[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 193 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52072-52074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26193]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5899-9]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete Monsanto Superfund Site from the
National Priorities List (NPL): Request for Comments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4 announces
its intent to delete the Monsanto Superfund Site from the 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 EPA promulgated
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). EPA and the State of
Georgia (State) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA actions
have been implemented and that no further cleanup by responsible
parties is appropriate under CERCLA. Moreover, EPA and the state have
determined that remedial activities conducted at the site to date have
been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment and that
the remaining groundwater monitoring and treatment are adequately being
addressed by the State under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA).
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site will be
accepted until November 5, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: John A. McKeown, Remedial Project
Manager, South Site Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W.,
Atlanta, GA 30303.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA
Region 4 public docket, which is located at EPA's Region 4 office and
is available for viewing by appointment only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests for
appointments or copies of the background information from the regional
public docket should be directed to the EPA Region 4 Docket Office.
The address for the Regional Docket Office is: Ms. Debbie Jourdan,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street,
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, Telephone No.: (404) 562-8862.
Background information from the regional public docket is also
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the
following address: Augusta Richmond County Public Library, 902 Green
Street, Augusta, Georgia 30901, Telephone No.: (706) 821-2600.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John A. McKeown, Remedial Project
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, (404) 562-8913.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA announces its intent to delete the Monsanto Superfund Site, in
Richmond County, Georgia from the National Priorities List (NPL) which
constitutes Appendix B on the National Oil and Hazardous Substances
Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), and requests comments on this
proposed 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 those sites. Sites on the NPL may be
the subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances
Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of
the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-
financed Remedial Actions in the event that conditions at the site
warrant such action. EPA will accept comments concerning this Site for
thirty (30) calendar days after publication of this document in the
Federal Register.
Section II of this document explains the criteria for the deletion
of sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that 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 the EPA uses to delete sites
from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e). releases may be
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In
making this determination, EPA will 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; or
(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is
appropriate; or
(iii) The remedial investigation has determined that the release
poses no significant threat to public health or the environment and,
therefore, taking or remedial measures is not appropriate; or
(iv) The site is a regulated treatment, storage, or disposal
facility (TSD) regulated under the authority of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from
the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed Remedial Actions in the
event that conditions at the site warrant such action.
III. Deletion Procedures
EPA will accept and evaluate public comments before making a final
decision to delete. Comments from the local community may be the most
pertinent to deletion decisions. The following procedures were used for
the intended deletion of this Site:
(1) EPA has recommended deletion and has prepared the relevant
documents.
(2) The State has concurred with the deletion decision.
(3) A local notice has been published in local newspapers and has
been distributed to appropriate federal, state, and local officials,
and other interested parties.
(4) EPA has made all relevant documents available in the Regional
Office and local site information repository.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself, create, alter, or
revoke any
[[Page 52073]]
individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designated primarily for
information purposes and to assist EPA management. As mentioned in
Section II of this document, 40 CFR 300.425 (e)(3) states that deletion
of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for future Fund-
financed response actions.
Any comments received during the notice and comment period will be
evaluated before the final decision to delete. EPA will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address any comments
received during the public comment period.
A deletion occurs after the EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator
places a document 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 4.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The Monsanto Superfund site is located approximately three miles
southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The site is bordered on the north by
Marvin Griffin Road, on the east by the Norfolk and Southern railroad,
on the south by Butler Creek and on the west by other industrial
properties. Phinizy Swamp is located approximately 4,570 feet northeast
of the site. The Monsanto plant covers approximately 75 acres. Within
the plant's boundary, there are two landfills covering 0.2 acres that
were used to dispose of phosphoric acid sludge. The landfills are
located along the eastern boundary of the Monsanto plant property. The
site is located in an industrial park which is zoned for heavy
industrial use. Within a three mile radius of the site, land is zoned
commercial, residential and industrial. The nearest residential area is
one-half mile northwest of the site. Surface elevations across the site
range from 140 to 146 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL).
