National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List; Intent To Delete Pesses Chemical Co., TX

SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region

6 announces its intent to delete the Pesses Chemical Company Site

(Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL), 40 CFR part 300,

Appendix B, and requests public comment on this action. The NPL

constitutes Appendix B to the National Oil and Hazardous Substances

Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR part 300, which EPA

promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and

the State of Texas, through the Texas Natural Resource Conservation

Commission (TNRCC), have determined that all appropriate actions under

CERCLA have been implemented and that no further cleanup is

appropriate. Moreover, EPA and the State have determined that response

activities conducted at the Site to date have been protective of public

health, welfare, and the environment.

DATES: The EPA will accept comments concerning its proposal to delete

until May 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Ms. Olivia Rodriguez-Balandran,

Community Relations Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 6 (6H-MC), 1445 Ross

Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-6584 or, 1-800-533-3508.

Comprehensive information on the Site is available for review at

EPA's Region 6 office in Dallas, Texas. The Administrative Record for

this Site is maintained in EPA's Region 6 Library and is available for

viewing from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding

holidays. The address for the Region 6 Library office is: U.S. EPA,

Region 6, Library, 12th Floor, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-

2733, (214) 665-6424 or 665-6427.

The Administrative Record also is available for viewing at the

Pesses Chemical Company Site information repositories located at:

Fort Worth Public Library, Seminary South Branch, 501 East Bolt Street,

Fort Worth, Texas 76110, (817) 926-0215.

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, 12118 North IH35,

Building D, Room 190, Austin, Texas 78753, (512) 239-2920.

Certain background information, including EPA's proposal to delete

the Site from the NPL and the basis for EPA's proposal, is available

for viewing at the following additional Pesses Chemical Company Site

information repositories. A complete copy of the Administrative Record

is not maintained at these locations:

City Secretary's Office, Fort Worth City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton, Fort

Worth, Texas 76102.

Fort Worth Central Library, 300 Taylor Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76102.

Texas Christian University, Mary Couts Burnett Library, 2800 University

Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76109.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Earl G. Hendrick, U.S. EPA, Region

6 (6H-SC), 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-8519.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6

announces its intent to delete the Pesses Chemical Company Site, Fort

Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, (Site) from the National Priorities List

(NPL), which constitutes Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR part 300, and

requests comments on this deletion. The NPL is a list maintained by EPA

of sites that EPA has determined present a significant risk to public

health, welfare, or the environment. Sites on the NPL may be the

subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substance

Superfund (Fund). Pursuant to 40 CFR 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.

The EPA will accept comments concerning its intent to delete for

thirty (30) 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 the history of the Site and explains

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 such a determination pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e), EPA will

consider, in consultation with the State, whether any of the following

criteria have been met:

Section 300.425(e)(1)(i) Responsible parties or other persons

have implemented all appropriate response actions required; or,

Section 300.425(e)(1)(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed

response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further response

action by responsible parties is appropriate; or

Section 300.425(e)(1)(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.

Deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for

subsequent Fund-financed actions if future site conditions warrant such

actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP provides that Fund-financed

actions may be taken at sites that have been deleted from the NPL.

In addition, deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect the

liability of responsible parties or impede agency efforts to recover

costs associated with response efforts.

III. Deletion Procedures

Deletion of a site 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.

Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in

Sec. 300.425(e) has been met, EPA may formally begin deletion

procedures. The following procedures were used for the intended

deletion of the Site:

(1) EPA Region 6 has recommended deletion and has prepared the

relevant documents.

(2) The State of Texas concurred by letter dated June 2, 1994,

with the deletion decision.

(3) Concurrent with this National 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 local notice announces a thirty (30)

day public comment period on the deletion package, which starts with

the publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

(4) The Region has made all relevant documents available in the

Regional Office and local Site and State of Texas information

repositories.

[[Page 19204]] These procedures have been completed for the Site.

This Federal Register notice, and a concurrent notice in the local

newspaper in the vicinity of the Site, announce the initiation of a 30-

day public comment period and the availability of the Notice of Intent

to Delete. The public is asked to comment on EPA's proposal to delete

the Site from the NPL; all critical documents needed to evaluate EPA's

decision are included in the information repositories and are included

in the deletion docket.

Upon completion of the 30-day public comment period, the EPA

Regional Office will evaluate these comments before the final decision

to delete. The Region will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, if

necessary, which will address concerns presented in the comments

received during the public comment period. Any Responsiveness Summary

will be made available to the public at the information repositories

listed previously. Members of the public are welcome to contact the EPA

Regional Office to obtain a copy of the Responsiveness Summary, if any.

If EPA still determines that deletion from the NPL is appropriate after

receiving public comments, a final notice of deletion will be published

in the Federal Register. The deletion of the Site does not actually

occur until the Notice of Deletion is published in the Federal

Register.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for deleting

the Pesses Chemical Company Site from the NPL.

