[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 120 (Monday, June 23, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33787-33789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16350]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5845-7]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan National
Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Unit Structures, Inc. Property
from the Koppers Company, Inc. Superfund Site from the National
Priorities List
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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Region 4, announces its intent to delete the Unit Structures, Inc.
Property from the Koppers Company, Inc. National Priorities List (NPL)
Site 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), promulgated by
EPA, pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.
EPA and State of North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and
Natural Resources have determined that the Site conditions on the Unit
Structures Property pose no significant threat to public health or the
environment and therefore, CERCLA remedial measures are not
appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of the Site from the
NPL may be submitted on or before July 23, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Beverly Hudson, US Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, GA 30303-
3104.
Comprehensive information on the 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 from 9 am to 4 pm, 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,
US EPA, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, GA 30303-3104. The
telephone number is 404-562-8862.
Background information from the regional public docket is also
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the
Wake County Public Library, 310 South Academy Street, Cary, North
Carolina 27511. The telephone number is 910-655-4145. The library is
open Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 9 pm, and on Friday and
Saturday from 9 am until 6 pm.
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact either Beverly Hudson or
Diane Barrett, US EPA Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA
30303-3104, at 1-800-435-9233 ext. 28816 or 28830.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
This notice is to announce EPA's intent to delete the Unit
Structures Property portion of Koppers Company, Inc. Site from the NPL.
It also serves to request public comments on the deletion proposal. EPA
will accept comments on this proposal action for deletion until July
23, 1997.
EPA identifies Sites that appear to present a significant risk to
public health, welfare, or environment and maintains the NPL as the
list of these Sites. Sites on the NPL qualify for remedial responses
financed by the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund (Fund). As
described in section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, Sites deleted from the
NPL remain eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely
event that conditions at the site warrant such actions.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete Sites from
the NPL. In accordance with section 300.425(e) of the NCP, Sites may be
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. On
November 1, 1995, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register
governing Partial Deletion of Sites listed on the National Priorities
List, (60 FR 55411, November 1, 1995). That Policy allows for deletion
of portions of Sites that meet the standard provided in the NCP. In
making this determination, EPA, in consultation with the State,
considers whether this Site has met any of the following criteria for
Site deletion:
(i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate
response actions required;
(ii) All appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been
implemented and no further response actions are deemed necessary; or
(iii) Remedial investigation has determined that the release poses
no significant threat to public health or the environment and,
therefore, no remedial action is appropriate.
III. Deletion Procedures
EPA Region 4 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 the Unit Structures Property portion
of the Koppers Site:
(1) EPA Region 4 has recommended deletion and has the relevant
documents.
(2) The State has concurred with the decision to delete the Unit
Structures property.
(3) Concurrent with this announcement, a notice has been published
in the local newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate federal,
state, and local officials announcing the commencement of a 30-day
public comment period on the Notice of Intent to Delete.
(4) EPA has made all relevant documents available for public review
at the information repository and in the Regional Office.
Partial deletion of a Site from the NPL does not itself create,
alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is
designed primarily for information purposes and to assist EPA
management. As mentioned earlier,
[[Page 33788]]
section 300.425(e)(30) of the NCP states that deletion of a Site from
the NPL does not preclude eligibility of the Site for future Fund-
financed response actions.
For the partial deletion of this Site, EPA will accept and evaluate
public comments on this Notice of Intent to Delete before finalizing
the decision. The Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to
address any significant public comments received during the comment
period. The deletion is finalized after the Regional Administrator
places a notice of deletion in the Federal Register.
The NPL will reflect any partial deletions in the next publication
of the final rule. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness
Summary will be made available to local residents by Region 4.
IV. Basis for Intended Unit Structures Property Deletion
The following Site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposed intent for partial deletion of this Site from the NPL.
The Site, designated as approximately 52 acres by EPA, is located
approximately one mile northwest of the town of Morrisville, Wake
County, North Carolina, at the intersection of Highway 54 and Koppers
Road. It is bounded by the Norfolk Southern Railway on the east and
Church Street on the west and southwest. Geographically, the center of
the Unit Structures Property (subsite) is located at 36 40 40.98
latitude, and 95 59 59.96 longitude, according to the geographic
centroid by using Geographical Information System software.
In 1962, Koppers Company, Inc. (Koppers) acquired the Site. Between
1968 and 1975, Koppers operated a wood treatment process, known as
CELLON, in the southeastern section of the property. The CELLON process
involved the injection of pentachlorophenol into wood. Rinsate from the
process was pumped into two on-Site lagoons. The Koppers operations
also utilized a Fire Pond, located to the south and adjacent to the
CELLON process area. The outflow ditch from the Fire Pond was connected
to the Medlin Pond which, during the period in which the CELLON process
was used, was located off of Kopper's property. The locations of the
former CELLON process area, lagoon area, Fire Pond, and Medlin Pond are
shown in Figures 1.1 and 1.2 of EPA's December 23, 1992, ROD for the
Site.
