[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 160 (Thursday, August 19, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45224-45226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21316]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-6422-8]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan; National
Priorities List Update
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the release from the Taylor Borough
Superfund site from the National Priorities List (NPL) and request for
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces
its intent to delete the release from the Taylor Borough Site (Site)
from the National Priorities List (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 Substance Pollution Continency
Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of
1980, as amended, (CERCLA). EPA and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP)
have determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public
health or the environment and, therefore, further remedial measures
pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before
September 20, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Maria de los A. Garcia, (3HS21),
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1650
Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-814-3199, Fax 215-814-3002, e-
mail garcia.maria@epa.gov. Comprehensive information on this Site is
available through the public docket which is available for viewing at
the Site information repositories at the following locations: U.S. EPA
Region III, Administrative Records, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA
19103, 215-566-3157; and the Taylor Borough Municipal Building, 122
Union Street, Taylor, PA 18517.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria de los A. Garcia (3HS21), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19103,
215-814-3199, Fax 215-814-3002, e-mail garcia.maria@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces
its intent to delete the release from the Taylor Borough Site, Taylor
Borough, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, 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 the 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 these sites. EPA and
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have determined that the remedial
action for the Site has been successfully executed. EPA will accept
comments on the proposal to delete the release from the NPL for thirty
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 the procedures that EPA is
using for this action. Section IV discusses the Taylor Borough 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 has been met:
(i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
(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 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 the release 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. In the case of this Site, EPA conducted a five year review
in March 1993 and a second one in September 1998. Based on these
reviews, EPA determined that conditions at the Site remain protective
of public health and the environment. As explained below, the Site
meets the NCP's deletion criteria listed above. If
[[Page 45225]]
new information becomes available which indicates a need for further
action, EPA may initiate remedial actions. Whenever there is a
significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the site shall be
restored to the NPL without the application of the Hazard Ranking
System (HRS).
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of the
release from the Site:
(1) All appropriate response under CERCLA has been implemented and
no further action by EPA is appropriate; (2) The Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) concurred with the
proposed deletion decision; (3) A notice has been published in the
local newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate federal, state,
and local officials and other interested parties announcing the
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of
Intent to Delete; and, (4) All relevant documents have been made
available for public review in the local Site information repositories.
For deletion of the release from the NPL, EPA's Regional Office
will accept and evaluate public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to
Delete before making a final decision to delete. If necessary, the
Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, responding to each
significant comment submitted during the public comment period.
Deletion of the release 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 document, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the
NCP states that the deletion of a release from a site from the NPL does
not preclude eligibility for future response actions.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following site summary provides the Agency's rational for the
proposal to delete this release from the NPL.
Site Background and History
The Taylor Borough Site is located in Lackawanna County,
Pennsylvania and the entire Site encompasses approximately 125 acres.
The Site is a former municipal landfill located in the Lackawanna
Valley, which has historically been extensively mined for anthracite
coal. A series of underground mines underlie the Taylor Borough Site.
Following the mining operations at the Site, the City of Scranton used
the unreclaimed strip mine pits as a municipal landfill from
approximately 1967 through 1968. Records from PADEP also document the
disposal of industrial wastes. After the landfill operations ceased,
drummed industrial wastes were found on the surface of the Site.
Beginning in 1981, EPA Region III and PADEP conducted field inspections
of the Site. The majority of the surface drums were concentrated in six
areas of the Site. Most drums were open and the contents may have
spilled during the dumping. Many had also been punctured by bullet
holes. Air sampling close to the drums identified the presence of
volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Drum and drum spill samples were
analyzed in 1982 and were found to contain benzene, toluene, and other
substituted benzene, phthalate acid esters, polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), tricholoroethene (TCE), chloroform, and other
organic chemicals. In 1983, a fire occurred on the surface of the
landfill. It is believed that mine spoil was pushed over burning areas
to extinguish the fire. As a result, some drums were partially buried.
