National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan National Priorities List

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5828-5]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Middletown Air Field Site,

located in Middletown, Pennsylvania, from the National Priorities List

and request for comments.

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

its intent to delete the Middletown Air Field Site (Site) from the

National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this

action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 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 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental

Protection (PADEP) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA response

actions have been implemented and that no further cleanup is

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

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

health, welfare, and the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site from the

NPL may be submitted on or before June 23, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Nicholas J. DiNardo, (3HW50),

Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 841 Chestnut

Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, (215) 566-3365.

Comprehensive information on this Site is available for viewing at

the Site information repositories at the following locations:

U.S. EPA, Region III, Hazardous Waste Technical Information Center, 841

Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 566-5363.

Middletown Public Library, 20 North Catherine Street, Middletown, PA

17057, (717) 944-6412.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas J. DiNardo (3HW50), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 566-3365.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces its

intent to delete the Middletown Air Field Site, Dauphin County,

Pennsylvania, from the National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of

the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), and requests comments on this deletion. The 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 Substance Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to

Sec. 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.

EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site from

the NPL for thirty calendar 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 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 this determination, EPA will consider, in consultation with the

State, whether any of the following criteria have been met:

(i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate

response actions required; or

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(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been

implemented and no further cleanup is appropriate; or

(iii) As set forth in the investigative findings for the Site, the

release poses no significant threat to public health or the environment

and, therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.

In addition to the above, for all remedial actions which result in

hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the site

above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure,

section 121(c) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9621(c), the NCP at 40 CFR

300.430(f)(4)(ii) and EPA's policy, OSWER Directive 9320.2-09, dated

August 1995, provide that a subsequent review of the site will be

conducted at least every five years after the initiation of the first

remedial action at the Site to ensure that conditions at the Site

remain protective of public health and the environment. In the case of

this Site, EPA conducted a ``five year review'' in August of 1996.

Based on the inspection, EPA determined that conditions at the Site

remain protective of public health and the environment. As explained/

discussed below, the Site meets the NCP's deletion criteria listed

above. Five-year reviews will continue to be conducted at the Site

until no hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain above

levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.

Releases shall not be deleted from the NPL until the state in which

the release was located has concurred on the proposed deletion. 40 CFR

300.425(e)(2).

All releases deleted from the NPL are eligible for further Fund-

financed remedial actions should future conditions warrant such action.

Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted from the

NPL, the site can be restored to the NPL without application of the

Hazard Ranking System. 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3).

III. Deletion Procedures

Section 300.425(e)(4) of the NCP sets forth requirements for site

deletions to assure public involvement in the decision. During the

proposal to delete a site from the NPL, EPA is required to conduct the

following activities:

(i) Publish a notice of intent to delete in the Federal Register

and solicit comment through a public comment period of a minimum of 30

calendar days;

(ii) Publish a notice of availability of the notice of intent to

delete in a major local newspaper of general circulation at or near the

site that is proposed for deletion;

(iii) Place copies of information supporting the proposed deletion

in the information repository at or near the site proposed for

deletion; and,

(iv) Respond to each significant comment and any significant new

data submitted during the comment period in a Responsiveness Summary.

If appropriate, after consideration of comments received during the

public comment period, EPA then publishes a notice of deletion in the

Federal Register and places the final deletion package, including the

Responsiveness Summary, in the Site repositories.

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

revoke any individual's rights or obligations. As stated in Section II

of this Notice, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP provides that the

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

future response actions.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following site summary provide's EPA's rationale for the

proposal to delete the Middletown Air Field Site from the NPL.

The Site is located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, about 8 miles

southeast of Harrisburg. It is situated between the boroughs of

Highspire and Middletown along Pennsylvania Route 230, and bordered by

the Susquehanna River to the south. The site property was initially

established as Camp George Gordon Meade by the Army in July 1898 and

then was operated as a pickle farm by the H.J. Heinz company until May

15, 1917, when ground was broken for an Army Signal Corps storage depot

(the Aviation General Depot, later known as the Middletown Air

Intermediate Depot). Flight activities began on the site in 1918 and

the airfield was named Olmstead Field in 1923. In 1947 it became known

as Olmstead Air Force base. In 1967 Olmstead Air Force Base was

transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the facility was

renamed Olmstead State Airport. It was renamed Harrisburg International

Airport in 1971.

The former Air Force field and most of the former Air Force

industrial buildings (approximately 625 acres) are currently owned by

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation (PennDOT) maintains and manages the Harrisburg

International Airport (HIA) portion. The 193rd Special Operations group

of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard operates a small portion of the

Site, just east of the airport complex. Approximately 218 acres of

former administrative and housing facilities north of Route 230 are

owned by the Harrisburg campus of Pennsylvania State University. An

additional 93 acres of former Air Force warehouse facilities north of

the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) were originally leased to Fruehauf

Industries (Fruehauf) in May 1966 by a local industrial development

authority. Fruehauf manufactured truck trailers and its Site activities

including welding, punching, fastening, foaming and painting. By May

23, 1986, Fruehauf had acquired ownership of the 93 acres. In June

1995, the property, excluding the North Base Landfill, was sold to

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. by Fruehauf. Fruehauf still retains

ownership the North Base Landfill property.