The Site is located at 2301 South Main Street, Fort Worth, Tarrant

County, Texas. The Site is in a light industrial and commercial area.

The 4.2 acre Site was used to reclaim cadmium and nickel from dry-cell

batteries and metal sludge. The Pesses Company, under the name Pesses

S'West, conducted reclaiming activities from approximately June 1979

until January 1981.

In April 1983, EPA removed 3,400 cubic yards of contaminated soil,

metal sludge, drummed material, and debris from the Site and shipped

the waste to Chemical Waste Management, in Port Arthur, Texas. The Site

was proposed for inclusion on the NPL on October 15, 1984, (49 FR

40320) with a score of 28.86, due mainly to the potential migration of

heavy metals via airborne dust and surface water runoff from the Site.

The Site was finalized on the NPL on June 10, 1986, (51 FR 21054). EPA

assigned the Texas Water Commission, predecessor to the Texas Natural

Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), as the lead agency for

remedial activities for the Site. The Remedial Investigation/

Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was performed between December 1987 and

October 1988. Although the imminent health threat had been alleviated

by the EPA Emergency Response Team removal action conducted in April

1983, the RI determined that residual contamination of cadmium and

nickel in the soils (to a depth of two to three feet over most of the

Site) and in the metal warehouse and process equipment posed health and

environmental threats requiring remediation. Concentrations of cadmium

averaged above 300 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of soil. Dust in

some process equipment contained as much as 59 percent cadmium and 26

percent nickel. No organic contaminants were found at concentrations

which posed health or environmental impacts. No asbestos was detected.

Because the ground water is 380 feet below low permeability clay, shale

and shaley limestone, and the maximum depth of Site contaminants was

less than 13 feet, EPA has determined that the ground water was not and

will not, in the future, be affected by the Site.

The EPA Regional Administrator signed the Record of Decision (ROD)

for the Site on December 22, 1988, selecting in-situ stabilization of

the contaminated soils and Site contaminants, plus capping as the

remedy. EPA selected this remedy because it eliminates the principal

threat posed by the Site conditions by eliminating the possibility of

human exposure with the metals of concern and preventing the spread of

contaminants.

During the preparation of the bid specifications for the remedial

action, EPA recognized that the south field was not wide enough in some

areas to support a four foot thick protective clay cap over the

stabilized waste material. Therefore, on June 8, 1990, EPA issued an

Explanation of Non-Significant Change (ENSC) explaining EPA's decision

to substitute the four foot thick clay cap with an 80 mil thick high

density polyethylene (HDPE) liner and an eight inch thick, double

reinforced concrete cap. This type of concrete cap, to be placed on the

southern portion of the Site, is similar to the cap specified in the

ROD for the northern portion of the Site and would not increase the

cost of the remedial action.

After a competitive bid process, TNRCC awarded the remediation

contract to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. The former Site

operations area consisted of a metal warehouse with various pieces of

equipment, a baghouse, two underground sumps, and a south storage yard

with a concrete pad. The remedial action contractor (Contractor)

removed the refractory from the furnaces and the two sumps from the

ground. The Contractor eventually consolidated this material with the

dust and bags from the baghouse and the contaminated soil. The

Contractor decontaminated the metal warehouse building, drums and metal

process equipment by high pressure water washing. TNRCC's oversight

Engineer (Engineer) collected and analyzed wipe samples for cadmium and

nickel.

The Contractor excavated 1,806 cubic yards of offsite contaminated

soil and 10,553 cubic yards of onsite contaminated soil. The excavated

material was placed in the south field and stabilized in-situ with a

mixture of 1 part cement kiln dust to 9 parts Site-contaminated soil by

weight. Equilibrium Partitioning Toxicity Tests verified that the Site

contaminants did not leach out of the stabilized soil.

An 80 mil thick textured HDPE liner was then installed over the

stabilized soil by the HDPE manufacturer's licensed installer and all

line seams were tested in accordance with the manufacturer's

specifications. An eight inch thick, double reinforced steel concrete

cap was placed over the HDPE top liner and sealed according to the

sealer manufacturer's specifications. A fence was installed around the

Site. Contaminated soil excavated from the northern portion of the Site

was replaced with clean soil and covered with an eight inch thick,

double reinforced steel concrete cap. Contaminated soil excavated from

offsite was replaced with clean soil and sodded.

Other than the material required for laboratory analysis, all

contaminated material remained on the Site and is contained within the

fenced and capped area. To reduce the quantity of buried material and

to recycle steel, decontaminated steel was removed from the Site.

Contaminated wash water was used in the contaminated soil compaction

and stabilization activities. Air monitoring analyses during

construction found no contaminant levels of concern.

