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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5887-1]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill Site

from the national priorities list; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)

Region V announces its intent to delete the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill

Site (the 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),

which is 40 CFR part 300, appendix B. EPA promulgated the NCP pursuant

to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

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

action is being taken by U.S. EPA, because it has been determined that

all Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and U.S.

EPA, in consultation with the State of Minnesota, has determined that

no further response is appropriate. Moreover, U.S. 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 the Site from the

NPL may be submitted on or before October 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial

Project Manager, Superfund Division, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson

Blvd. (SR-6J), Chicago, IL 60604. Comprehensive information on the site

is available at U.S. EPA's Region V office and at the local information

repository located at: Alexandria Public Library, Seventh and Fillmore,

Alexandria, MN 56308. Requests for comprehensive copies of documents

should be directed formally to the Region V Docket Office. The address

and phone number for the Regional Docket Officer is Jan Pfundheller (H-

7J), U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312)

353-5821.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gladys Beard (SR-6J), Associate

Remedial Project Manager, Superfund Division, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W.

Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-7253 or Denise Gawlinski

(P-19J), Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson

Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-9859.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

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

its intent to delete the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill Site from the

National Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes appendix B of the

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),

and requests comments from the public on the proposed 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 Potentially Responsible Parties or the Hazardous

Substance Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to

Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains

eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if the conditions at the

Site warrant such action.

The U.S. EPA will accept comments on this proposal from the public

for thirty (30) 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 the history of this site and explains

how the Site meets the deletion criteria.

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

revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Furthermore, deletion

from the NPL does not in any way alter U.S. EPA's right to take

enforcement actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for

informational purposes and to assist in Agency management.

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

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determination, U.S. EPA will consider, in consultation with the State,

whether any of the following criteria have been met:

(i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all

appropriate response actions required; or

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

implemented, and no further response 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, remedial measures are not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in

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

procedures once the State has concurred. 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 comment period. The public is

asked to comment on U.S. EPA's intention to delete the Site from the

NPL. All critical documents needed to evaluate U.S. EPA's decision are

included in the information repository and the deletion docket.

Upon completion of the public comment period, if necessary, the

U.S. EPA Regional Office will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to

evaluate and address comments that were received. The public is welcome

to contact the U.S. EPA Region V Office to obtain a copy of this

responsiveness summary, if one is prepared. If U.S. EPA then determines

the deletion from the NPL is appropriate, final notice of deletion will

be published in the Federal Register.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The LaGrand Sanitary Landfill (the Site or the Landfill) is located

in a rural setting in west-central Douglas County, Minnesota,

approximately 5 miles west of the town of Alexandria and approximately

3 miles south of the town of Garfield. The Site consists of 80 acres of

forest, steep uncultivated hills and low lying wetlands. The main fill

area occupies six acres of a small north-trending gully formed during

earlier gravel mining operations. It is marked to the north, west and

east by groups of large trees.

The Site is located within an area of glacial deposits know as the

Alexandria Moraine Complex. This moraine complex is 10 to 20 miles wide

and extends northward in an area through west-central Minnesota. The

upper 100 feet of sediments beneath the Site consist of glacial drift

deposits of the moraine complex. A sand and gravel water table aquifer

exists under a portion of the Site, and is overlain by a silty to sandy

clay till layer which was found to range in thickness from

approximately 15 to 40 feet. The sand and gravel aquifer extends

beneath the Landfill waste mass. At other portions of the Site, the

till layer extends to a depth of at least 100 feet. The water table was

found at depths ranging from approximately 20 to 70 feet below the

surface of the hilly terrain at the Site.

The Site operated from March 1974, when it received a solid waste

permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) (SW-141),

until April 1984, as a sanitary landfill accepting mixed municipal soil

waste and nonhazardous industrial waste. In late 1982, and early 1983,

groundwater sampling at the Site confirmed the presence of organic

compounds. Subsequent investigations at the Site led the MPCA to

evaluate whether the Site should be included on the National Priorities

List (NPL) and Minnesota's Permanent list of Priorities (PLP) for

Superfund sites potentially requiring clean up. The Site was proposed

for the NPL June 10, 1986. The Site was added to the NPL and PLP on

July 21, 1987.

A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was

conducted at the Site to determine the nature and extent of

contamination, to develop and evaluate a remedial cleanup. The RI

Report concluded that:

1. Groundwater moves beneath the Site in a south-southeasterly

direction.

2. Although a number of organic contaminants were measured in soil

and groundwater at the Site, no organic contaminant plume was

identified and none of the measured compounds exceeded current health-

based standards or U. S. EPA's acceptable risk range.

3. Arsenic and manganese were found in the groundwater at

concentrations exceeding Minnesota Recommended Allowable Limits (RALs)

for private drinking water supplies, but not Maximum Contaminant Levels

(MCLs) under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). These

naturally-occurring heavy metals were widespread throughout the Site

and had the appearance of random background concentrations. The on-site

Shop Well showed manganese levels elevated above background levels.

However, these levels were not considered to be related to landfill

waste disposal activities.

3. Manganese was found in surface water at concentrations that

exceeded RALs in nearly all water bodies, both upgradient and

downgradient of the Landfill and regardless of whether surface water

drains away from or toward the water bodies. The manganese appears to

be derived from natural sources in the soils, with no evidence of a

source from the Landfill.

