National Oil and Hazardous Substance Contingency Pollution Plan; National Priorities List Update

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5557-1]

National Oil and Hazardous Substance Contingency Pollution Plan;

National Priorities List Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Gold Coast oil site from the

National Priorities List (NPL); Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA, Region IV, announces its intent to delete the Gold Coast

Oil Site (Site) in Miami, Dade County, Florida, from the NPL and

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

40 CFR part 300; the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP) promulgated by the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980

(CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the State of Florida (State) have

determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have

[[Page 43204]]

been implemented by the Potentially Responsible Parties and that no

further response actions are needed. Moreover, EPA and the State have

determined that the remedial actions conducted at the Site to date have

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

DATES: Comments on the proposed deletion from the NPL should be

submitted no later than September 20, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Brad Jackson, Remedial Project

Manager, South Superfund Remedial Branch, Waste Management Division,

EPA, Region IV, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30365.

Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the

EPA, Region IV, public docket located at the regional office. The

deletion docket is available for viewing, by appointment, from 9:00

a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests

for appointments or copies of the background information from the EPA

regional office should be directed to Debbie Jourdan, EPA, Region IV,

docket office at 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia, 30365.

Ms. Jourdan may also be contacted by telephone at (404) 347-5059,

extension 6217.

Background information from the regional public docket is also

available for viewing at the Site information repository located at

Florida International University, University Park Campus Library, Rm.

AT-235, Miami, Florida, 33199. Appointments can be scheduled to review

the documents locally by contacting the library at (305) 348-2463.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Jackson, Remedial Project

Manager, EPA, Region IV, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia,

30365, (404) 347-2643.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

EPA, Region IV, announces its intent to delete the Gold Coast Oil

Site from the NPL (Appendix B of the NCP), and request comments on this

proposed deletion. EPA identifies sites that pose a significant threat

to public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains an

inventory of these sites through the NPL. Sites on the NPL may be the

subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances

Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to Sec. 300.66(c)(8) of

the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-

financed remedial actions if new or changing conditions warrant such

actions.

EPA will accept comments concerning the proposed deletion of this

site from the NPL until September 20, 1996.

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), releases may

be deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In

making this determination, EPA will consider, in consultation with the

State of Florida, whether any of the following criteria are met:

Responsible or other parties have implemented all

appropriate response actions required; or

All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have

been implemented and no further cleanup by responsible parties is

appropriate, or

The remedial investigation has shown that the release

poses no significant threat to public health, welfare, or the

environment and, therefore, undertaking of additional remedial measures

is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

EPA, Region IV, will accept and evaluate public comments before

making a final decision to delete this Site from the NPL. Comments from

the local community may be the most pertinent to the deletion decision.

The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of this

Site:

EPA, Region IV, has recommended deletion and has prepared

the relevant documents.

The State has concurred with the deletion decision.

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.

The Region has made all relevant documents available in

the Regional Office and local site information repository.

Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself, create, alter, or

revoke and individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed

primarily for information purposes and to assist Agency management. As

mentioned in Section II of this Notice, 40 CFR Section 300.425(e)(3)

provides that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude

eligibility for future Fund-financed response actions.

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, if necessary, which will address any comments

received during the public comment period.

A deletion occurs when the EPA Regional Administrator publishes 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 IV.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The Gold Coast Oil Site is the former location of an oil

reclamation facility that operated over an 11-year period. The Site is

approximately two acres in size and is located in a mixed commercial,

industrial, and residential area of Miami, Florida. Poor housekeeping

practices and improper disposal of wastes resulted in extensive

contamination of surface and subsurface soils at levels that posed a

threat to human health, welfare and/or the environment. The underlying

Biscayne aquifer, a sole source of drinking water for Dade County, was

also extensively contaminated at levels in excess of Federal and State

Drinking Water Standards. Concern for the potential threat to the

public and impact on the local drinking water supply prompted the

inclusion of the Site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in

September 1983.

Numerous studies were undertaken by EPA and the potentially

responsible parties which documented the nature and extent of

contamination. The scope and results of these studies was summarized in

detail in the Interim Site Close Out Report and in other documents

contained in the Site file. Community involvement and the scope of

community relation activities were also documented in the Interim Site

Close Out Report.

