National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan National Priorities List

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5644-6]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Cal West Metals Superfund site

from the National Priorities List and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 6, announces

its intent to delete the Cal West Metals Superfund 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), 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 New Mexico through the New Mexico

Environment Department (NMED) 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 and the environment.

DATES: The EPA will accept comments concerning its proposal for

deletion for thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the

Federal Register and a newspaper of record.

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

Community Relations Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 6 (6SF-P), 1445 Ross

Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, Telephone: (214) 665-6584 or 1-800-

533-3508.

INFORMATION REPOSITORIES: Comprehensive information on the Cal West

Metals Site as well as information specific to this deletion is

available for review at EPA's Region 6 office in Dallas, Texas. The

Administrative Records and the Deletion Docket for this deletion are

maintained at the following Cal West Metals Site document/information

repositories:

U.S. EPA, Region 6, Library, 12th Floor (6MD-II), 1445 Ross Avenue,

Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-6424 or 665-6427. Hours of

Operation: M-F 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Socorro Public Library, 401 Park St., S.W., Socorro, New Mexico (505)

835-1114. Hours of Operation: Mon., Wed., Fri. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., T. and

Th. 9 a.m. -9:00 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

New Mexico Environment Department, Harold Runnels Building, 1190 St.

Francis, P.O. Box 26110, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502, Phone: (505) 827-

2922. Hours of Operation: M-F 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Agatha B. Benjamin, P.E., Remedial Project Manager (6SF-LN), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas,

Texas 75202-2733, Phone: (214) 665-7292 or 1-800-533-3508

Ms. Maura Hanning, Superfund Program Manager, Groundwater Quality

Bureau, Superfund Oversight Section, New Mexico Environment Department,

P.O. Box 26110, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502, Phone: (505) 827-2922

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. National Priorities List (NPL) Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. History and Basis for Intended Site Deletion

Appendix

A. Deletion Docket

B. Site Coordinate Boundaries

I. Introduction

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 6, announces

its intent to delete the Cal West Metals Superfund site, Lemitar,

Socorro County, New Mexico, from the National Priorities List (NPL),

which constitutes Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), Code of Federal

Regulations, Title 40 (40 CFR), Part 300, and requests comments on the

proposed deletion. The EPA identifies sites that appear to present a

significant risk to public health, 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 (Fund). Pursuant to Section 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. The EPA

will accept comments concerning this proposal for thirty (30) days

after publication of this notice in the Federal Register and a

newspaper of record. 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 this

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 Sec. 300.425(e)(1), sites

may be deleted from or recategorized on the NPL where no further

response is appropriate. In making a determination to delete a site

from the NPL, EPA shall consider, in consultation with the State,

whether any of the following criteria have been met:

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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.

Prior to deciding to delete a site from the NPL, EPA must determine

that the remedy, or existing site conditions at sites where no action

is required, is protective of public health and the environment.

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 states that Fund-financed

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

III. Deletion Procedures

Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in

Sec. 300.425(e)(1) has been met, EPA may formally begin deletion

procedures. The following procedures were used for the intended

deletion of this site:

(1) The EPA, Region 6, has recommended deletion and has prepared

the relevant documents.

(2) The State of New Mexico through NMED concurred with the

deletion by letter dated September 13, 1996.

(3) Concurrent with this National Notice of Intent to Delete, a

local notice has been published in the local newspaper of record 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

commences on the date of publication of this notice in the Federal

Register and a newspaper of record.

(4) The EPA, Region 6, has made all relevant documents available at

the information repositories listed previously.

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 for review of the Notice

of Intent to Delete. The public is asked to comment on EPA's intention

to delete the site from the NPL. All critical documents needed to

evaluate EPA's decision are included in the information repository and

deletion docket.

