells. The contamination appeared to have been a result of vandals dumping oil and other debris down the well casing. In each case the contamination was contained within the casing. The oil and contaminated water were successfully purged from each well and the casings were steamed cleaned. Follow up water sampling and testing was conducted to confirm cleanup.

   Full characterization and remediation at the H-06-L landfill began on April 19, 1994. Activities conducted consisted of geophysical investigations, excavation and field screening of buried wastes, sampling and analysis of suspect wastes, and segregation of confirmed hazardous or contaminated materials. Geophysical investigations employed electromagnetic profiling and magnetic techniques to locate buried metallic and non-metallic waste materials. Areas exhibiting anomalous geophysical response were marked in the field for subsequent excavation.

   Excavated wastes were field screened using several criteria including visual observation, direct-reading instruments, and analyte- specific field analytical kits. Suspect wastes were sampled for characterization by an off-site laboratory under a quick turn-around schedule. Materials confirmed as hazardous were segregated pending determination of proper waste designation and disposition. Excavations were backfilled with clean material and graded to original conditions.

   Approximately 600 cubic yards of DDT contaminated soil were discovered at the H-O6-L landfill. This material was disposed of at an off-site permitted landfill. Also, 200 cubic yards of petroleum contaminated soil was found and disposed of at an approved off-site facility. Six drums of soil contaminated with metals and soil from beneath several pesticide cans were disposed at an off-site facility. No ordnance or explosive waste was discovered.

   The remaining 100-IU-3 military landfills received limited characterization and remediation that required excavation at each identified geophysical anomaly. Full excavations would only be required when field screening indicated the possible presence of contaminants. Characterization and remediation of 100-IU-3 landfills concluded on August 11, 1994.

   In July of 1994, four exploratory holes were drilled under the buried tanks at the 2,4-D burial ground. The tanks were first located using a magnetometer. The holes were drilled at an incline in order to obtain samples from directly beneath the tanks. Eighteen samples were taken and no samples detected 2,4-D. In 1997, new information led to a re-investigation of the 2,4-D burial ground. Laboratory data showed elevated levels of 2,4-D and dioxin. The site was excavated and soils containing 2, 4-D and dioxin were shipped off-site for disposal. A portion of the soil was contaminated with 2,4-D only and was bioremediated onsite.

   Community Involvement

   Public participation activities for the cleanup of the 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units were conducted as required under CERCLA Section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k) and Section 117, 42 U.S.C. 9617. Public review included the following activities:

   Public comment on the removal cleanup plan for 100-IU-1 from May 3 through June 9, 1993.

   Public comment was accepted from November 8, 1993 through January 8,

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   1994 for the 100-IU-3 removal cleanup plan. A public meeting was held in Mattawa, Washington on December 14, 1993 for the 100-IU-3 Operable Unit.

   Public comment was held from June 25 through August 9, 1995 regarding the proposed plan for 100-IU-1 and 100-IU-3 Operable Units.

   Current Status

   In February 1996, a no further action record of decision was signed documenting that previous removal actions done in 1993 and 1994 removed all contaminants to below the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), WAC 173-340 Washington State Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) and that these areas do not pose a threat to human health or the environment.

   The State of Washington, through the Department of Ecology, concurs with EPA's final determination regarding this proposed partial deletion.

   Dated: May 15, 1998. Charles E. Findley, Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10, Environmental Protection Agency.

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   Appendix--Map of USDOE Hanford 100 Area

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   [FR Doc. 98-13602Filed5-21-98; 8:45 am]

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