The Monsanto-Augusta Plant has been in operation since 1962. From
1966 to 1974, two landfills (0.1 acre each), approximately six feet
deep, were used to dispose of solid waste and sludges which contain
arsenic trisulfide. Arsenic trisulfide is a waste resulting from the
preparation of food grade phosphoric acid. Plant officials estimate
approximately 1500 pounds of arsenic were placed in these landfills. In
1971, Landfill #1 was covered with soil, crowned with gravel and seeded
with grass. In 1977, Landfill #2 was closed by Monsanto in the same
manner as Landfill #1.
The site was first identified by the Georgia Environmental
Protection Division (EPD) in August 1975. In June 1979, Monsanto, under
the supervision of the EPD, began monitoring the quality of the
groundwater south of the site. In February 1980, at the request of EPD,
Monsanto installed additional monitoring wells and collected twenty-
three soil samples on the site. The groundwater monitoring program
revealed arsenic levels in the surficial aquifer exceeding the Maximum
Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic of .05 mg/l.
During November 1983, Monsanto, under the supervision of EPD,
excavated the waste from both of the landfills. The material excavated
from the landfills was transported to a RCRA permitted landfill in
Emelle, Alabama. After the contents of the landfills were removed, soil
samples were collected from the bottom of the excavated area and tested
for Extraction Procedure (EP) toxicity for arsenic and other metals. EP
toxicity is a test used to identify wastes that are likely to leach
hazardous concentrations of toxic substances and to determine if a
contaminant is a characteristic hazardous waste. The soil from the
bottom of the excavated area did not exceed the EP toxicity standard
for arsenic of 5.0 ppm.
In September of 1984, the Monsanto site was added to the National
Priorities List (NPL). In September of 1986, Georgia EPD requested EPA
to initiate a delisting process. This request was based on RCRA
permitting at the site and the site's status as a Treatment, Storage
and Disposal (TSD) facility. Later, in 1989, a RCRA permit for the
facility was approved by the Georgia EPD.
On January 18, 1989, EPA issued a special notice letter to Monsanto
to give Monsanto the opportunity to conduct, with EPA oversight, the
Remedial Investigation (RI) and Feasibility Study (FS). Monsanto
entered into an Administrative Order on Consent for performance of the
RI/FS, with an effective date of April 27, 1989.
Fieldwork for the RI was initiated by Monsanto in October 1989 and
completed in January 1990. The final RI report was accepted by EPA on
August 20, 1990. The FS report was submitted to EPA by Monsanto on
September 16, 1990.
On December 7, 1990, the Regional Administrator signed a Record of
Decision (ROD) selecting the following remedy:
Continued quarterly monitoring of the surficial aquifer
groundwater to evaluate compliance with groundwater protection
achievement levels (GPALs) and drinking water standard or MCL of 50
g/l through natural attenuation. If monitoring results
indicated noncompliance with these standards, a contingency remedy of
pumping the contaminated ground water and discharging to the Publicly
Owned Treatment Works (POTW) would be initiated.
The performance standard for arsenic in groundwater is the
reduction to the MCL of 50 g/l through natural attenuation and
meeting of interim GPALs resulting in attainment of the MCL. This
remedy and the contingency remedy addressed environmental concerns
presented by the contaminated groundwater and eliminated the principal
threats posed by this media. The contingency remedy was initiated in
May of 1992 upon non-attainment of the performance standards for
natural attenuation. Sampling results, verified by EPA, determined that
arsenic was present at levels above ROD specified performance standards
in several shallow water monitoring wells.
The contingency remedy was formally initiated on December 30, 1992,
upon EPA's approval of the Remedial Design. Construction was
accomplished by the Monsanto Corporation under the provisions of a
consent decree. Monsanto's contractor, Dames and Moore, began work in
February of 1993. EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division
conducted a final inspection on April 16, 1993 and on May 5, 1993, the
Region IV Waste Management Division Director approved the Preliminary
Closeout Report which documents construction completion.
Two extraction wells and piping for discharge into the POTW were
constructed as part of the Remedial Design. Due to the relatively low
levels of arsenic contamination, the arsenic concentration was less
than the POTW's pretreatment standard of 1 mg/l. Groundwater extraction
and discharge, was initiated on a quarterly basis and will continue
until the arsenic performance standard of 50 g/l is met for a
period of 6 months or 2 monitoring periods.