Because the fire had engulfed several drums, EPA instituted an
Emergency Removal Action under Section 104 of CERCLA. From September
through November of 1983, 1,141 drums were removed from the Site. In
1983, the Site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) and
authorization to proceed with a Remedial Investigation/ Feasibility
Study (RI/FS) was approved that same year. In 1986 the RI/FS was
completed. Records of Decision (RODs) for soil and ground water were
signed in 1985 and in 1986, respectively. The selected remedial action
in the 1985 ROD included the following activities: removal and off-site
disposal at a qualified facility of approximately 125 crushed and
intact drums and remnants that remained on the site surface or
partially buried; collection and treatment of contaminated surface
water in on-site Ponds 1 and 2, located adjacent to Drum Storage Areas
1 and 2; excavation of contaminated soils and waste from former Drum
Storage Areas 1 and 2 and sediments in Ponds 1 and 2 for off-site
disposal to a qualified RCRA facility; proper backfilling and placement
of a 24-inch soil cover over the former Drum Storage Areas 3 and 6, all
of the area between them, and the former Drum Storage Area 4;
installation of a chain-link fence around the perimeter of both soil-
covered areas. The selection of remedial activities for ground water
was deferred in the June 1985 ROD until ground water was further
assessed. In March 1986, the EPA issued a ROD concerning ground water.
It selected no remedial action for ground water, but required ground
water monitoring.
Response Actions
In 1987, a Consent Decree was signed between the United States and
five potentially responsible parties (PRPs). A Remedial Design for the
specific remedial actions, approved by EPA and the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, was an exhibit to the Consent Decree. Construction
activities were initiated in July 1987. Remedial activities included
the solidification of sediments from two ponds (Ponds 1 and 2). The
sediments from these two ponds were mixed with kiln dust for
solidification and the solidified sediments were compacted in place.
Final design contours were achieved by the placement of clean fill over
this solidified material. Approximately 10 intact drums containing
solvents were uncovered during the excavation of contaminated soils and
wastes from former Drum Storage Areas 1 and 2. Those 10 drums along
with scattered surface drum remnants and approximately 5,000 cubic
yards of excavated soil and waste material were removed and disposed of
off-site. Also, a minimum two-foot soil cover was placed on the former
Drum Storage Areas 3 and 6 and the entire area in between. In addition,
a two-foot soil cover was placed on the former Drum Storage Area 4. A
six-foot chainlink fence (1 mile in length) was installed with two
locking gates prior to the excavation in Drum Storage Areas 1 and 2.
The fence completely encompasses the remediated areas. Construction
activities were concluded in May 1988.
Operations and Maintenance
The 1985 and 1986 RODs for the Site required that post-remediation
operation and maintenance (O&M) activities be conducted by EPA Region
III, including ground water and surface water monitoring through a
sampling program, and maintenance of the soil cover. Surface and
sediments in St. Johns Creek as well as a specific list of monitoring
wells, were to be sampled for at least five years. Regular maintenance
activities have been conducted at the Site and the sampling required in
the RODs was completed in 1996.
Five-Year Review
CERCLA requires a five-year review of all sites with hazardous
substances remaining above the health-based levels for unrestricted use
of the site. Since hazardous materials remain at the Site,
[[Page 45226]]
the five-year review process will be used to insure that the soil cover
is still intact. EPA issued a five-year review report in 1993 and
another one in 1998, where it evaluated the results of the maintenance
and monitoring activities at the Site. These reports concluded that the
Taylor Borough Site is protective of human health and the environment.
Specifically, the 1998 five-year review recommended to continue
operation and maintenance activities at the Site. These activities
include: annual vegetative maintenance, drainage control repair, and
maintenance of the soil cap drainage structures, monitoring wells, and
other Site structures. In addition, this five-year review recommended
ground water monitoring activities for 5 years to assess the continued
effectiveness of the remedial action.
Applicable Deletion Criteria
The remedy selected for this Site has been implemented in
accordance with the Records of Decision. Therefore, no further response
action is necessary. The remedy has resulted in the significant
reduction of the long-term potential for release of contaminants,
therefore, human health and potential environmental impacts have been
minimized. EPA and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania find that the
remedies implemented continue to provide adequate protection of human
health and the environment.
Dated: August 9, 1999.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region 3.
[FR Doc. 99-21316 Filed 8-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
