[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 121 (Thursday, June 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33812-33813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15833]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-6364-5]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard site from
the National Priorities List; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces
its intent to delete the Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Site 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 EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as
amended. EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADEP) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA response
actions have been implemented and that no further cleanup by
responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and PADEP have
determined that remedial activities conducted at the Site to date have
been protective of public health, welfare and the environment.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this site from the
NPL may be submitted on or before July 26, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Deanna Moultrie, (3HS21),
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, (215) 814-5125.
Comprehensive information on this site is available for viewing at
the Site information repositories at the following locations: U.S. EPA,
Region 3, Public Reading Room, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
19103, (215) 814-3157; Weisenberg Township Building, 2175 Seipstown
Road, Fogelsville, PA 18051, (610) 285-6660.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deanna Moultrie (3HS21), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, PA, 19103, (215) 814-5125.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces its
intent to delete the Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Site, Lehigh County,
Pennsylvania, from the National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
(NCP) and requests comments on this 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 Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to
Sec. 300.425(e) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if conditions at the site
warrant such action.
EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site from
the NPL for thirty calendar days after publication of this document in
the Federal Register.
Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting
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 Agency 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 will consider whether any of the
following criteria have been met:
(i) EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that
responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate response
actions required; or
(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been
implemented and EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that no
further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate; or
(iii) Based on a remedial investigation, EPA, in consultation with
PADEP, has determined that the release poses no significant threat to
public health or the environment and therefore, taking remedial
measures is not appropriate.
[[Page 33813]]
III. Deletion Procedures
In the NPL rulemaking published on October 15, 1984 (49 FR 40320),
the Agency solicited and received comments on whether the notice of
comment procedures followed for adding sites to the NPL should also be
used before sites are deleted. Comments were also received in response
to the amendments to the NCP proposed on February 12, 1985 (50 FR
5862). 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.
EPA Region III will accept and evaluate public comments before
making a final decision to delete. The Agency believes that deletion
procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local level.
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 Region III has recommended deletion and has prepared the
relevant documents.
(2) PADEP has concurred with the deletion decision.
(3) Local notice will be published in local newspapers and
distributed to appropriate federal, state and local officials and other
interested parties. This local notice presents information on the site
and announces the thirty (30) day public comment period on the deletion
package.
(4) The Region has made information supporting the proposed
deletion 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. The Region will prepare
a Responsiveness Summary, which will address significant comments
received during the public comment period. A deletion will occur after
the EPA Regional Administrator places a document in the Federal
Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in the final update.
Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made
available to local residents by Region III.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Superfund Site occupies approximately
20 acres within the headwaters of the Iron Run subdrainage basin in
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The Site is the location of a former
automobile junkyard and salvage operation involving junk cars, used
storage tanks and miscellaneous scrap metals and debris with periods of
activity between 1958 and 1979. The Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Resources reported that operations ceased in 1979.
The Site was purchased in 1958 by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hebelka, now
deceased. The property is currently a part of the estate of Lovie
Hebelka. In December 1985, the EPA Region III Field Investigation Team
(FIT III) visited the Site for the purpose of conducting a Site
Inspection (SI). The SI revealed the presence of two battery piles at
the Site, termed the eastern pile and the western pile. The major
contaminant identified at this site was lead in soils downgradient from
the battery piles. The Site was proposed for inclusion on the Superfund
National Priorities List on June 1, 1986 and finalized on that list on
August 21, 1987.
Operable Unit 1 (OU1) addressed the areas of the Site with lead in
soil concentrations above 560 mg/kg and the piles of scrap battery
casings lying on top of these soil areas. Operable Unit 2 (OU2)
addressed the soils outside of this high concentration area, the air in
the vicinity of the Site, the groundwater in the vicinity (including
nearby home well water), the nearby stream water and the stream
sediments.
A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was
conducted between March 1987 and July 1991 to define the nature and
extent of contamination and to identify alternatives for remediating
the Site conditions. Remedies for the Operable Units were selected and
described in separate Records of Decision (ROD). ROD 1 was issued March
31, 1989 for OU1 and ROD 2 was issued September 30, 1991 for OU2. The
remedy selected in ROD 1 was designed to prevent ingestion of lead-
contaminated particles and soil in excess of health-based levels by
removing them from the Site and treating and-or disposing of them. This
was done by removing battery casings and recycling them. Recycling was
proven to be impractical so they were disposed of in a RCRA landfill.
Soil above health-based risk levels was excavated, stabilized offsite
and deposited in a RCRA Subtitle D municipal landfill. Clean soil was
then backfilled and revegetated. EPA determined that no further action
was necessary at the Site for OU2 because contamination pathways via
the site media posed no current or potential threat to human health and
the environment. Therefore, the remedy chosen in ROD 1, eliminated the
need for further action.
Because the remedies chosen for OU1 and OU2 did not result in
hazardous substances remaining onsite above health-based levels, the
five-year review process will not apply to this site.
The remedies selected for this site have been implemented in
accordance with the Records of Decision. As a result of these remedies,
human health threats and potential environmental impacts at this site
have been eliminated. EPA and PADEP find that the remedies implemented
continue to provide adequate protection of human health and the
environment.
EPA, in concurrence with PADEP believes that the criteria stated in
section II(i) for deletion of this site has been met. Therefore, EPA is
proposing the deletion of this site from the NPL.
Dated: April 19, 1999.
Diana Esher,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 99-15833 Filed 6-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
