[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9401-9403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5530]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5436-5]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Newport Dump Superfund Site, Wilder,
Kentucky, from the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces
its intent to delete the Newport Dump Site (the Site) from the National
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed
action. On May 16, 1988, EPA issued a notice announcing its intent to
delete this site and others. The notice is being revised to conform to
the most recent Site conditions. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40
CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances
Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the Commonwealth of Kentucky
have determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public
health and the environment and therefore, further remedial measures
pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.
DATES: Comments may be submitted by midnight April 17, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Liza I. Montalvo, Remedial
Project Manager, North Superfund Remedial Branch, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA
30365.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the
public docket which is available for viewing at the Newport Dump site
information repositories at the following locations:
Campbell County Library, 403 Monmouth, Newport, KY, 41071.
U.S. EPA Record Center, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA, 30365.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liza I. Montalvo, U.S. EPA Region 4,
345 Courtland St., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30365, 404-347-3555 Ext. 2030 or
1-800-435-9233 Ext. 2030.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces its
intent to delete the Newport Dump site, Wilder, Kentucky, 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 such action.
The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site
for thirty days after 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
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EPA is using for this action. Section IV discusses the Newport Dump
Site and explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that releases may be deleted
from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a 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 responses under CERCLA have been implemented,
and no further 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 of 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 Commonwealth of Kentucky has concurred
with the deletion decision, (3) Concurrent with this Revised 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 local notice announces a
thirty (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 Notice, 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 Region 4 will accept and evaluate
public comments on EPA's Revised 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 EPA Regional Administrator places a
final action 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. Site Background
The Newport Dump Site is a former municipal landfill located in the
City of Wilder in Campbell County, Kentucky. Contiguous to the western
boundary of the Site is the Licking River, a tributary of the Ohio
River.
B. History
The 39 acre Site was originally used by the City of Newport for the
disposal of residential and commercial wastes from its opening in the
late 1940's until its closure in 1979. During this period the Kentucky
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet
(KDNREPC) cited the City of Newport for numerous waste disposal
violations and the Site was eventually purchased by the Northern
Kentucky Port Authority. In 1982, the Newport Dump Site was evaluated
by the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) and received a score of 37.96 which
ranked the Site number 359 in Group 8 on the National Priorities List
(NPL). The basis for this NPL ranking was that the Newport Dump Site
contained over 1,000,000 cubic yards of both hazardous and non-
hazardous commercial waste, the Site was adjoined on both the south and
west boundaries by surface water stream and river, respectively and
across the Licking River on the west was a potable water intake serving
75,000 nearby residents.
C. Characterization of Risk
A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ensued and
discovered several inorganic contaminants, i.e., barium, chromium,
nickel and organic compound, toluene, were leaching into the Licking
River slightly above health base levels established by the Clean Water
Act's Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). A Record of Decision (ROD)
signed at EPA Region 4, Atlanta, Georgia on March 27, 1987 selected the
following response: monitoring groundwater and subsurface gas
migration, construction of a leachate collection system and regrading
revegetation of the 39 acre Site to prevent erosion. An Action Memo to
authorize a removal action was signed in June 1987. This remedy was
constructed and placed into operation within seven (7) months of the
signing of the ROD and completed during December 1987. Groundwater,
surface water, soil and sediment sampling were accomplished during the
construction and post construction phases. Except for the waste source,
the sampling results listed negligible (well below the MCL criteria) to
non-detectable contaminant levels in the adjacent Licking River, and in
both on-site and off-site media demonstrated no significant or
potentially harmful migration of contaminants to off-site receptors.
D. Operation and Maintenance
EPA Region 4 has performed the first year of Operation and
Maintenance (O&M) activities as mandated in the ROD, which included
multimedia monitoring of groundwater, surface water, underground gas
migration, and leachate. In October 1992, the City of Newport entered
into an agreement with EPA Region 4 to continue to perform O&M work at
the Site. The City of Newport began such activities in June 1993.
E. Five-Year Review
EPA finalized the first Five-Year Review for the Newport Dump Site
in July 1993, in which groundwater, surface water, leachate, sediment
and gas samples were collected. Groundwater data was compared to the
MCL (July 1992), the Alternate Concentration Limits in the Newport ROD,
and background levels. Surface Water data was evaluated using MCLs,
July 1992, Water Quality Criteria (WQC), December, 1992 and Kentucky
Surface Water Standards, January 1992. It was concluded that the
contaminants detected in the ground water, surface water, and sediment
do not pose a threat to human health and the environment, and that
there appears to be no contribution from the landfill to these medias.
Subsurface gas samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and methane. Hazardous gases were detected in three of the gas
wells, however, only methane was detected above its lower explosive
limit (LEL). These wells will continue to
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be monitored, and methane field screening techniques will be performed
on a quarterly basis to ensure gas is not migrating off-site.
F. Explanation of Significant Differences
In January 1995, EPA Region 4 issued an Explanation of Significant
Differences (ESD) for the Newport Dump Site to provide information on
modifications to the selected remedy as originally described in the
ROD, and to notify the public of O&M activities being conducted at the
Site. The actions documented in the ESD included: the installation of a
new drainage culvert, the construction of a french drain, and the shut
down of the leachate collection system. In May 1990, EPA Region 4
discontinued use of the leachate collection system because it appeared
to be collecting groundwater, and operating the system was not
providing a higher degree of protection to the environment. Since
turning the system off, no problems have been encountered, and no
significant increases in contamination in the surface water in the
Licking River have occurred. In fact, the levels of contaminants in the
leachate samples collected in the Five-Year Review were consistent with
the surrounding groundwater.
At this time, all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA
has been implemented, and no further response action by responsible
parties is appropriate.
G. State Concurrence to Delete Newport Dump Site
EPA, with concurrence of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, believes
that the following criterion for deletion have been met: (1) EPA has
implemented all appropriate response actions required; and (2) All
appropriate response under CERCLA has been implemented. Subsequently,
EPA is proposing deletion of Newport Dump Site from the NPL. Documents
supporting this action are available from the docket.
Dated: February 23, 1996.
Phyllis P. Harris,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 4.
[FR Doc. 96-5530 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