Upon completion of the 30-day public comment period, EPA Region 6

will evaluate these comments before the final decision to delete. The

Region will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, to address concerns

raised by the comments received during the public comment period. The

Responsiveness Summary will be made available to the public at the

information repositories. Members of the public are encouraged to

contact the EPA, Region 6, Office to obtain a copy of the

Responsiveness Summary. If EPA still determines that deletion from the

NPL is appropriate after receiving public comments, EPA will publish a

Final Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. However, it is not

until a Notice of Deletion is published in the Federal Register that

the site would be actually deleted.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following provides EPA's rationale for the deletion of Cal West

Metals Superfund Site from the NPL and EPA's finding that the criteria

in 40 CFR Sec. 300.425(e)(1) are satisfied:

A. Site History

The Cal West Metals site is located one-half mile northwest of

Lemitar and approximately 8 miles north of Socorro in Socorro County,

New Mexico as shown in Figure 1. The site is bounded on the east by a

frontage road for US Interstate 25. The Interstate is located

approximately 250 feet east of the site. Land use is predominantly

agricultural and residential. There are three households located within

1,100 feet south of the site.

The Cal West Metals site is a former battery breaking and recycling

facility. The Cal West property includes approximately 43.8 acres, of

which 12.5 acres are fenced. Site operations were located within the

fenced area. The site consisted of two evaporation ponds, three

facility buildings, earth berms, soil and battery waste piles, a

concrete surface pad, and a salvage area.

Albert and James LaPoint operated the Cal West Metal battery

recycling facility and secondary lead smelter. From 1979 to 1981, the

facility processed an estimated 20,000 automobile batteries to recover

lead, plastics, and hard rubber components for commercial sale. Lead-

acid batteries were crushed on-site and the batteries were separated

into plastics, hard rubber, and lead oxides. Floatation and

centrifugation in a rotating separator drum separated the plastics,

hard rubber, and lead fraction. Water was recycled through the

separator drum and ultimately discharged to the lined pond along with

waste sludge. After the discharge line became plugged, sludge was

disposed of on the concrete surface pad adjacent to the cotton gin

building.

Piles of crushed battery components, in various stages of

separation, were stored outdoors from the start of operations to

approximately 1989. The broken battery piles were stored inside the

central building and stockpiled on the concrete pad adjacent (west) to

this building.

Cal West has been the subject of numerous State and Federal

investigations and regulatory actions since 1979. Preliminary

investigations were conducted by NMED, EPA, and the LaPoints from 1981

through 1989.

B. Response Actions

From 1979 to 1986, the state conducted investigations to assess air

and ground water quality on-site. NMED conducted a CERCLA Site

Inspection (SI) of the Cal West site during August 1985 to characterize

on-site wastes.

Surface soils and drainage adjacent to the Cal West site were

sampled during a CERCLA Site Inspection Follow-up (SIF) performed by

NMED during October 1986. Analytical results from the SIF indicate that

lead contamination from the Cal West site has migrated via air and

surface water run-off to adjacent soils and drainage.

In January 1986, EPA conducted a Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (RCRA) Compliance Monitoring Inspection to further characterize

wastes sampled during the 1985 investigation. Extraction Procedure (EP)

toxicity analyses were performed on waste samples.

In August 1986, EPA RCRA issued an Administrative Complaint to Cal

West and a Notice of Noncompliance to the Small Business Administration

based on the 1985 and 1986 inspection findings. The Complaint proposed

a penalty, cited RCRA violations, and required clean closure of the

site.

In July 1987, EPA and Cal West signed a Consent Agreement and Final

Order requiring submittal of a closure plan, soil sampling plan, a

hydrogeologic investigation plan, and financial assurance

documentation. From 1988 to 1990, The Lapoints conducted ground water

monitoring, removed topsoil from the fenced area and installed

monitoring wells.

NMED prepared a Superfund Hazard Ranking System package in January

1987. The site was proposed to the CERCLA National Priorities List

(NPL) on June 24, 1988. The site was formally added to the Superfund

National Priorities List on March 31, 1989.

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From October 1990 through October 1991, EPA and the NMED conducted

a two-phase remedial investigation to fully determine the nature and

extent of contamination and to evaluate the risks posed by site

contamination.

The Phase I investigation consisted of sampling and analysis of on-

site battery waste piles, soils and three site wells. Samples collected

were analyzed for the Target Compound List (TCL) of organic and the

Target Analyte List (TAL) of inorganic materials.

