National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5087-3]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company

Superfund site from the National Priorities List: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II Office

announces its intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company site from

the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on these

actions. 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 State of New York have determined that no further

fund-financed remedial action is appropriate at the site and actions

taken to date are protective of public health, welfare, and the

environment.

DATE: Comments concerning the site may be submitted on or before

November 15, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Kathleen C. Callahan, Director,

Emergency and Remedial Response Division, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region II, 26 Federal Plaza, room 737, New York, NY 10278.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Comprehensive information on this site is available through the EPA

Region II public docket, which is located at EPA's Region II Office in

New York City, and is available for viewing, by appointment only, from

9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. For

further information or to request an appointment to review the public

docket, please contact: Ms. Janet Cappelli, Remedial Project Manager,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 26 Federal Plaza, room

29-100, New York, NY 10278, (212) 264-8679.

Background information from the Regional pubic docket related to

the Radium Chemical Company site is also available for viewing at

information repositories noted below:

Sunnyside Branch, Queens Public Library, 43-06 Greenpoint Avenue,

Sunnyside, New York 11107

Woodside Branch, Queens Public Library, 54-22 Skillman Avenue,

Woodside, New York 11377.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletions

I. Introduction

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces its

intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company site, Woodside, Queens

County, New York from the NPL and requests public comment on these

actions. The NPL constitutes appendix B to the NCP, which EPA

promulgated pursuant to section 105 of CERCLA, as amended. 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 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, if

conditions at the site warrant such action.

The EPA will accept comments concerning the Radium Chemical Company

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 procedures that EPA is using for

these actions. Section IV discusses how the sites meet the deletion

criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

The NCP establishes the criteria the Agency uses to delete sites

from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR Section 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 the State, 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 the State, has determined

that no further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate; or

(iii) Based on a remedial investigation, EPA, in consultation with

the State, has determined that the release poses no significant threat

to public health or the environment and, therefore, taking of remedial

measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL

until the State in which the release was located has concurred, and the

public has been afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposed

deletion. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible

party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs associated

with response efforts. The NPL is designed primarily for informational

purposes and to assist Agency management.

EPA Region II 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 the Radium Chemical Company site:

1. EPA Region II has recommended deletion and has prepared the

relevant documents.

2. The State of New York has concurred with the deletion decisions.

3. Concurrent with this Notice of Intent to Delete, a notice has

been published in local newspapers and has been distributed to

appropriate federal, state and local officials, and other interested

parties. This notice announces a thirty-day public comment period on

the deletion package, which starts two weeks from the date of the

notice, October 15, 1994, and will conclude on November 15, 1994.

4. The Region has made all relevant documents available in the

Regional Office and local site information repositories.

The comments received during the notice and comment period will be

evaluated before any final decision is made. EPA Region II will prepare

a Responsiveness Summary, which will address the comments received

during the public comment period.

The deletion will occur after the EPA Regional Administrator places

a Notice 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 the Region II

Office.

IV. Basis for Intended Deletion of the Radium Chemical Company Site

The Radium Chemical Company (RCC) site is located at 60-06 27th

Avenue in Woodside, Queens County, New York, in a light industrial/

residential sector. The site consisted of a 1-story brick building (and

a part of a second brick building which shared a wall with this

building) bordered on the west by 27th Avenue and on the east by the

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), a major roadway into New York City.

Founded in New York in 1913, RCC initially produced luminous paint

for watch dials and instruments. Later, the company manufactured,

leased and sold radium-226 in the form of implant sources to hospitals,

medical centers, and research laboratories. In the late 1950's, RCC

transferred its operations to the present location in Woodside, New

York. The radium and radon devices were stored on-site in lead

containers in a brick vault room. Eventually the demand for radium

sources lagged as they were replaced with advanced radiotherapy

techniques using cesium and cobalt sources. Subsequently, many leased

radium sources were returned to RCC and were stored on-site.

In 1983, the State of New York suspended the RCC operating license

due to various disposal and safety infractions. RCC attempted to obtain

permission to begin operations again in 1986, but was denied. The New

York State Department of Labor issued its first Stipulation and Order

against RCC on October 17, 1987, for the removal of the radium sources

and decontamination of the building. The owner was unable to finance

the remediation and, subsequently, abandoned the building. This

resulted in a second Stipulation and Order, issued on July 20, 1988,

determining that the facility could not be maintained and that it was

de facto abandoned by RCC. Remaining on-site were a large number of

radium-containing sealed devices, some of which were suspected of

releasing radium and radon gas. The amount of radium-226 at the site

was established to be 110 Curies (Ci). Also on-site were hundreds of

containers of laboratory chemicals, many of which were reactive,

corrosive, flammable, and/or potentially shock-sensitive.

