[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25869]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 19, 1994]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5090-1]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete the Northwestern States Portland
Cement Company (NWSPCC) Site, Mason City, Iowa from the National
Priorities List: Request for Comments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VII
announces its intent to delete the NWSPCC Site, Mason City, Iowa from
the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this
action. The NPL constitutes appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
which the EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA), as amended. The reason this action is being taken is that
Superfund Remedial Activities have been completed and no further
response is appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning this site may be submitted on or before
November 18, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Michael J. Sanderson, Acting
Director, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
Comprehensive information on this site is available through the EPA
Region VII public docket, which is located in the EPA's Region VII
office and is available for viewing by appointment only from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests for
appointments or copies of the background information from the Regional
public docket should be directed formally to the EPA Region VII docket
office.
The address for the Regional docket office is: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region VII 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas
66101.
Background information from the Regional public docket is also
available for viewing at the NWSPCC Site information repository which
is located with: Mason City Public Library, 225 2nd SE., Mason City, IA
50401.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Roemerman, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region VII 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas
66101 (913) 551-7694.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletions
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VII announces its
intent to delete the NWSPCC Site, Mason City, Iowa, from the National
Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes appendix B of the National Oil
and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), and requests
comments on this proposed deletion. The 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 those sites. Sites on
the NPL may be the subject of remedial actions financed by the
Hazardous Substance Response Fund (Fund). Pursuant to
Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the National Contingency Plan (NCP), any site
deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial
actions if conditions at the site warrant such action.
The EPA will accept comments on this site for thirty days after the
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that the EPA is
using for this action. Section IV discusses how the site meets the
deletion criteria.
II. 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. In making this
determination, EPA, in consultation with the State, will consider
whether any of the following criteria have been met:
(i) That responsible parties or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; or
(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.
Section 300.425(e)(2) of the NCP requires State concurrence before
deleting a site from the NPL.
Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or
revoke any individuals rights or obligations. The NPL is designed
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.
As is mentioned in Section II of this document, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of
the NCP makes clear that deletion of a site from the NPL does not
preclude eligibility for future Fund-financed response actions.
III. Deletion Procedures
The EPA Region VII will accept and evaluate public comments before
making the final decision to delete the site from the NPL. The Agency
believes that deletion procedures should focus on notice and comment at
the local level. Comments from the local community are likely to be the
most pertinent to deletion decisions. The following procedures were
used for the intended deletion of the site.
1. The EPA Region VII has recommended the deletion and prepared the
relevant documents.
2. The State of Iowa has concurred with the deletion decision.
3. Concurrent with this National Notice of Intent to Delete a
notice has been published in local and community newspapers and has
been distributed to appropriate federal, state, and local officials and
other interested parties. This notice announces a thirty (30) day
public comment period on the deletion package, which starts November 3,
1994, and which will conclude on December 5, 1994.
4. The Region has made all relevant documents available in the
Regional Office and local site information repository.
The comments received during the notice and comment period will be
evaluated before the final decision to delete is made. The Region will
prepare a Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address any
comments received during the public comment period.
A deletion will occur after the Regional Administrator places a
notice in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in
the next final update. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness
Summary will be made available to local residents by Region VII.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for
recommending deletion of the Northwestern States Portland Cement
Company Site, Mason City, Iowa, from the NPL.
Northwestern States Portland Cement Company (NWSPCC), owns and
operates a cement manufacturing facility on the north side of Mason
City, Iowa. The facility has been in operation since 1908. A byproduct
of the cement manufacturing process since 1969 is cement kiln dust
(CKD). The West Quarry site (Site) is a quarry covering approximately
150 acres to a depth of 40 feet of which approximately 110 acres were
filled with CKD during the period of 1969-1985.
A pH monitoring program of the water in the West Quarry was started
in April of 1974 in response to a change in color of the Quarry water.
