96-26453. National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List Update  

  • [Federal Register Volume 61, Number 203 (Friday, October 18, 1996)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 54343-54344]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 96-26453]
    
    
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    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
    40 CFR Part 300
    
    [FRL-5634-6]
    
    
    National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
    National Priorities List Update
    
    AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
    
    ACTION: Notice of deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from 
    the National Priorities List.
    
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    SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces 
    the deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from the National 
    Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is 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), as amended. EPA and the State of New York have determined 
    that all appropriate Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Fund)-
    financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and that no 
    further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA 
    and the State of New York have determined that remedial actions 
    conducted at the site to date have been protective of public health, 
    welfare, and the environment.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: October 18, 1996.
    
    ADDRESSES: For further information contact: Pamela Tames, P.E., 
    Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
    II, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866, (212) 637-4255
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Tames at (212) 637-4255.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: 
    Marathon Battery Company site, Cold Spring, New York.
        The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was 
    June 10, 1996. EPA received five comment letters.
        One commenter expressed concern about the discrepancies between the 
    Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) 20 
    milligram/kilogram (mg/kg) cadmium cleanup level for residential soils 
    and the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) 10 mg/kg 
    cadmium cleanup level. In response, it was explained that the 20 mg/kg 
    cleanup level for cadmium in residential soils was based upon the 
    results of a risk assessment performed by ATSDR, which made certain 
    assumptions regarding the quantity of vegetables grown in the cadmium-
    contaminated residential soils and subsequently ingested by the 
    residents. Using different assumptions, NYSDOH concluded that 10 mg/kg 
    was protective of public health. While EPA and New York State did not 
    agree on a residential soil remediation cleanup level, New York State 
    agreed to remediate all contaminated residential soils between NYSDOH's 
    10 mg/kg cadmium cleanup level and ATSDR's 20 mg/kg cadmium cleanup 
    level.
        Several commenters expressed concern that post-excavation soil 
    samples were not collected by New York State's contractors. In 
    response, it was indicated that six inches of soil were removed from 
    the entire front and back yards (cadmium contamination in the 
    residential yards did not exist below 6 inches) if contamination was 
    found above the State's cleanup level of 10 mg/kg. In those areas where 
    the residents indicated that they intended to plant vegetables, 12 
    inches of soil was removed. Since soils in those areas that had cadmium 
    contamination exceeding the cleanup level have been removed and 
    replaced with clean soil and fresh sod, confirmatory sampling was not 
    deemed necessary.
        A commenter expressed concern about the presence of cadmium 
    contamination twenty-two feet beneath the surface on the former battery 
    facility grounds. This contamination resulted from a tank located 
    adjacent to the former battery facility which had leaked cadmium 
    nitrate, thereby contaminating the underlying soil. In response, it was 
    noted that, while post-excavation sampling in one area of the site 
    showed that some cadmium contamination remained in the saturated soils, 
    it is believed that by placing two feet of limestone at the bottom of 
    the twenty-by sixty-foot excavation (to keep the cadmium insoluble) and 
    backfilling the twenty foot deep excavation will be protective of 
    public health and the environment and should in no way impact the 
    ability to redevelop the former battery plant grounds.
        A commenter expressed concern regarding the retention of the 
    temporary haul road's guardrail and the construction of a barrier at 
    the intersection of the temporary haul road and Chestnut Street, in 
    that these improvements are inconsistent with zoning and Planning Board 
    regulations. In response, it was explained that EPA's approved 
    engineering design called for scarifying the temporary haul road (which 
    was constructed to alleviate truck traffic on the Village's narrow 
    roadways during the remediation of the site), planting grass, and 
    installing a barrier to eliminate access from Chestnut Street. While 
    the haul road was rendered nonfunctional and inaccessible to vehicles 
    from Chestnut Street, the wooden guardrail, consisting of approximately 
    two-foot-high telephone poles with a horizontal wooden rail running 
    through it (which originally was used to prevent trucks from driving 
    off the haul road), was left in place at the request of the property 
    owner to protect hikers from falling from the steep slope. The Village 
    of Cold Spring Planning Board has requested the submission of site plan 
    documentation showing the changes that have been made to his property 
    so that it can review the matter. EPA is working with the property 
    owner and the contractor that performed the
    
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    remediation of the site so that this information can be provided to the 
    Planning Board.
        EPA identifies sites which appear to present a significant risk to 
    public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as 
    the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of Fund-
    financed remedial actions. 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. Section 300.66(c)(8) of the 
    NCP states that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted 
    from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect 
    responsible party liability or impede EPA efforts to recover costs 
    associated with response efforts.
    
    List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
    
        Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
    Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
    Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
    pollution control, Water supply.
    
        Dated: September 20, 1996.
    William J. Muszynski,
    Acting Regional Administrator.
    
        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 
    Marathon Battery Corporation site, Cold Spring, New York.
    
    [FR Doc. 96-26453 Filed 10-17-96; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE: 6560-50-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
10/18/1996
Published:
10/18/1996
Department:
Environmental Protection Agency
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Notice of deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from the National Priorities List.
Document Number:
96-26453
Dates:
October 18, 1996.
Pages:
54343-54344 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
FRL-5634-6
PDF File:
96-26453.pdf
CFR: (1)
40 CFR 300