4. A chloride plume appears to be emanating from the southern end

of the Landfill and migrating south-southeastward. Chloride is one of

the most mobile contaminants associated with landfills. It is not a

hazardous substance and occurred in concentrations well below the SDWA

secondary MCL. This standard is not health-based, but determined on the

basis of taste, odor, and aesthetic considerations.

5. There does not appear to be any combustible gas migration from

the Landfill, except for a single monitoring point at the southwest

corner, where the combustible gas reading was greater than 100% of the

Lower Explosive Limit (LEL).

6. Portions of the western slope of the Landfill appear unstable

and the northwest corner of the waste mass has been exposed by hillside

erosion.

7. Acess to the Site by motorized vehicles via the main access road

was not controlled.

8. A pile of several hundred tires is located to the south of the

Landfill, off the fill area. These tires will be addressed by the

MPCA's tire control program.

9. Unauthorized use and disposal of mix municipal soil waste

attended to occur from time to time.

The FS Report utilized the results of the RI to develop potential

cleanup alternatives designed to address the low level threats posed by

the Site. The only pathways of concern identified in the human health

risk assessment, which all relate to the use of groundwater

downgradient from the Site, are:

1. Ingrestion of contaminated groundwater by drinking or cooking

2. Inhalation of chemicals that can volatilize into the air during

showering; and

3. Dermal (skin) contact with water during showering, bathing and

other related activities.

Finally, the human health risk assessment assumes a reasonable

maximum exposure (RME) scenario. This means that it takes into account

the highest concentration of each chemical to which adults and children

are reasonably expected to be exposed during an average lifetime at the

Site. At present, there is no one living on or

[[Page 46940]]

using the groundwater at the Site nor do residential wells downgradient

of the Site show any contamination from organic compounds.

A Record of Decision (ROD) was signed September 30, 1992, which

selected the following remedy:

1. Long-term monitoring of groundwater and combustible gas to

verify that the low level of threat posed by the contaminants of

concern remains low and the landfill does not generate potentially

explosive levels of combustible gas

2. The conversion of a combustible gas monitoring well to a gas

vent to assure that combustible gas does not accumulate at the single

point where the soil gas level was measured at greater than 100% of the

lower explosive limit (LEL)

3. The permanent sealing and abandonment of the on-site Shop Well

in conformance with the Minnesota Water Well Code, Minn. Rules, Chapter

4725.2700, to assure that this well will not be used as a potable water

source.

4. The stabilization of the west slope of the Landfill and the

covering of exposed waste on the northwest corner to assure that the

existing landfill cover, which is providing an effective barrier to

infiltration, remains effective

5. The sloping and reconstruction of the borrowed pit area adjacent

to the west slope of the Landfill to assure the long-term integrity of

the cover system

6. Institutional controls in the form of site access restrictions,

and the possible use of deed restrictions

7. Maintenance of the existing final cover system so as to reduce

the future potential for infiltration into the waste mass and the

subsequent leaching of landfill contaminants

8. Observance of Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act

prohibitions against the disturbance of the Landfill final cover and

monitoring systems; and

9. Observance of the Minnesota Water Well Construction Code, Minn.

Rules Chapter 4725.2000, which regulates the location of future potable

wells near the Landfill.

A Remedial Action report was prepared by MPCA contractors

documenting that all Remedial Action have been completed at LaGrand

Sanitary Landfill in Douglas County, Minnesota. The MPCA and Barr

Engineering Company conducted final site inspections during the week of

August 8, 1994, and determined that the contractors have constructed

the final remedial action in accordance with the Remedial Design (RD).

The vegetation has become well established in both borrow areas.

The site has been fully restored in accordance with the Record of

Decision, and all Remedial Action Contract Documents.

In 1994, the Legislature of the State of Minnesota enacted the

Landfill Cleanup Law, Minn. Laws 1994, ch. 639, codified at Minn. Stat.

sections 115B.39 to 115B.46 (the Act), authorizing the Commissioner of

the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to assume responsibility

for future environmental response actions at qualified landfills that

have received notices of compliance from the Commissioner of MPCA.

Additionally, the Act established funds to enable the MPCA to perform

all necessary response, operation and maintenance at such landfills. At

sites where no responsible parties are conducting response actions

under CERCLA, MPCA is responsible for issuing a notice of compliance,

after it determines that all work that could be expected under a state

order or under state closure requirements has been completed.

MPCA has acquired the 80 acres site and has issued a notice of

compliance. A notice of compliance was issued by MPCA for the LaGrand

Sanitary Landfill Site on June 5, 1997. MPCA has since assumed all

responsibility for the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill under the Act. No

further response actions under CERCLA are anticipated at this time.

Consequently, U.S. EPA proposes to delete the site from the NPL.

EPA, with concurrence from the State of Minnesota, has determined

that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the

LaGrand Sanitary Landfill Site have been completed, and no further

CERCLA response actions are appropriate in order to provide protection

of human health and environment. Therefore, EPA proposes to delete the

Site from the NPL.

Dated: August 25, 1997.

Michelle D. Jordan,

Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, Region V.

[FR Doc. 97-23356 Filed 9-4-97; 8:45 am]

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