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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-4843-2]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Action: Notice of intent to delete Revere Textile Prints Corporation

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

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Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region I announces

its intent to delete the Revere Textile Prints Corporation Superfund

Site (the Revere Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and

requests public comment on this action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B

to 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 Connecticut have determined

that all appropriate CERCLA actions have been implemented and that no

further CERCLA cleanup is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and the State have

determined that removal activities conducted at the Revere Site to date

have been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment

with regard to CERCLA.

DATES: Comments concerning this site may be submitted on or before

March 31, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Eric van Gestel, Remedial Project

Manager, HEC CAN 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region I,

John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, MA 02203.

Comprehensive information on this site is available through the EPA

Region I public docket, which is located at EPA's Region I office and

is available for viewing by appointment only from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and

from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Requests for appointments of copies of the background information from

the Regional public docket should be directed to the EPA Region I

docket office.

The address for the Regional docket office is: Ms. Linda D'Amore,

Docket Clerk, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region I, John F.

Kennedy Federal Building--RCG, Boston, MA 02203, (617) 565-3351.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Background information from the

Regional public docket is also available for viewing at the Revere Site

information repository located with: Clair French, Sterling Public

Library, 1110 Plainfield Pike, Oneco, CT 06373, (203) 564-2692.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletions

I. Introduction

EPA Region I announces its intent to delete the Revere Textile

Prints Corporation Superfund Site, Sterling, Connecticut, from the NPL,

which constitutes Appendix B of the 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 (the 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.

EPA will accept comments concerning 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 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) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all

appropriate response actions required under CERCLA;

(ii) All appropriate fund-financed response under CERCLA has been

implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is

appropriate under CERCLA; 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 under CERCLA is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

Deletion of sites 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.

EPA Region I 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 I has recommended deletion and has prepared the

relevant documents.

2. The State of Connecticut has concurred with the decision to

delete the site from the NPL.

3. Concurrent with this National 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 on the deletion package, which starts two weeks

from the date of the notice, March 15, 1994, and will conclude on April

14, 1994.

4. The Region has made all relevant documents 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 the comments received

during the public comment period.

A 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 Region I.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The Revere Site is located in the center of Sterling, CT at the

intersection of Route 14 and Main Street. The former textile mill

operated from 1879 until March 1980 when a fire destroyed most of the

buildings. The mill used a variety of pigments, paints and solvents to

dye and clean textiles. In 1987, EPA added the site to the National

Priorities List, making it eligible for federal action under the

Superfund law.

Over 1500 drums of hazardous substances stored on the site were

removed in 1983, along with some contaminated soil. The possibility of

residual contamination from these drums in area soil and ground water

prompted EPA to continue investigations at the site.

The Remedial Investigation which began in 1990 included sampling of

site soil, sediments, air, and ground water, and also testing of

surface water such as the Moosup River. EPA found limited contamination

in certain areas of the site, but not enough to cause a significant

risk to human health or the environment.

Some of the contaminants found on the site during the Remedial

Investigation include volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and

pesticides. In signing the Record of Decision, EPA assumes that the

site will be developed for industrial or commercial purposes. Under

this scenario, contamination at the site would not result in an

unacceptable risk, therefore, no further work will occur. Also included

in the final decision is a five year ground water monitoring program to

ensure that contaminant levels do not increase.

EPA proposed the no-action alternative in August, 1992 and held a

thirty day public comment period to accept comments on the plan. Copies

of the Record of Decision along with responses to public comments are

available in the Sterling Public Library in Oneco, Connecticut and in

the EPA Records Center in Boston.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

completed a health assessment for the Revere Site in December, 1993.

ATSDR reviewed the remedial investigation data and has made

determinations in that document consistent with the no-action Record of

Decision that the concentrations of contaminants measured did not pose

an imminent health threat.

The Town of Sterling, Connecticut imposed deed restrictions at the

Revere Site which include prohibitions of both present and future

ground water use and non-commercial development.

EPA, with concurrence of the State of Connecticut, has determined

that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Revere

Site have been completed, and that no further cleanup by responsible

parties under CERCLA is appropriate.

Dated: December 28, 1993.

Paul G. Keough,

Acting Regional Administrator, USEPA Region I.

[FR Doc. 94-4652 Filed 2-28-94; 8:45 am]

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