Since the Remedial Action was initiated in 1993, significant
reduction in the arsenic concentration levels in the groundwater has
been achieved. Quarterly sampling reports, along with monthly progress
reports and appropriate technical memorandums documenting any
modification have been submitted by Monsanto to EPA as specified in the
1991 Record of Decision. The same information is submitted to the
Georgia EPD in compliance with Monsanto's Hazardous Waste Facility
Permit HW-074(S) under the authority of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA).
[[Page 52074]]
The Federal Register published on March 20, 1995 at 60 FR 14641,
announced a notice of policy statement entitled ``The National
Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sties; Deletion Policy
for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facilities''. According to
the notice, a National Priorities List site may be eligible for
deletion based upon deferral to RCRA corrective action authorities if a
site satisfies the following four criteria:
1. If evaluated under EPA's current RCRA/NPL deferral policy, the
site would be eligible for deferral from listing on the NPL.
2. The CERCLA site is currently being addressed by RCRA corrective
action authorities under an existing enforceable order or permit
containing corrective action provisions.
3. Response under RCRA is progressing adequately.
4. Deletion would not disrupt an ongoing CERCLA response action.
The first criterion requires that the site meet requirements of
eligibility for RCRA/NPL deferral. The RCRA/NPL deferral policy as
cited in the March 20, 1995 Federal Register provides that RCRA
facilities subject to RCRA Subtitle C corrective action requirements
may be deferred from listing on the NPL. Monsanto's Hazardous Waste
Facility Permit HW-074(S) contains HSWA provisions for the
investigation and corrective action of releases from solid waste
management units and provides conditions for corrective action of
contaminated groundwater. Thus, the facility is and will be subject to
Subpart C corrective action requirements until cleanup of contamination
is complete.
The second criterion requires that the site be addressed by RCRA
corrective action authorities under an existing permit or order.
Hazardous Waste Facility Permit HW-074(S) was issued to the Monsanto
Company by the Georgia EPD's Hazardous Waste Management Branch in
August of 1989 and subsequently modified in September of 1991 to
incorporate the corrective action of contaminated groundwater resulting
from the disposal of the Arsenic trisulfide sludge in the two onsite
landfills. Requirements stated within the corrective action permit are
consistent with the remedy stated in the 1991 CERCLA Record of
Decision.
The third criterion evaluates whether response under RCRA is
progressing adequately. This criterion is met with a letter dated 27
May 1997 from Mr. Jim Ussery, Program Manager of the Georgia EPD's
Hazardous Waste Management Branch to Mr. Mario Villamarzo of EPA. The
contents of the letter indicate that corrective action has been
effective in remediating contamination and that Monsanto has been very
cooperative and pro-active in meeting the requirements of their
corrective action permit.
The fourth criterion evaluates whether deletion of a site from the
NPL would disrupt an on-going CERCLA response. The groundwater cleanup
that is occurring under CERCLA is essentially the same as the RCRA
Corrective Action Program, therefore, delisting would not disrupt any
ongoing CERCLA response action.
In summary, the Monsanto Superfund site easily meets all the
criteria for deletion from the NPL based on RCRA deferral. This site is
being addressed adequately under the Hazardous Waste Facility Permit
enforced by the Georgia EPD. All parties involved approve of this
action (see attached Documentation Record) which will have no adverse
affects to any ongoing groundwater extraction or monitoring scheduled
to take place at the Monsanto Superfund site. Since all waste has been
removed from the site, a five year review will not be required in the
future.
EPA, with concurrence of the Georgia Environmental Protection
Division, has determined that all appropriate response under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act
have been completed, and that no further action by responsible parties
is necessary. Therefore, EPA proposes to delete the Site from the NPL
and requests public comments on the proposed deletion.
Dated: September 15, 1997.
Phyllis P. Harris,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4.
[FR Doc. 97-26193 Filed 10-3-97; 8:45 am]
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