Activities throughout the history of the Site included:

Warehousing and supply of parts, equipment, general

supplies, petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) for the Department of the

Army's Northeast Procurement District;

Complete aircraft overhaul including stripping,

repainting, engine overhaul, reassembly, and equipment replacement;

Engine and aircraft testing; and

General base support maintenance and operation.

HIA currently conducts general airport operations and maintenance,

and leases buildings to fixed base operators and industrial tenants.

Tenants have performed a number of activities at this Site, including:

Aircraft maintenance operations, aircraft paint stripping

and repainting, and parts cleaning;

Aircraft instrument overhaul and repair;

Fabric dying;

Machine shop operations; and

Typewriter ribbon inking and cartridge assembly.

Various studies have been conducted by both EPA and the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP, formerly

the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources), at the

facility since 1983 to investigate and monitor areas that were affected

by operations at the Site. In March 1983, PADEP discovered the volatile

organic compound (VOC) trichloroethylene (TCE) in six of ten HIA

production wells. This discovery triggered subsequent environmental

investigations and studies, and the installation of a water treatment

system that is currently still in use at the facility.

In 1984, EPA conducted ground penetrating radar and magnetometer

surveys at the Runway, Industrial, and

[[Page 28409]]

North Base Landfill areas at the Site. EPA removed nine partially

exposed 55-gallon drums from a fill area located along a stream bank

northeast of the Meade Heights housing complex. The drums were empty

except for water and coatings of a hard, black tarry substance. EPA

sampled the drum contents and found that they did not exhibit the

characteristic of EP toxicity (as described in 40 CFR 261.24) at the

time of the sampling.

EPA evaluated the Site under the Hazard Ranking System and was

proposed for inclusion on the National Priorities List (NPL) on October

1, 1984. EPA added the Site to the NPL on June 1, 1986. 51 FR 21054

(June 6, 1996). EPA's initial response after the NPL listing focused on

the presence of VOCs found in the groundwater beneath the Site. EPA

selected an interim remedy in the December 30, 1987, Record of Decision

(1987 ROD) that addressed HIA's contaminated drinking water supply. The

selected response consisted of the installation of an air stripping

system for the removal of VOCs to meet the drinking water standards.

The existing treatment system consists of two air strippers, an ion

exchange unit for the removal of hardness, and disinfection prior to

distribution.

A train spill occurred northwest of the runway area on June 4,

1988, approximately 500 feet west of Production Well HIA-12. Diethylene

glycol and mineral oil were released to the soil as a result of the

spill. PADEP remediated the site of the spill through pumping ground

water into settling tanks, skimming the mineral oil, biotreatment of

the diethylene glycol, and reinjection of the treated water. PADEP

completed the remediation in 1989.

In order to fully characterize the remainder of the Site and

identify potential public health and environmental concerns, EPA issued

a contract for an extensive study of the Site in 1988. The study was

performed in two phases--the Remedial Investigation (RI) and the

Feasibility Study (FS). See 40 CFR 300.430 (d) and (e).

Based upon the 1988 RI/FS for the Site, the Operable Unit 2 Record

of Decision (1990 ROD), signed on December 17, 1990, directed continued

operation of existing drinking water supply treatment and the current

distribution system, the institution of groundwater use restrictions,

and additional monitoring of the water supply wells. The remedy

contained in the 1990 ROD also directed the use of institutional

controls to address direct contact and other threats from potentially

contaminated soils that may be exposed at the Site during construction,

demolition, excavation or other activities that disturb Site soils and

involve the potential for worker and public exposure to presently

contaminated soils. The 1990 ROD also selected final remedial actions

at study areas (SAs) 1, 2, 3, and 4 and an interim action at SA-5,

since the field investigation results at SA-5 were inconclusive in

determining contaminant sources and their potential environmental

impact.

Under the 1990 ROD, the remedy selection for SA-1 involved the

continued operation of the ground water treatment system currently in

place at the Site, the institution of restrictions for all ground water

use throughout the Site (which extends from the North Base Landfill to

the Susquehanna River), and the addition of monitoring for the water

supply wells.

The remedy for SA-2 and SA-3 included land use and access

restrictions, and the development of public and worker health and

safety requirements for activities involving construction, demolition,

and excavation or other activities that would disturb the Site soil.

The remedy for SA-4, which provided for the installation of

``sentinel wells'' designed to assure protection of well MID-04 from

contaminants found on the Site, was coupled with the remedy for SA-1 to

efficiently and effectively address ground water contamination at the

Site.

