National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5874-3]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Northwest Transformer South Harkness

Street site from the National Priorities List Update; request for

comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10,

announces its intent to delete the Northwest Transformer South Harkness

Street Site in Everson, Washington, from the National Priorities List

(NPL) and requests public comment on this proposed action. The NPL

constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and

Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA

promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.

EPA and the State of Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) have

determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public health

or the environment and, therefore, further remedial measures pursuant

to CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before

September 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Timothy H. Brincefield,

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail Stop ECL-111,

Seattle, WA 98101.

Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the

Region 10 public docket which is available for viewing at the NW

Transformer South Harkness Site information repositories at the

following locations:

Whatcom County Public Library, Kirsch Drive, Everson, Washington 98247.

United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, Office of

Environmental Cleanup--Records Center, Attn: Bob Phillips, 1200 Sixth

Avenue, Mail Stop ECL-110, Seattle, Washington 98101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy H. Brincefield, U.S. EPA

Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail Stop ECL-111, Seattle, Washington

98101, (206) 553-2100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10 announces its

intent to delete a site from the National Priorities List (NPL),

Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR part 300, and requests comments to this

deletion. EPA identifies sites on the NPL that appear to present a

significant risk to human health or the environment. As described in

section 300.425(e)(3)of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL remain

eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely event that

conditions at the site warrant such actions.

EPA plans to delete the Northwest Transformer South Harkness Street

Site (``Site'') at 107 South Harkness Street, Everson Washington, from

the NPL.

EPA will accept comments on the plan to delete this Site for thirty

days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting

sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using

for this action. Section IV discusses the South Harkness Street Site

and explains how the Site meets deletion criteria.

[[Page 43685]]

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

Section 300.425 (e) of the NCP provides that ``releases'' (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:

(i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all

appropriate response actions required;

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

implemented, and no further action by responsible parties is

appropriate, or

(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.

Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances,

pollutants or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow

for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA's policy is that a

subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five

years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure

that the site remains protective of public health and the environment.

In the case of the South Harkness Street Site, some hazardous

substances were left on-Site, therefore, the five-year review

requirement of section 121(c) of SARA remains applicable. If new

information becomes available that indicates a need for further action,

EPA may require remedial actions. Whenever there is a significant

release from a site deleted from the NPL, the site may be restored to

the NPL without the application of the Hazard Ranking System.

III. Deletion Procedures

The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of

this Site: (1) The September 29, 1994 ROD included language that

documented the achievement of cleanup goals and the fact that no

separate close out report was necessary; (2) The Washington Department

Of Ecology (Ecology) has concurred with the proposed deletion decision;

(3) A notice has been published in the local newspaper and has been

distributed to appropriate Federal, State, and local officials and

other interested parties announcing the commencement of a 30-day public

comment period on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete; and, (4) All

relevant documents have been made available for public review in the

Site information repositories.

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

revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed

primarily for information purposes to assist EPA management. As

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

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

future Fund-financed response actions.

EPA's Regional Office will accept and evaluate public comments on

EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before making a final decision. The

Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary if any significant public

comments are received.

A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final

notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect

deletions in the final update following the Notice. Public notices and

copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local

residents by EPA's Regional Office in Seattle, Washington.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following Site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the

intention to delete this Site from the NPL.

A. Site Background

The South Harkness Superfund Site was a former transformer

manufacturing, service and reclamation facility located in a

commercial/residential area of downtown Everson, Washington. The site

is located in downtown Everson and is bordered by a City Park, Main

Street businesses, and South Harkness Street. An alley runs through the

site.

The 1-acre facility was operated by the NW Transformer Service

Company from 1958 until 1987. The Company used a building on-site to

manufacture, recycle and rebuild transformers and an unpaved lot for

storage of transformers, drums, bulk materials and salvage. The Company

transferred its main storage and salvage operations from its Mission

and Pole Roads salvage yard, which is also on the NPL, to the South

Harkness Street site in 1985. An Ecology inspection in 1985 detected

high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in on-site soils.

The facility was added to the NPL in 1990 due to PCB and metals

contamination in the building and soils. No site-related groundwater

contamination has ever been detected and there are no drinking water

wells down gradient from the site.

B. History

The following is a brief summary of the site investigation, removal

action, recent sampling results, and current conditions:

Since the site is small and contaminant levels relatively

low, it was addressed with a streamlined approach. The Potentially

Responsible Parties (PRPs) agreed on 6/17/92 to perform the necessary

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and a removal action if

necessary.

Field Investigations started in January 1993. No

contaminants of concern were found in groundwater at the site. The

primary contaminants of concern were PCBs (up to 89 ppm in soils and

structural materials) and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) up to

63,000 ppm in underlying soils.

The possibility of significant contamination of the

Nooksack River and sediments was determined to be unlikely. The air

pathway was also ruled out as a pathway of significant concern.

