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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-4855-2]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Wide Beach Development site from

the National Priorities List: Request for comments.

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

its intent to delete the Wide Beach Development site from the National

Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this action. The

NPL is appendix B of 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 cleanup by responsible parties is

appropriate under CERCLA. Moreover, EPA and the State have determined

that CERCLA activities conducted at the Wide Beach Development site to

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

environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the deletion of the Wide Beach Development

site from the NPL may be submitted on or before April 30, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning the deletion of the Wide Beach

Development site from the NPL may be submitted to: Herbert H. King,

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region

II, 26 Federal Plaza, room 29-100, New York, NY 10278.

Comprehensive information on the Wide Beach Development site is

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

Region II office (room 2900), 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 Mr. King at

(212) 264-1129.

Background information from the Regional public docket is also

available for viewing at the Wide Beach Development site's

Administrative Record repository located at: Brant Town Hall, North

Collins Road, Brant, NY 14027.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria.

III. Deletion Procedures.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion.

I. Introduction

EPA Region II announces its intent to delete the Wide Beach

Development site from the NPL and requests public comment on this

action. The NPL is appendix B to the NCP, which EPA promulgated

pursuant to section 105 of CERCLA, as amended. 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 (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 such site warrant action.

EPA will accept comments concerning the Wide Beach Development site

until April 30, 1994.

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 Wide Beach Development 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, in consultation with the State, will

consider whether any of the following criteria have been met: 1. That

responsible or other persons have implemented all appropriate response

actions required; or

2. All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been

implemented, and no further cleanup by responsible parties is

appropriate; or

3. The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no

significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,

taking 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.

The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of the

Wide Beach Development 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 decision.

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 (30) day public comment period

on the deletion package starting on April 1, 1994 and concluding on

April 30, 1994.

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

regional office and the local site information repository.

EPA Region II will accept and evaluate public comments and prepare

a Responsiveness Summary which will address the comments received,

before a final decision is made. The Agency believes that deletion

procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local level.

Comments from the local community may be most pertinent to deletion

decisions.

If, after consideration of these comments, EPA decides to proceed

with deletion, the EPA Regional Administrator will place a Notice of

Deletion in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in

the next update. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness

Summary will be made available to the public by EPA Region II.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

Site History and Background

The Wide Beach Development, incorporated in 1920, is a small lake-

side community with 60 residential homes situated on about 55 acres.

The site is located in the Town of Brant, Erie County, New York.

Between 1964 and 1978, about 41,000 gallons of waste oil, some of

which was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were

applied to local roadways for dust control. In 1980, the installation

of a sanitary sewer line in the community resulted in the excavation of

highly contaminated soils from the roadways. Surplus excavated soil was

used as fill in several residential yards.

An investigation of an odor complaint in 1981 by the Erie County

Department of Environment and Planning led to the discovery of 19 drums

in a wooded area at the Wide Beach Development community. Two of these

drums contained PCB-contaminated waste oil. Subsequent sampling

indicated the presence of PCBs in the air, roadway and yard soils,

vacuum cleaner dust from the homes, and in water samples from private

wells.

The site was included on the NPL in September 1983, primarily

because of the potential for exposure of the community to PCBs in air-

carried dust, surface water and groundwater.

An RI/FS was conducted by a New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) contractor during 1984 and 1985 to

determine the nature and extent of the contamination at and emanating

from the site, to assess the threat the site poses to public health and

the environment, and to develop and evaluate various alternatives to

remediate the site. The RI concluded that: (1) PCBs, specifically

Aroclor 1254, were the primary contaminants at the site; (2) surficial

soils in the roadways, drainage ditches, driveways and front yards of

lots bordering the roadways were highly contaminated with PCBs (up to

1,000 parts per million (ppm)); (3) contamination of drinking water

wells was sporadic and, when detected, was in the parts per billion

range; (4) observation wells screened in the sanitary sewer trench were

the most contaminated; (5) surface water transport was the most

important route of migration; (6) on-site soils would act as a long-

term source of PCBs; and (7) routes of human exposure to PCBs include

ingestion of contaminated vegetables, ingestion of soil, inhalation and

dermal absorption.

In 1985, in response to the levels of PCB contamination found in

the homes during the RI at the site, EPA performed an immediate removal

action including: (1) Paving of the roadways, drainage ditches, and

driveways to prevent further exposure of the public via the dust and

runoff routes; (2) decontamination of the homes by rug shampooing,

vacuuming, and replacement of air conditioner and furnace filters; and

(3) protection of individual private wells by the installation of

particulate filters. The immediate removal action addressed the

immediate threat to public health.

A Record of Decision (ROD), signed on September 30, 1985, selected

as a long-term remedial measure for the site, among other things,

excavation and chemical treatment of about 37,600 cubic yards of PCB-

contaminated soils (above 10 ppm) from the site's roadways, drainage

ditches, driveways, yards, and wetlands. The remedial design (RD),

which included treatability studies related to the chemical treatment

process, was completed in February 1989. The remedial action (RA) was

completed in June 1993.

Summary of Operation and Maintenance and Five-Year Review Requirements

There are no operational requirements since all remediation

activities have been completed. A three-year maintenance plan is

required for the wetland restoration component of the remedy. The

contractor is required to perform an annual inspection and submit a

report on the survival rates of the various plantings. Any dead trees,

shrubs, herbs, or grass in excess of 15% will be replaced by the

contractor.

Because the implemented remedy does not result in hazardous

substances remaining on-site above health-based levels, the five-year

review does not apply.

Summary of How the Deletion Criteria Has Been Met

Based upon the results of RA sample analyses, the site meets the

requirements set forth in the ROD pertaining to PCB-contaminated soil,

in that any soil that was found on-site that was contaminated with 10

ppm or higher of PCBs was excavated and treated to reduce the

concentration of PCBs to 2 ppm or less. This level is protective of

public health, welfare, and the environment.

EPA and the State have determined that the response actions

undertaken at the Wide Beach Development site are protective of human

health and the environment.

In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425 (e), sites may be deleted from

the NPL where no further response is appropriate. EPA, in consultation

with the State, has determined that all appropriate responses under

CERCLA have been implemented and that no further cleanup by responsible

parties is appropriate. Having met the deletion criteria, EPA proposes

to delete the Wide Beach Development site from the NPL.

Dated: March 16, 1994.

William J. Muszynski, P.E.,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-7400 Filed 3-30-94; 8:45 am]

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