Soil remediation began in March 1989, with the excavation and

offsite disposal of 683 tons of contaminated soils and hardened waste

sludge. An additional 200 cubic yards of contaminated soil was

excavated and removed for offsite disposal in March 1990. As discussed

in the Interim Site Close Out Report, sampling and analysis of soil

samples verified compliance with the ROD cleanup criteria.

A comprehensive system of groundwater monitoring, recovery, and

disposal was implemented in July 1990. Contaminated groundwater was

recovered through a series of wells and treated onsite with a dual

column air stripping system for the removal of volatile organic

compounds. The treated

[[Page 43205]]

groundwater was returned to the aquifer through onsite injection wells,

upgradient of the recovery system.

Contaminant levels were reduced dramatically within the first year

of operation of the system. Several modifications were eventually made

to the groundwater recovery system to enhance its effectiveness. A

summary of analytical results that document the performance of the

remedial system is provided in the Site Close Out Report, February

1996.

EPA, in consultation with the State, concluded that the groundwater

recovery system had achieved its goal in significantly reducing

contaminant levels within the aquifer, and that continued operation of

the recovery system would not provide any further reduction in

contaminant levels. The system was deactivated and placed in a

monitoring mode on March 15, 1994.

The groundwater recovery and treatment system recovered and treated

over 80 million gallons of water. Operation of the system reduced

contaminant levels by approximately 99 percent and essentially

eliminated the dissolved plume.

Monitoring of the Site during the period May through November 1994,

indicated continued compliance with the groundwater performance

criteria, with the exception of periodic exceedances of TCE and PCE in

the two shallow wells located near the center of the former plume.

These periodic exceedances represented very small, isolated, areas of

contamination. It was theorized that these exceedances may be the

result of residual VOC contamination in soil overlying the groundwater.

However, soil gas analysis conducted in proximity to monitoring wells

MW-11 and MW-13, in November 1994, did not indicate the presence of any

residual contamination in the unsaturated zone.

In a final effort to attain permanent compliance with the

performance criteria at monitoring wells MW-11 and MW-13, the soil

surrounding the wells was excavated below the water table. The

excavations were approximately 15-feet square by 15-feet deep. Although

a composite soil sample from each excavated stockpile did not indicate

the present of any TCE or PCE, initial sampling of the groundwater in

the pits indicated elevated levels of TCE and PCE. The pits remained

open for several months and the water was treated using a portable

compressor and air spargers. A summary of the analytical results of the

sampling of groundwater from the pits was provided in the Close Out

Report, February 1996.

As documented in the Close Out Report, TCE and PCE concentrations

decreased with time and stabilized at levels within the performance

criteria specified in the ROD. At that time, the groundwater

remediation was determined to be complete, and the pits backfilled with

clean fill.

Cleanup of the Gold Coast Oil site is complete. Approval of this

Close Out Report will serve as certification of completion of all

remedial activities at the Gold Coast Oil Site. Based on the success of

the remedial action, only one year of post-certification monitoring

will be performed. Should the data indicate no significant increase in

the contaminant levels relative to the findings of the ``clean

closure'' monitoring, the post-certification monitoring may cease.

However, should the post-certification monitoring show significant

increases in the contaminant levels relative to the ``clean closure''

monitoring, EPA may extend the length of the post-certification

monitoring. The commitment by the PRPs to perform post-certification

monitoring is provided for in the Consent Decree and the plans for

monitoring described in a letter from the PRPs consultant to the EPA

Remedial Project Manager dated April 17, 1992. Performance of the Post-

Certification monitoring, however, does not preclude the deletion of

this Site from the NPL.

Removal of all hazardous substances from the Site resulted in

unlimited use and unrestricted exposure at the Site. As a result, no

institutional controls were necessary at the Site. Since, the long-term

groundwater response action was not certified as complete within the

time period for the first Five-Year Review, a review was conducted and

concluded that the remedy had been effective in attaining the remedial

goals and that no further remedial response was necessary.

EPA, in consultation with the State, has determined that all

necessary response actions, including final attainment of the

groundwater cleanup criteria, have been met as specified in OSWER

Directive 9320.2-3A. Specifically, confirmatory sampling has verified

that the ROD cleanup objectives for the soil and groundwater have been

achieved and the Site is protective of public health, welfare and the

environment. These documents are available for review by calling the

Regional Office at (404) 347-2643.

Dated: July 22, 1996.

A. Stanley Meiburg,

Acting Regional Administrator, USEPA, Region IV.

[FR Doc. 96-21178 Filed 8-20-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P