Phase II was conducted from September 16, 1991, through October 30,

1991. The Phase II investigations consisted of surface soil sampling,

trenching, air sampling, installation of monitor wells, residential and

monitor well sampling, a field portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF)

survey, and depth soil sampling.

Results of the remedial investigation, which included extensive

sampling of the source waste materials, site soils, drainage sediments,

and ground water indicated the following:

i. Contaminants for the source waste materials had spread and

contaminated the site soils and drainage sediments.

ii. Lead migration above the recommended residential cleanup level

of 640 ppm did not extend deeper than three (3) feet below ground

surface.

iii. Most of the soil contamination at the Cal West Metals site was

found at the ground surface level (depth of 6 inches or less).

iv. The contaminated area covered approximately 8.5 acres of the

total 43.8-acre site. Of the total contaminated area, approximately 7.0

acres were located within the 12.5-acre fenced area.

v. No release to the ground water of contaminants associated with

the Cal West site had occurred.

Also, based on the results of the remedial investigation field

sampling, lead antimony, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel, silver, and

polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons were selected as the major

contaminants of concern (COC) for the human risk assessment.

An Ecological field investigation was conducted during the week of

August 12, 1991, by personnel from EPA and NMED. The investigation

included sampling of vegetation, lizards and rodents. No adverse

ecological impacts attributable to the Cal West site were indicated.

C. Cleanup Standards and Criteria and Results

The EPA conducted the feasibility study (FS) for the site in-house.

The EPA contracted with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Southwestern

Division Laboratory (SWD), through an interagency agreement, to perform

treatability studies to evaluate the effectiveness of solidification/

stabilization as a treatment for site materials. Information gained

during the remedial investigation and treatability studies was used to

develop the feasibility study. The feasibility study identified several

alternatives to address contamination problems at the site.

As part of the feasibility study, EPA set cleanup goals called

remedial action objectives (RAOs) for concentrations of contaminants.

These goals were used to determine which areas of the site would

require cleanup. For lead, the remedial cleanup goal was set at 640

ppm. This goal was set assuming the site could be used in the future

for residential purposes and that adults and children would be exposed

to site contaminants if no action was taken. More details of the FS may

be found in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study for the

Cal West Metals Superfund Site, Lemitar, New Mexico.

Buck J. Wynne, Regional Administrator, EPA, Region 6, signed the

Record of Decision on September 29, 1992. EPA and NMED determined that

alternative number 3, on-site stabilization, on-site disposal and

capping was the most appropriate and protective remedy for the Cal West

Metals Site. This determination was based upon consideration of the

requirements of CERCLA, the detailed analysis of the alternatives using

the nine criteria and public comments from the local community. The

description of the selected remedy is:

Excavation and treatment by stabilization/solidification

to meet the health-based cleanup level of 640 mg/kg of approximately

15,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils, sediments, and source waste

materials;

Disposal of the treated contaminated material in an on-

site excavation, and capping of the disposal area with cement and a 12

inch soil cover, and;

Monitoring of site ground water with existing wells down-

gradient of the disposal site area.

Construction of the remedy began on May 10, 1994. On May 14, 1994,

Eagle Environmental Service, Inc, the subcontractor of the U. S. Bureau

of Reclamation (BOR), started collecting composite samples. Five random

samples were taken from each 50 foot square grid. Excavation and

sampling were conducted in six inch lifts. If material was found to be

contaminated after six inches of material, then another six inches was

excavated and sampled again. Contaminated soil was hauled to a staging

area and stockpiled to be treated. Contaminated material, mixed with

cement and water was transported to the Repository Cell and spread in

the cell. A total of 49,723 tons of material was treated: 1,028 tons of

battery parts, 212 tons of sediment, and 48,483 tons of contaminated

soils. The stabilized material was solidified in the Repository Cell.

The Cell was covered with 9,340 linear yards of concrete, three (3)

inches deep. The concrete cap (averaged a compressive strength of 4,317

psi. in 28 days) was started in February 1995 and the remediation was

completed by April 1995.

