Notice of Lodging of Revised Amended Work Plan, Pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (``CERCLA'')

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of Revised Amended Work Plan, Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

(``CERCLA'')

In accordance with Departmental policy, notice is hereby given that

a proposed revised Amended Work Plan was lodged on August 29, 1996,

with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania (``District Court''), in United States v. Raymark

Industries, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 85-3073 (E.D. Pa.). Pursuant to a

Stipulation between the parties in Raymark Industries, the revised

Amended Work Plan has been substituted for the Amended Work Plan

(``1993 Plan'') attached to a Modification to Consent Decree that was

lodged with the District Court on June 29, 1994 (``1994

Modification'').

The 1993 Plan conformed the remedy for certain groundwater

contamination affecting municipal drinking water wells in Hatboro

Borough, Pennsylvania to the remedy chosen by the United States

Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') in its Record of Decision

(``ROD'') to abate groundwater contamination at and under the Raymark

Site, located at 220 Jacksonville Road, Hatboro, Pennsylvania. This was

necessary because the original Consent Decree, entered in 1989 prior to

EPA's publication of the ROD, had required the Hatboro Borough

Municipal Authority (``Hatboro'') to pump and treat water at a location

different than that later set forth in the ROD. Under the Decree, the

defendants paid Hatboro, an intervening plaintiff in the Raymark

Industries case, the sum of $612,500. In return, Hatboro was to pump

and treat groundwater originating at the Site at an off-Site location.

Prior to the expiration of the public comment period on the 1994

Modification and the 1993 Plan attached to it, Hatboro asked that the

1994 Modification not be entered pending further revisions to the 1993

Plan needed to accommodate changes in the operation of its water supply

and distribution system (``System'') and a potential sale of its

System. Following extensive negotiations, the United States, Hatboro,

and the defendants are in agreement on a proposed revised Amended Work

Plan containing three major revisions to the 1993 Plan. First, because

Hatboro does not anticipate needing well H-16 as a water supply well,

Hatboro need only recover and treat groundwater at well H-16 if Hatboro

elects in the future to operate that well as a water supply well.

(Under the 1993 Plan, Hatboro was unconditionally required to construct

a recovery and treatment system at well H-16.) Second, Hatboro is to

take over certain operation and maintenance functions at the existing

groundwater recovery system at the Raymark Site which are now being

performed by EPA. Third, the revised Amended Work Plan contains

extensive sampling and monitoring requirements which Hatboro must

perform at its wellfield, regardless of whether the Hatboro System is

sold or not.

The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30)

days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the 1994

Modification and the proposed revised Amended Work Plan. Comments

should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General for the

Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice,

Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to United States v. Raymark

Industries, Inc., DOJ Ref. #90-11-2-12. The 1994 Modification and

revised Amended Work Plan may be examined at the Office of the United

States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 615 Chestnut

Street, 12th Floor, Suite 1200, Philadelphia Life Building,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, and the Region III Office of the

Environmental Protection Agency, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania 19107. A copy of the 1994 Modification and the revised

Amended Work Plan may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent

Decree Library, 1120 G Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005,

(202) 624-0892. In requesting a copy of the proposed Modification and

revised Amended Work Plan (Appendix A to the Modification), please

refer to the referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $7.25

(25 cents per page reproduction costs), payable to the Consent Decree

Library. Please enclose an additional $19.25 should you wish to order a

copy of the ROD (Appendix B).

Joel M. Gross

Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural

Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 96-23493 Filed 9-12-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410-01-M