After review of an Engineering Evaluation and Cost

Analysis of removal alternatives, EPA issued a proposed plan for a

removal to eliminate the risk of the building collapsing, to provide

additional data for the RI and risk assessment, and to remediate the

site in accordance with remedial requirements if possible.

The removal was performed between November 1993 and June

1994. The site now consists of two modified asphalt parking lots and an

alley covering about four feet of clean soil. In most locations PCB

concentrations are less than 1 ppm. Two locations show evidence of low-

level PCB contaminations at depth beneath the clean soil and asphalt

cap (7 ppm at 6 feet below the ground surface and 28 ppm at 12.5 feet).

TPH is also present in soils beneath the cap/parking lots,

at levels up to 24,000 ppm. In accordance with additional State

requirements documented in the CERCLA No Further Action ROD, the owners

of the affected properties have recorded notices on their deeds

acknowledging the presence of contamination and their duty, and that of

subsequent property owners, to sample soils if the cap is disturbed and

if soils are found to be contaminated, to dispose of them in accordance

with State and Federal Law.

In four years of ground water sampling no detectible

quantities of PCBs or TPH have been found. Data from three rounds of

groundwater sampling prior to the Removal Action show that no chemicals

of concern were detected in site groundwater samples above maximum

contaminant levels for drinking. Post-RA groundwater sampling for Site-

related contaminants (PCBs and TPH) was conducted in November 1994,

March 1995, July 1995,

[[Page 43686]]

October 1995, and October 1996. No chemical compounds of concern

related to the site were detected in these groundwater samples.

EPA oversight sampling since the Removal Action has

identified the presence of Pentachlorophenol in some groundwater

samples, however no evidence of Pentachlorophenol was ever identified

at the site during site inspections, field investigations, the Removal

Action, or post-removal confirmation sampling. EPA has provided Ecology

with these results and the Agencies have agreed that EPA will continue

efforts to identify the source and potential impacts of the

Pentachlorophenol, but that since there is no evidence to date that the

Pentachlorophenol is site-related, its detection should not preclude

deletion of this site from the NPL. Note that deleted sites remain

eligible for future Fund-financed response actions should future

conditions warrant such action, and whenever there is a significant

release from a site or portion of a site deleted from the NPL, the site

or portion may be restored to the NPL without application of the Hazard

Ranking System.

EPA sees no reason to require continued annual ground

water monitoring for PCBs, although periodic monitoring to support

five-year reviews may still be appropriate. TPH is being addressed as

an additional state requirement, which the Washington Department of

Ecology will determine whether or not to continue.

C. Characterization of Risk

The risk assessment was done subsequent to the Removal

Action, and documented that current and future potential risks posed by

the site are within the acceptable risk range of 10-5 or

less. There is no current pathway for human exposure since all soil

contamination has been removed and/or capped and no site-related

contaminants of concern have been detected in groundwater. Because site

risks were so low, EPA determined that no feasibility study was

necessary and no other alternatives were considered or evaluated.

The site remains a useful parking lot, serving downtown

Everson, including the Senior Center and City Hall.

D. Public Participation

Community input has been sought by EPA Region 10 throughout the

cleanup process at the Site. An information repository was established

and has been maintained at the Everson Public Library. Fact sheets and

public notices were distributed when the site was placed on the NPL in

1990, when Notice Letters were sent to the PRPs in December 1991, when

the Removal Action was proposed in August 1993, and at several other

times.

A public comment period was held from August 16 to September 15,

1993 on the proposed removal action. At that time the public was

informed that if the Removal Action was successful, no further action

would likely be necessary. EPA issued a Proposed Plan calling for No

Further Action on August 24, 1994, and held a public comment period

from August 26 to September 26, 1994. A fact sheet and two public

notices of the Plan were issued by EPA, but EPA received no public

comments on the Proposed Plan.

A copy of the Deletion Docket can be reviewed by the public at the

Everson Public Library, or the EPA Region 10 Superfund Records Center.

The Deletion Docket includes this Notice, the ROD, Amended ROD,

Remedial Action Construction Report, and Final Site Close-Out Report.

EPA Region 10 will also announce the availability of the Deletion

Docket for public review in a local newspaper and informational fact

sheet.

One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may

delete a site from the NPL if ``responsible parties or other persons

have implemented all appropriate response actions required.'' EPA, with

the concurrence of Ecology, believes that this criterion for deletion

has been met. Groundwater and soil data from the Site confirm that the

ROD cleanup goals have been achieved. There is no significant threat to

human health or the environment and, therefore, no further remedial

action is necessary. Consequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this

Site from the NPL. Documents supporting this action are available in

the docket at the information repositories.

Dated: August 4, 1997.

Randall F. Smith,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-21380 Filed 8-14-97; 8:45 am]

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