The final site completion inspection was conducted on June 12,1996.

More details about construction activities can be found in BOR'S April

1995 Final Construction Report, approved by the EPA in June 1996.

D. O&M Procedures and Site Monitoring Program

Operation and Maintenance (O&M) activities are performed to protect

the integrity of the remedy at the site. Pursuant to 40 CFR

Sec. 300.510, the State (NMED) has assumed all responsibility for

Operation and Maintenance (O&M) at this site. In accordance with the

Superfund State Contract (SSC), beginning one year after the completion

of the remedy, NMED will sample four (4) ground water wells annually

for the first five years. The wells will then be sampled once every

five years for twenty five years. In May 1996, NMED initiated the

monitoring program.

Based on the successful encapsulation of hazardous substances in

the consolidation cell and the results of O&M monitoring to date, EPA

has determined that the remedy is protective, that all appropriate

Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been implemented and no further

response action is appropriate. State-funded O&M and EPA-funded Five-

year Reviews will continue in the future. O&M of the remedy is not

considered ``further action'' and does not bar deletion.

E. Five-Year Review

Because this remedy will not result in the destruction of the lead

contamination from the site, hazardous substances will remain on-site

above health-based levels. Therefore, a review of the effectiveness of

the remedy will be conducted no later than June 1999.

F. Community Involvement Activities

Public participation activities for this site were met as required

in CERCLA Sections 113(k)(2)(B)(i-v) and 117. EPA conducted numerous

public open houses and formal meetings for the Cal

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West Metals site, in addition to informal status reports to interested

citizens and local officials. Responses to oral and written comments

were included in the Responsiveness Summary section of the Record of

Decision.

G. Protectiveness

All the completion requirements for this site have been met as

specified in OSWER Directive 9320.2-3C. Specifically the contaminated

soil and sediments have been rendered immobile by solidification/

stabilization and the possibility of contact to future residents at the

site has been eliminated. The solidified material passed TCLP tests for

(leachate) at levels below RCRA regulatory level. The ground water

which was not contaminated at the time of the RI is being further

protected by the solidification/stabilization and capping of the waste.

The selected remedy is protective of human health and the

environment. It complies with the Federal and State of New Mexico

requirements that are legally applicable or relevant and appropriate to

the remedial action. It is cost-effective. The remedy utilized

permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies to the

maximum extent practicable and satisfies the statutory preference for

remedies that employ treatment that reduces toxicity, mobility, or

volume as a principal element.

H. State Concurrence

In June 1996, a Final Close Out Report was prepared in which EPA,

in consultation with the State of New Mexico (NMED), determined that

all appropriate response actions required to ensure the protectiveness

of human health and the environment at the Cal West Metals Superfund

site had been implemented.

EPA, with the concurrence of the State of New Mexico, has

determined that all appropriate CERCLA response actions at the Cal West

Metals Superfund Site have been completed, and that no further response

action is appropriate.

Dated: October 10, 1996.

Approved By:

Jerry Clifford,

Acting Regional Administrator.

National Priorities List Deletion Docket, Cal West Metals Superfund

Site, Lemitar, Socorro County, New Mexico

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Report; U.S.

EPA, Region 6, Dallas, Texas

Record of Decision; U.S. EPA, Region 6, Dallas, Texas,

September 92

Cal West Metals Site Remediation (Contract documents and

Specification U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation,

October 29, 1993

Final Construction Report--Volume 1-4; U.S. Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, April 1995

Quality Assurance Project Plan; Eagle Construction and

Environmental Services, Inc., March 1994

Site Work Plan; Eagle Construction and Environmental Services,

Inc.

Public Health Assessment; U.S. Dept. of Health & Human

Services, July, 1995

Community Relations Plans; (See the Record of Decision)

Superfund State Contract

Preliminary Close Out Report; U.S. EPA, Region 6, Dallas,

Texas, September 28, 1995

Final Close Out Report; U.S. EPA, Region 6, Dallas, Texas,

June 1996

Documentation of State Concurrence on Deletion; New Mexico

Environment Department, September 13, 1996

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