EPA, TNRCC, and TNRCC's Engineer conducted the Construction Final

Inspection on September 15, 1992. The team determined that the remedial

action had been completed successfully. The Engineer's Final Remedial

Action Report, detailing the remedial activities and documenting the

successful completion of all construction activities, was submitted in

November 1992. On [[Page 19205]] September 30, 1993, the Acting

Regional Administrator signed the EPA Final Close Out Report. EPA

released a Fact Sheet describing this report and the status of the Site

in January 1994.

The Cooperative Agreement between EPA and TNRCC budgeted $2,552,898

for all of TNRCC's remedial design and remedial action activities,

including the Construction Contract, oversight and the State ten

percent cost share and the first year of Operation and Maintenance. The

final actual cost expenditure for these activities totaled $1,383,320.

The EPA/TNRCC community relations activities included: a public

meeting in 1985 to explain the Superfund process and to learn of

citizen concerns; a questionnaire to area officials and residents

requesting information on their concerns or issues related to the Site;

an EPA briefing to Fort Worth health officials regarding the proposed

remedy; and a meeting in November 1988 to present the alternatives

developed in the FS and EPA's preferred alternative for remedial

action. In June 1990, TNRCC presented the plans for the Remedial Action

(RA). In April 1992, EPA and TNRCC met with railroad personnel working

adjacent to the Site to discuss their concerns regarding possible

exposures to Site contaminants during the Pesses metal reclamation

operations and during the remedial action. EPA and TNRCC explained that

they could not determine the worker exposure during the time that

Pesses S'West conducted metal reclamation operations, gave the workers

information regarding cadmium, nickel and lead poisoning, and suggested

that the workers contact their employer-provided physician or their own

personal physician. EPA and TNRCC also explained that air monitoring at

the perimeter of the Site would ensure that no detectable quantities of

contaminants left the Site during remediation activities.

All EPA completion requirements for the Site have been met.

Specifically, confirmatory sampling verified that soil and dust

contaminated with greater than 15 parts per million (ppm) cadmium or

100 ppm nickel was excavated, stabilized with cement kiln dust, capped

and fenced in accordance with the ROD and the ENSC. Confirmatory soil

sampling and the backfilling of the excavated areas with clean soil

provides further assurance that the area no longer poses any threats to

human health or to the environment and no further Superfund response is

appropriate.

The Site Review and Update, prepared by the Texas Department of

Health under a Cooperative Agreement with the Agency for Toxic

Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), issued on September 1, 1993,

states that all of ATSDR's previous recommendations have been addressed

or can be dismissed. The potential threat to human exposure has been

eliminated.

TNRCC's Engineer conducted quarterly Site inspections for TNRCC

during the one year Operational and Functional (O&F) period from

September 1992 to September 1993 and reported the results to TNRCC. The

Site concrete cap and fencing were inspected for integrity. EPA, TNRCC

and TNRCC's Engineer conducted the final O&F inspection on September

10, 1993. There were no cracks in the concrete but there were minor

surface cracks in the asphalt sealant covering the joint fillers and

one hole cut in the fence. Repairs were made. EPA determined that the

remedial action was successful in protecting the public health and

welfare.

The State assumed all responsibility for Operation & Maintenance

(O&M) at the Site as of October 1, 1993. Therefore, long-term O&M of

the Site will be under the direction of the State of Texas, as

guaranteed in the Cooperative Agreement awarding remedial action funds.

O&M consists of inspecting the concrete cap and security fence for

integrity and making all needed repairs.

Hazardous substances, above health-based levels, remain in the

stabilized and capped soil located on the southern portion of the Site.

These materials prevent unlimited use and unrestricted access to this

portion of the Site. For this reason, EPA will conduct statutory five-

year reviews, pursuant to Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Directive 9355.7-02, ``Structure and Components of Five-Year Reviews''.

EPA will conduct the first review before September 1996. These reviews

will allow EPA and the State to determine whether the protectiveness of

the remedy for the Site will be maintained over time.

Based on the successful stabilization of the hazardous materials

onsite, the results of O&M activities to date, and ATSDR's favorable

review, the remedy is protective and no additional response action is

necessary. State funded O&M and EPA funded five-year reviews will

continue in the future, but EPA may proceed with the Site deletion

since applicable deletion criteria have been satisfied.

EPA, with concurrence of the State of Texas, has determined that

all appropriate responses under CERCLA at the Pesses Chemical Company

Site have been completed, and that no further response action, other

than O&M and Five-Year reviews, is necessary. Therefore, EPA proposes

to delete the Site from the NPL.

Dated: April 7, 1995.

A. Stanley Meiburg,

Acting Regional Administrator, US EPA Region 6.

[FR Doc. 95-9384 Filed 4-14-95; 8:45 am]

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