In July 1988, at the request of the State of New York, the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) undertook a limited emergency

removal action under CERCLA, et seq., to secure the facility and remove

the radioactive sources. EPA provided 24-hour security and initiated

measures to stabilize the site. By August 1988, EPA had erected fencing

around the perimeter and installed remote monitoring surveillance, a

foam fire suppressant system, special vents, and other safety measures.

In February 1989, EPA contracted with Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. to

remove the radium sources and other hazardous materials from the site

and transport them to approved disposal facilities. The removal action

was completed in October 1989. Approximately 120 Ci of radium in the

form of sources, contaminated debris, and loose radium salts and

luminous compounds were removed from the site. This material was

disposed of at facilities located in Richland, Washington and Beatty,

Nevada, both operated by U.S. Ecology.

On February 10, 1989, at EPA's request, the U.S. Agency for Toxic

Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) issued a Public Health Advisory

to alert the public, EPA, and the State of New York of a serious threat

to human health, based on the threatened release of radium-226 from the

RCC site. In an August 1989 special NPL update, EPA proposed the RCC

site for the NPL based on the ATSDR advisory. On November 21, 1989, the

RCC site was added to the National Priorities List.

EPA completed a Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) of the site in

April 1990. Excessive levels of Rn-222 and Ra-226 remained in the RCC

facility, along with various radium contaminated hazardous chemicals.

On June 21, 1990, EPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) selecting a

remedy for the RCC site. The ROD called for the following remedial

activities at the site: decontamination of the RCC facility;

dismantlement of the RCC building; excavation of contaminated soils and

subsurface structures; and transport and disposal of wastes to an

approved waste disposal facility.

The EPA community relations activities at the site included a

public meeting in May 1990 to present the results of the FFS and the

preferred alternative for remediation of the site. All public comments

received were addressed. A major concern of the public was the

disruption to the local businesses caused by street closings. EPA held

subsequent meetings with the local business owners to determine the

least obtrusive method for achieving our needs.

The remedial action at the site began in September 1990 with

limited mobilization of the Site for surveying purposes. On-site

decontamination began on November 16, 1990 and the first shipment of

radioactive wastes left the Site on July 11, 1991. The RCC building was

decontaminated and dismantled. A portion of an adjoining building,

leased by RCC, was fully decontaminated and restored. Dismantling,

excavation, and restoration activities were essentially completed by

January 1993. Removal of all wastes from the site and revegetation was

completed in August 1993. A limited excavation of soils surrounding a

sewer line adjacent to the RCC property was conducted during July 1994.

Approximately 812 tons of radioactive soil and debris and 92 cubic

feet of radium-contaminated hazardous wastes were transported to the

Envirocare of Utah, Inc. facility in Clive, Utah for disposal.

Approximately 862 tons of uncontaminated masonry and concrete building

debris were transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island,

New York for disposal. Other wastes, including approximately 45 tons of

elemental lead and 20 tons of structural steel, were transported to the

Scientific Ecology Group (SEG), Inc. facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

for decontamination and recycling to the nuclear industry.

Approximately 2.5 Ci of tritium watch faces were transported to the

Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. facility in Barnwell, South Carolina for

disposal. Approximately 36.7 kilograms of radium-contaminated elemental

mercury were transported to the University of Tennessee for

decontamination, followed by ultimate disposal of the treated residuals

at the Chem-Nuclear facility in Barnwell, South Carolina and recycling

of the decontaminated elemental mercury. Approximately 1.03

millicuries, associated with a radium calibration source, was

transported to Rutgers University for use in radon-generation research.

Confirmatory sampling showing the site has been decontaminated below

the required levels, that contaminated soils have been excavated and

disposed of off-site, and that the site has been backfilled with clean

soil, provide further assurance that the site no longer poses any

threats to human health or the environment.

EPA, with concurrence of the State of New York, has determined that

all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Radium

Chemical Company site have been completed, and that no further cleanup

is necessary.

Dated: September 21, 1994.

Jeanne M. Fox,

Regional Administrator, USEPA Region II.

[FR Doc. 94-24806 Filed 10-5-94; 8:45 am]

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