The Quarry water pH rose sharply following January 1976, increased to
11.8 in April 1976, and leveled off at about 12.5 in 1980. The increase
in pH is attributed to the breakdown of the natural buffering system
which was sustaining the Quarry water at a near-neutral pH. In response
to Quarry dewatering initiated in 1987, current pH levels are about
10.5.
In 1979, two seeps emerged from the northeastern portion of the
filled West Quarry. High pH water from the seeps flowed overland to
Calmus Creek. In 1984, the state initiated a study of Calmus Creek and
found pH in the creek elevated 2.0 pH units downstream of the seep
area. In April 1985, the state ordered NWSPCC to immediately cease
discharge from the seep area to Calmus Creek. NWSPCC was also ordered
to cease kiln dust disposal in the Quarry and to conduct a
hydrogeologic investigation.
In 1989, the state did a follow-up stream survey of Calmus Creek.
The 1989 study concluded that there had been no improvement in water
quality since the 1984 study. Conclusions from the 1989 study suggested
that runoff from the haul roads and storage areas was contributing to
the water quality degradation.
In 1992, a Calmus Creek stream study was done to meet requirements
of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit issued by Iowa
Department of National Resources. The results of this study suggested
water quality had improved with pH dropping from 10.2 in earlier
studies to 7.9. The study attributed this improvement to elimination of
runoff from the site and the installation of the groundwater
extraction/treatment system installed in 1985.
In 1987, EPA conducted a Site Inspection of the NWSPCC Site and,
based on the findings of this investigation, the Site was scored with
the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) for possible inclusion on the National
Priorities List (NPL). Based on the site characterization completed
under the direction of EPA, an HRS package for the Site resulted in a
score of 57.80. This score was based on the impact to groundwater and
direct human contact. The Site was proposed for the National Priority
List (NPL), in June of 1988 (53 FR 23988). The Site was added to the
NPL in August of 1990 (55 FR 35501).
The RI/FS field work and data collection activities began in August
1988 with the final report submitted in March 1990. The investigation
demonstrated that significant impact to groundwater outside the Site
boundaries had not occurred.
The U. S. Public Health Service Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR), conducted a draft Health Assessment for the
NWSPCC Site. They concluded that the Site is of potential health
concern because of the potential risk to human health resulting from
possible exposure to hazardous substances at concentrations that may
result in adverse health effects.
A final Record of Decision (ROD), was executed in June 1990 by the
EPA with concurrence by IDNR. The selected response action addressed
the principal threats of surface water and groundwater contamination
and the source of contamination--the cement kiln dust. The selected
remedy consisted of the following actions.
Dewatering of the Site which contained high pH water,
acid-neutralization and discharge to Calmus Creek.
Construction of a permanent drain system in the dewatered
Site to collect precipitation runoff and groundwater inflow to the
quarry.
Placement of an engineered clay cap over the area of the
Site filled with cement kiln dust to minimize infiltration through the
kiln dust.
Installation of bedrock dewatering wells to collect
contaminated groundwater beneath the Site, prevent migration of
contaminated groundwater from the Site and maintain groundwater levels
below the kiln dust.
Treatment of contaminated water to meet IDNR/NPDES
discharge permit limits with discharge to Calmus Creek.
Assurances that the dewatering system will be operated in
perpetuity to maintain isolation of water from the waste kiln dust and
collect and treat any contaminated water which is generated.
A Consent Decree was signed in June 1990 which outlined the
performance criteria to be met by implementing the approved remedial
action alternative as well as the reporting and scheduling requirements
of the remedial design and construction activities. The final Remedial
Design and Remedial Action Work Plans were completed in June 1992.
The EPA in consultation with the State of Iowa, has determined that
all fund-financed response activities under CERCLA at the NWSPCC Site,
Mason City, Iowa, have been completed and that no further response is
necessary. Therefore, it is proposed to delete the Site from the NPL.
Dated: September 26, 1994.
William Rice,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VII.
[FR Doc. 94-25869 Filed 10-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6500-50-P
