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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6205-8]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Yellow Water Road Dump Superfund

Site from the National Priorities List (NPL): request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces

its intent to delete the Yellow Water Road Dump 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 Florida Department of Environmental

Protection (FDEP) 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

January 22, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: David Lloyd, Remedial Project

Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street,

Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA

Region 4 public docket, which is located at EPA's Region 4 office and

is available for viewing by appointment from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests for appointments or copies

of the background information from the regional public docket should be

directed to the EPA Region 4 Docket Office.

The address for the Regional Docket Office is: Ms. Debbie Jourdan,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street,

Atlanta, Georgia 30303, Telephone No. (404) 562-8862.

Background information from the regional public docket is also

available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the

following address: Baldwin Town Hall, 10 U.S. 90 West, Baldwin, Florida

32234. U.S.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Lloyd, Remedial Project Manager,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta,

Georgia 30303, (404) 562-8917.

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 4 announces its

intent to delete the Yellow Water Road Dump Site, Duval County, Florida

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 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 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 the procedures that EPA is

using for this action. Section IV discusses the Yellow Water Road Dump

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 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 action required;

(ii) All appropriate response under CERCLA has been implemented,

and no further action by responsible parties is appropriate; or

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(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 substance,

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 this Site, the selected remedy is protective of human

health and the environment. EPA will conduct a five-year review for the

Site and if new information becomes available which indicates a need

for further action, EPA may initiate 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 Hazardous Ranking

System.

III. Deletion Procedures

The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of

this Site: (1) EPA issued a Final Close Out Report indicating that the

remedial actions at the Site were completed in accordance with the two

Records of Decisions for the Site and that no further remedial action

is necessary to ensure protection of human health and the environment;

(2) The Florida Department of Environmental Protection concurs 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 at the local Site information repositories.

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

revoke any individual's rights or obligations and does not preclude

eligibility for future response actions. The NPL is designed primarily

for informational purposes and to assist Agency management. 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 on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete 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 and History

The Yellow Water Road Dump Site is located off Yellow Water Road

(Florida State Road 217) about one mile south of Baldwin, Duval County,

Florida. The Site encompasses approximately 14 acres. The land adjacent

to the Site is used for commercial and residential purposes.

In October 1981, the property owner and several independent

companies formed an enterprise with the intent of incinerating PCBs on

the property. PCB-contaminated liquid and equipment were stored at the

Site. The incinerator permit was never obtained, and the PCB-

contaminated materials continued to be stored on site. Valuable metals

such as copper were salvaged from the transformer carcasses, spilling

PCB liquid and causing soil contamination at the Site.

During an emergency removal action conducted by EPA in November

1984, 719 transformers were drained, steam cleaned, and stored on site.

Approximately 100,000 gallons of PCB-contaminated fluid were

transferred to secured, on-site holding tanks, and approximately 3,000

cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil were excavated and stockpiled on a

concrete pad.

The Yellow Water Road Dump Site was proposed for inclusion on the

NPL on September 18, 1985 (50 FR 37950) and placed on the NPL on June

10, 1986.

In May 1988, EPA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent

with a group of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) to perform an

interim surface removal action at the Site. The PRPs completed the

removal action in July 1988. The removal activities included the

demolition and disposal of an on-site warehouse, off-site disposal of

the stockpiled contaminated soil, off-site incineration of 78,854

gallons of PCB-containing liquid, disposal of 704 transformers, and

disposal of 18,690 pounds of capacitors.

Under an Administrative Order on Consent the PRPs began a Remedial

Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) in 1990. The RI included an

investigation of surface water, soil, sediment, air and ground water

associated with the Site. The investigation included a wide range of

analyses to detect volatile organic compounds, base/neutral compounds,

pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and inorganic compounds.

The Risk Assessment identified PCB compounds as the only contaminants

of concern at the Site. Total PCB concentrations of up to 660 mg/kg in

Site soil and sediment were identified, and total PCB concentrations of

up to .029 mg/l were detected in Site groundwater.

