[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52961-52963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26644]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5906-7]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete North Hollywood Dump Superfund Site,
Shelby County, Tennessee, from the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 (EPA) announces
its intent to delete the North Hollywood Dump (the Site) from the
National Priorities 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 USEPA promulgated pursuant to section 105
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) have
determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public health
or the environment and, therefore, further response measures pursuant
to CERCLA are not appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before
November 10, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Robert P. Morris, North Site
Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street,
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the
public docket which is available for viewing at the North Hollywood
Dump information repositories at the following locations:
Memphis-Shelby County Public Library, 1850 Peabody Avenue, Memphis,
Tennessee 38104.
U.S. EPA Record Center, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-3104.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert P. Morris, North Site
Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street,
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104, (404) 562-8794 or 1-800-435-9233,
ext. 28794.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4 announces its
intent to delete the North Hollywood Dump (the Site) in Memphis, Shelby
County, Tennessee, 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 its deletion. EPA
identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to public
health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL 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 in the
unlikely event that conditions at the site warrant action.
The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site
for thirty days after publication of this document in the Federal
Register.
Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting
sites from the NPL. Section III states the procedures that EPA is using
for this action. Section IV discusses the North Hollywood Dump Site and
explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.
[[Page 52962]]
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites or releases may
be deleted from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response
is appropriate. In making a determination to delete a site or 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 parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have 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 of 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 public health and the environment.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of
this Site: (1) EPA Region 4 has recommended deletion and has prepared
the relevant documents; (2) The Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation has concurred with the deletion decision; (3) Concurrent
with this Notice of Intent to Delete, a local notice has been published
in local newspapers and has been distributed to appropriate Federal,
state, and local officials and other interested parties. This document
announces a 30-day public comment period, provides an address and
telephone number for submission of comments, and identifies the
location of the local site repository; and (4) Region 4 has made all
relevant documents available in the Regional Office and local site
information repository.
Deletion of the 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 Agency 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 preclude
eligibility for future response actions.
For deletion of this Site, EPA will accept and evaluate public
comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before making a final
decision to delete. If necessary, the Agency will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments
received.
A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator 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 Region 4.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.
A. Background
The 70-acre North Hollywood Dump was used as a municipal dump from
the 1930s until the City closed it in 1967. However, some dumping of
non-chemical refuse probably continued until 1980.
B. History
In the late 1940s, the Hayden Chemical Company used the Site to
dispose of wastes generated in the production of sodium hydrochloride.
Hayden later was bought out by Velsicol Chemical Corporation, which
continued the practice of dumping at the Site. At one time, pesticide-
contaminated sludge from a closed sewer line leading to the Velsicol
plant was removed and buried in a small area known as the ``Endrin
Pit.'' The Site was also used for the disposal of other industrial
wastes from plants in the Memphis area. In the 1960s, Buckeye Cellulose
in Memphis sent copper-contaminated material to the Site for disposal.
In 1980, the EPA found pesticides and heavy metals in surface soil,
groundwater and pond sediments on the Site. The Site contained
pesticides in soils at levels of concern, for example, chlordane at 160
mg/kg (the action level used for chlordane was 100 mg/kg (ppm). Due to
high community concern in the early 1980s, the State of Tennessee
recommended this Site as the State's highest priority hazardous waste
site. Approximately 10,000 people live within three miles of the dump
site. An elementary school is situated close to the dump.
The groundwater and surface water ponds were contaminated with
pesticides including chlordane and endrin. The soil was contaminated
with pesticides and heavy metals including lead, copper, and arsenic.
Ingestion or direct contact with contaminated groundwater or soil posed
a potential public health threat. Ingestion of contaminated fish caught
from surface water on the Site also posed a potential public health
risk.
The Site was addressed in two stages: removal actions and a long-
term remedial phase focused on the cleanup of the entire Site.
In 1980, the EPA took an emergency action to slow the movement of
contaminants from the Site. Also, the EPA installed a chain-link fence
around the Site and began a program to monitor on-site wastes. In 1981,
a technical assistance group made up of representatives from the State,
the City of Memphis, Shelby County, local industry, and the EPA,
removed some of the chemical wastes from the surface of the Site.
On October 23, 1981, the Site was proposed for the National
Priorities List (NPL). The EPA then assumed the lead role from TDEC to
complete investigations into the extent and nature of contamination.
The Site was placed on the NPL on September 8, 1983. The Potentially
Responsible Parties (PRPs) took over the study April 1, 1984. After the
completion of the Supplemental Remedial Investigation and Feasibility
Study (RI/FS) on September 13, 1990, the Record of Decision (ROD) was
finalized.
C. Characterization of Risk
At that time, the Site contained high levels of contaminants in
soils (e.g., 52,400 ppb chlordane, 67,800 ppb heptachlor, 62.7 ppb DDT,
et. al.) and sediments (e.g., 87 ppm chlordene, 56 ppm chlordane, 21
ppm heptachlor, 140 ppm lead, et. al.). The ROD required retrofitting
the landfill to meet legal sanitation standards. This included:
placement of a 2-foot clay cap, grading, and revegetation; drainage of
an adjacent 40-acre pond known to have held contaminated sediments;
installation of an approximate 3-foot cover over the contaminated
sediments; and the removal of fish found to be contaminated, followed
by restocking of the pond. Groundwater was to be monitored to ensure
contamination levels remain within acceptable State alternative
concentration levels (ACLs) which were set to be protective of surface
water (e.g., 0.45 micrograms/liter (g/L) endrin, 0.51
g/L chlordane, 0.23 g/L heptachlor, et. al.).
Additionally, the fenced Site was to be expanded and maintained and,
restrictions on future use of the Site were put into place. TDEC
concurred with the selected remedy. On August 3, 1992, the PRP, the
Hollywood Dump
[[Page 52963]]
Steering Committee (HDSC), entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA
to perform remedy design and cleanup activities at the Site. The Remedy
Design (RD) was completed September 27, 1993, by the PRP's primary
consultant, the Memphis Environmental Center (MEC). The PRP's Remedial
Action Construction Contract was awarded to MEC on January 17, 1994.
MEC began cleanup activities in early 1994. The capping and grading of
the landfill and the drum removal was completed by MEC in 1995.
Drainage and covering of sediments began in 1995 and were completed by
MEC in December 1996.
D. Operation and Maintenance
Operation and Maintenance (O&M), including the monitoring program,
is in place. The monitoring program is specific to the groundwater
medium. As stipulated in the ROD and the Consent Decree, contaminant
levels in groundwater are not to exceed ACLs. The contingency
alternative for groundwater exceeding ACLs is that it will be pumped
from the shallow aquifer and discharged into the municipal sewer
system. To date, contaminant levels in groundwater have not exceeded
ACLs. Cleanup activities at the site are now complete.
Confirmational monitoring of groundwater demonstrate that no
significant risk to public health or the environment is posed by
materials remaining at the Site. The EPA and TDEC concur that
conditions at the Site pose no unacceptable risks to human health or
the environment.
E. Five-Year Review
No hazardous substances remain uncontained or exposed at the Site
above health-based levels. However, the Site is not available for
unlimited use or unrestricted exposure. The first policy five-year
review for this site shall be completed by January 17, 1999.
One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may
delete a site from the NPL if the responsible parties or other parties
have implemented all appropriate response actions required. The EPA,
with the concurrence of TDEC, contends this criterion has been met.
Subsequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this Site from the NPL.
Documents supporting this action are available from the public docket.
Dated: September 30, 1997.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Deputy Regional Administrator, USEPA, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 97-26644 Filed 10-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