The interim action required for SA-5 included a study evaluating

the water quality of, and organisms living in, the stream near Meade

Heights.

After reviewing the 1990 ROD, PADEP asserted that the ROD did not

fully investigate the relationship between soil and ground water

contamination, nor did it consider active soil cleanup technologies. In

1992, an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was issued to

address PADEP's concerns by expanding the scope of the Supplemental

Studies Investigation (SSI) required by the 1990 ROD. The ESD explained

that the ground water remedy selected in the 1990 ROD was an interim

action and that the final decision would follow in the third ROD. The

ESD also rescinded the requirement in the 1990 ROD, that the existing

water supply system must continue to operate even if airport operations

cease would be eliminated and reevaluated at a later date.

The SSI concluded that no contaminants of concern were identified

in the surface water or sediment at the Site above the Biological

Technical Assistance Group (BTAG) screening levels. Furthermore, based

on the Baseline Risk Assessment (BRA) that was performed as part of the

SSI, EPA concluded in the third ROD, issued on September 17 1996, that:

No additional action, other than that already required by

earlier RODs, is necessary to address soils at the Site. Therefore all

remedial designs and remedial actions are complete, and no cleanup

standards are set for any operable unit.

Institutional restrictions on ground water use will be

continued at the Site.

Monitoring of surface water and sediment in the

Susquehanna River as required by the 1990 ROD should continue. In

addition, two locations involving the J-5 storm drain, situated next to

building 208, should also be sampled quarterly and evaluated as part of

the five year review for the Site. These locations are the J-5 storm

drain and the outfall of the J-5 storm line at Post Run. The sampling

frequency may be modified by PADEP after one year. No other sampling

for surface water and sediment is deemed necessary at this time.

Monitoring of the sentinel wells in the North Base

Landfill Area, as required by the 1990 ROD for the protection of the

MID-04 well, should continue. No other actions for this area are deemed

necessary at this time.

No action is required for surface water or sediment in

Meade Heights.

In the event that the HIA should cease or reduce the

pumping of the production wells, PADEP will assess the potential for

currently contained hazardous substances to migrate towards the

Susquehanna River and PADEP, as provided for in the April 16, 1997,

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between PADEP and PennDOT, may impose

a sampling and review period (not to initially exceed 5 years) to

assess whether any impact is occurring regarding the Susquehanna River.

After the initial review, PADEP will again review the Site's status and

determine if additional action is warranted.

As required by the 1990 ROD, ground water use will be

restricted in the event any new wells are to be installed or

modification of usage to existing wells is to be implemented at the

Site. The extracted ground water must be tested and the results

reported to PADEP. Ground water use at the Site will require a permit

or approval by PADEP prior to use.

The 1996 ROD concluded that no additional action, other than that

already required by the 1987 ROD and the 1990 ROD, as modified by the

1992

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ESD, is required at the Site. Further, EPA has concluded that the 1996

ROD's ``No Further Action'' alternative's use of engineering and

institutional controls at the Site will not interfere with the

redevelopment and expansion objectives set forth in the October 1990

Master Plan Harrisburg International Airport commissioned by PennDOT's

Bureau of Aviation's State-owned Airports Division.

On August 21, 1996, EPA and PADEP conducted a final inspection of

the sentinel well construction. No deficiencies were noted nor were

additional activities deemed necessary as a result of the inspection.

All remedial actions for this Site are complete. Collection of

monitoring well data from the HIA production wells and the North Base

Landfill sentinel wells, initially on a quarterly basis (unless and

until modified by PADEP), is the only O&M requirement necessary.

PADEP has assumed the responsibility for assuring compliance with

the institutional controls identified in the RODs for this Site, and

the review of data generated as part of the 5-year review process. On

April 16, 1997, PADEP and PennDOT entered into a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU). The MOU expresses the intent of PADEP and PennDOT

that PennDOT will, inter alia, perform the sampling of the wells, water

and sediment and implement institutional controls, as required by

remedy selected in the 1996 ROD.

The statutorily required five-year review of the ground water

treatment remedy selected in the 1987 ROD was completed on September

1996. Further five year reviews will be conducted pursuant to OSWER

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

and/or other applicable guidance. The next scheduled five year review

is set for September, 1998. Subsequent five year reviews will be

conducted pursuant to the directive.

The remedies selected for this Site have been implemented in

accordance with the three Records of Decision as modified and expanded

in the EPA-approved Remedial Designs for the Operable Units and the

1992 ESD. Human health threats and potential environmental impacts have

been reduced to acceptable levels. EPA and the PADEP find that the

remedies implemented continue to provide adequate protection of human

health and the environment.

EPA, with the concurrence of PADEP, believes that the criteria for

deletion of this Site have been met. Therefore, EPA is proposing

deletion of this Site from the NPL.

Dated: May 15, 1997.

W. Michael McCabe,

Regional Administrator, USEPA Region III.

[FR Doc. 97-13481 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]

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