Koppers dismantled the CELLON process in 1975 and thereafter
produced treated wood at off-Site locations. Between 1976 and 1986,
Koppers performed various environmental studies and corrective action
at the Site, including the removal of contaminated soil from the former
lagoon and CELLON process areas. In 1980, EPA performed a Site
inspection and determined that no further action was necessary at that
time.
In 1986, USI acquired a portion of the Koppers property. A plat of
the approximately 33 acre parcel owned by USI is included as Attachment
1. The USI property was not used previously by Koppers for wood
treatment operations. As documented by Figure 1.1 and 1.2 of the ROD,
the parcel owned by USI is separate and distinct from the former CELLON
process area, lagoon area, Fire Pond, and Medlin Pond.
Superfund Regulatory Developments
Based upon environmental concerns associated with Koppers' former
wood treatment operations, EPA listed the Site on the NPL on March 31,
1989. In the NPL listing, the Site was delineated by the boundaries of
the property which Koppers has historically owned, including the parcel
which had been acquired by USI. Between 1989 and 1992, with the
oversight and approval of EPA, Beazer East, Inc. (Beazer), which had
acquired Koppers in 1988, conducted a Remedial Investigation/
Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for the entire Site and adjacent areas
potentially impacted by Koppers' former wood treatment operations. The
RI involved comprehensive sampling and analysis of soils, surface
water, sediments, and groundwater at and in the vicinity of the Site.
Based on the findings of the RI, the FS evaluated alternatives for
remediating conditions at the Site which potentially presented a threat
to human health or the environment. After evaluating the results of the
RI/FS and comments received on the Agency's Proposed Plan for the Site,
EPA made the following determinations in the December 1992 ROD:
1. Contaminants at the Site requiring remediation are limited to
pentachlorophenol, PCDDs/PCDFs, and 2,4-dichlorophenol.
2. The former lagoon and CELLON process areas are the only areas at
the Site which present an unacceptable level of soil contaminants. The
remedy selected for these areas is excavation and treatment.
3. Groundwater contamination located on the Beazer property and
property to the east of the Beazer property requires remediation.
Remediation of the groundwater will be accomplished through operation
of a groundwater recovery well, located on the Norfolk Southern
Corporation property adjacent to the former lagoon area. The
groundwater will be extracted and treated to meet remedial action
goals.
4. Remediation of surface water and associated sediments is
required at the Fire Pond, located on the property retained by Beazer,
and the Medlin Pond, located on property acquired by Beazer from a
third party in 1993. The remedial action consists of dewatering the two
ponds, treating the pond water, backfilling the ponds with clean soil,
and performing certain wetlands mitigation activities.
5. The areas requiring remediation, consisting of the former CELLON
process area, lagoon area, Fire Pond, and Medlin Pond, will be enclosed
with adequate fencing and security measures until completion of the
remedial actions.
In addition to the specified remedial actions, the ROD indicated
that additional sampling and analysis of groundwater, surface water,
and sediments would be performed prior to Remedial Design in order to
confirm the extent of contamination requiring remediation. These
additional data were collected as part of the Pre-Design Sampling
Program conducted in October and November 1993. These data,
incorporated into the Final Design Report for the Site, confirmed the
findings of the ROD both as to the areas of the Site requiring
remediation and the remedial actions specified for those areas.
Currently, Beazer is implementing Remedial Action at the Site in
accordance with the ROD. Surface water, soil and wetlands remediation
activities are complete, and groundwater remedial action is underway,
as EPA noted in the ROD.
The response action defined in this Record of Decision (ROD) is
anticipated to be the final action and subsequently the final ROD for
this Site. No separate Operable Units are anticipated as this remedy
will address all aspects of the Site which currently pose a threat to
human health or the environment.
Based upon a review of all the information available, EPA has
determined that the Unit Structures Property is recommended for partial
deletion. There are no institutional controls for this Subsite. A five-
year review will not be conducted at the Subsite, due to the fact that
soil and groundwater contaminants are below the health based standards.
The concentrations found in the samples taken do not present a current
or future threat to public health or the environment.
[[Page 33789]]
EPA, with concurrence of the State of North Carolina, has
determined that all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA for
the Unit Structures Subsite have been completed, and that no further
activities by responsible parties are appropriate. Therefore, EPA
proposes to delete this Subsite from the NPL.
Dated: April 30, 1997.
Michael V. Peyton,
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 4, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 97-16350 Filed 6-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
