National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan National Priorities List

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5916-7]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Browning-Ferris Industries--

South Brunswick Landfill Site from the National Priorities List;

request for comments.

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

its intent to delete the Browning-Ferris Industries--South Brunswick

Landfill Site (Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and

requests public comment on this 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 of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, 42 U.S.C 9601 et seq.

EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)

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

December 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Mary Anne Rosa, Remedial Project

Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 290 Broadway-

19th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866.

The deletion docket and other comprehensive information on this

Site is available for viewing at the Browning-Ferris Industries--South

Brunswick Landfill Site information repository at the following

location: Town of South Brunswick Municipal Building, P.O. Box 190,

Monmouth Junction, New Jersey 08852, (908) 329-4000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Anne Rosa, Remedial Project

Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 290

Broadway--19th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4407.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

EPA Region II announces its intent to delete the Browning-Ferris

Industries--South Brunswick Landfill Site, which is located in South

Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, from the NPL, which

constitutes Appendix B of the NCP, 40 CFR part 300, and requests

comments on this deletion. 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 these sites. As described in

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

eligible for remedial actions in the unlikely event that conditions at

the site warrant such action.

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

December 8, 1997.

Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites

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

for this action. Section IV discusses the Site and explains how the

Site meets the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted

from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making a

determination to delete a site from the NPL, EPA in consultation with

NJDEP, shall consider whether any of the following criteria have been

met:

(i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all

appropriate response actions required; or

(ii) All appropriate 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 of

hazardous substances poses no significant threat to public health or

the environment and, therefore, remedial measures are not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of

this Site: (1) EPA Region II issued a Record of Decision (ROD) which

documented the remedial action activities; (2) all appropriate

responses under CERCLA

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have been implemented as documented in the Final Close-Out Report dated

September 1997; (3) the NJDEP concurred with the proposed deletion; (4)

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 (5) all

relevant documents have been made available for public review in the

local Site information repository.

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

revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed

primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management of

Superfund sites. As mentioned in section II of this document,

Sec. 300.425 (e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion of a site from

the NPL does not preclude eligibility for future response actions.

For deletion of this Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and

evaluate public comments before making a final decision to delete. If

necessary, the Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address

any significant public comments 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 the Regional Office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for the

proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.

A. Site Background

The Site is located along New Road, approximately one-half mile

northwest of U.S. Route 1, in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The

landfill occupies an area of approximately 68 acres. A significant

portion of the land surrounding the Site is wooded. It is owned by

Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) of South Jersey. The Site, which

operated for more than 20 years as a solid waste landfill, accepted

municipal refuse, pesticides, chemical wastes and hazardous wastes.

B. History

In June 1980, EPA conducted an investigation of the Site. The

sampling results revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds

in several on-site monitoring wells, as well as on-site surface water

sampling locations.

The data from this sampling effort resulted in the Site being

proposed for the Superfund NPL on December 1, 1982, and the Site was

included on the NPL on November 1, 1983.

In April 1982, BFI and EPA entered into an agreement concerning the

remedial efforts to be performed. The agreement was in the form of a

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Administrative Order on

Consent (Index No. RCRA-700320101) which outlined the remedial

approach.

C. Characterization

The remedial action activities, initiated in February 1983,

consisted of the construction of a leachate collection/treatment

system, slurry wall, multi-layer cap and gas venting system. The

remedial action was completed in September 1985. EPA issued a Record of

Decision on September 30, 1987, which affirmed that the remedial action

undertaken was consistent with CERCLA, as amended, and to the extent

practicable, the NCP.

A public availability session was conducted by EPA in August 1987

to discuss with the community the remedial actions implemented and the

post-remedial environmental monitoring program. Public comments were

received and addressed in the Responsiveness Summary portion of the

September 30, 1987, Record of Decision.

D. Monitoring

The May 1993 EPA-approved Post-Remedial Environmental Monitoring

Program (PREMP) Work Plan was designed to assess the effectiveness of

the completed Remedial Action and evaluate off-Site migration of

contaminants. The PREMP was conducted from May 1993 to January 1994 and

included the collection of twenty-seven groundwater samples, thirty-

four soil samples, eight surface water samples and twelve sediment

samples. Post-remedial environmental monitoring indicated that volatile

organic compounds (VOCs), semi-VOCs, and inorganic contaminant

concentrations have decreased in surface water, groundwater, sediment

and soil samples. Therefore, the results from this investigation

document the effectiveness of the remedy and indicate there is no

significant off-Site migration of contaminants. Although minimal

groundwater contamination was detected in the southeastern portion of

the Site in the area of monitoring well R-10, regulating the leachate

collection system to induce inward gradients appears to have

significantly reduced contamination. As part of the overall Site

Operation and Maintenance Plan activities, EPA has required BFI to

periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the leachate collection

system and routinely monitor well R-10 and downgradient surface water

quality to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy. The multi-layered

cap has effectively reduced infiltration, as indicated by the

significant reduction in the amount of leachate generation over time.

The leachate collection system and slurry wall have reduced leachate

levels within the landfill, resulting in inward hydraulic gradients

over much of the Site. Historically, leachate was pre-treated to reduce

iron concentrations in the effluent. BFI has been notified by the Stony

Brook Regional Sewerage Authority (SBRSA) of a change in BFI's license

classification from a Class 1 to Restricted Industrial User. BFI is no

longer required to treat for iron. BFI discharges directly to the

sanitary sewer line while still monitoring monthly per the requirements

of the license issued by the SBRSA. Also, the gas venting system is

operating in accordance with the existing NJDEP Air Pollution Control

Program permit and a series of perimeter gas monitoring probes are

periodically monitored. Project Managers from EPA and BFI conducted a

Site inspection on September 12, 1995. The purpose of this inspection

was to determine the current status of the Site and the adequacy of the

Site cleanup. The remedial action, completed since September 1985,

remains in place and is operating and functioning as designed.

E. Operation and Maintenance

The cleanup of the Site was performed in compliance with ``clean

closure'' requirements and consistent with the Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, CERCLA, as amended, and to the

extent practicable, the NCP. Pursuant to the 1989 Administrative Order,

BFI has committed to performing Operation and Maintenance (O&M)

activities at the Site. In August 1997, EPA approved the Site O&M Plan,

which defines the long-term O&M activities for the Site. The O&M Plan

addresses those activities required for controlling the groundwater

gradient in the area of monitoring well R-10, maintaining the

effectiveness of the response action, and monitoring Site conditions to

determine the occurrence of any environmental threat. O&M activities

include periodic inspections and maintenance of waste containment

measures, periodic air, groundwater and surface water monitoring,

certain institutional controls, periodic leachate collection and

treatment measures, or any other activities necessary to ensure

[[Page 60060]]

the continued protection of public health and the environment.

F. Protectiveness

All the completion requirements for this Site have been met as

described in the Final Close-Out Report (COR) dated September 1997. The

Final COR documents the effectiveness of the post-remedial

environmental monitoring and that the remedy (slurry wall, multi-

layered cap, leachate collection system, gas venting system and

installation of a Site security fence) remains protective. Site O&M

activities will be performed by BFI, with EPA oversight.

EPA and NJDEP have determined that all appropriate Fund-financed

responses under CERCLA at the Site have been completed, and that no

further construction activities by responsible parties is necessary

except for operation and maintenance requirements. EPA will be

providing oversight of all operation and maintenance activities.

Consequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this Site from the NPL.

Documents supporting this action are available in the docket.

Dated: September 29, 1997.

William J. Muszynski,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-29150 Filed 11-5-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P