B. Response Actions

Based on the results of the RI/FS work and the Risk Assessment, EPA

issued two Records of Decision (RODs). The Operable Unit One (OU-1)

ROD, issued on September 28, 1990 called for excavation and

solidification/stabilization of PCB-contaminated soil and sediment. The

Operable Unit Two (OU-2) ROD, dated June 30, 1992 called for a long

term ground water monitoring remedy, with a contingency for ground

water pump and treat.

Under an EPA Unilateral Administrative Order issued by EPA, the

PRP's contractor completed a Remedial Design for the soil and sediment

remedy in September 1992. A Consent Decree between EPA and the PRPs

provided for the implementation of the remedy for both operable units.

The Consent Decree was entered on October 11, 1995. A separate

agreement under which several federal PRPs would participate in

implementing the remedy was embodied in an Administrative Order on

Consent. In January 1996, EPA approved Remedial Action Work Plans

prepared by the engineering contractor for the OU-1 and non-contingent

OU-2 remedies. The construction contractor mobilized to the Site and

began implementing these remedies on May 9, 1996. A volume of 4,472

cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment was excavated, stabilized

and solidified using portland cement, and placed in an on-site

monolith. A September 17, 1996 construction inspection revealed that

all components of the OU-1 remedy and the non-contingent portion of the

OU-2 remedy were constructed in accordance with RD/RA plans and

specifications.

A Remedial Action Report dated November 1996, documents the

completion of the Remedial Action for OU-1 and completion of the non-

contingent portions of the remedy for

[[Page 71054]]

OU-2. EPA approved the RA Report on February 26, 1997.

On April 6, 1998 an Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD) for

the OU-2 ROD was finalized. The ESD clarifies the OU-2 ROD to indicate

that the ground water remedy, based on four consistent monitoring

events with no detectable PCBs, had attained its performance goal of

0.5 ppb. On this basis, no further ground water monitoring or

contingent remedial activities are required.

C. Cleanup Standards

The remedial action cleanup activities at the Yellow Water Road

Dump Site are consistent with the objectives of the NCP and provide

protection to human health and the Environment. The cleanup standards

for soil PCBs are 10 mg/kg. The cleanup standards for PCBs in ground

water are 0.5 ppb. All soil containing PCBs at concentrations greater

that 10 mg/kg was excavated, treated via stabilization/solidification,

placed in an on-site monolith, covered with one foot of clean soil and

vegetated. Treated soil achieved performance standards of greater than

50 psi for compressive strength and less than 60 ug/l for total

leachable PCBs (TCLP). Extensive confirmatory sampling verifies that

the Site has achieved the cleanup standards for both soil and ground

water and that performance standards were achieved or exceeded for

treated soil.

D. Operation and Maintenance

The Operation, Maintenance and Monitoring Plan was approved by EPA

on May 1, 1997. Ongoing operation, maintenance and monitoring

activities include semi-annual inspections of the Site monolith to

evaluate the presence of, or potential for, surface cover failures and/

or intrusions including surface cracking, establishment of deep-rooted

vegetation, animal burrow holes, wash-outs and soil erosion; assessment

of Site fencing and vegetative cover inspection; and evaluation of the

monolith integrity. Pursuant to the existing Consent Decree, the Yellow

Water PRP Group has assumed all responsibility for O&M until the thirty

year anniversary of the Consent Decree entry in 2026. Following this

date, federal PRPs will conduct the O&M.

E. Five Year Review

Because treated waste will remain on site in the monolith, a five

year review of this project is necessary to ensure continued protection

of human health and the environment. The five year time frame begins

with the date of remedial action mobilization to the Site which, for

this project, is May 9, 1996. Therefore, the five year review should be

completed prior to May 9, 2001 and will be conducted pursuant to OSWER

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

F. Community Involvement

EPA published its community Relations Plan in May 1990, after

interviews with local residents and officials. An information

repository was established at the Baldwin Town Hall and all of the

documents used to make remedy decisions were placed there before the

Records of Decisions were signed. Other community involvement

activities included an on-site public meeting, routine publication of

fact sheets at all important milestones during the project and ongoing

direct communication with the public as the need for information arose.

G. Applicable Deletion Criteria

One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that responsible

parties or other parties have implemented all appropriate response

actions required. EPA, with concurrence of Florida Department of

Environmental Protection, believes that this criterion for deletion has

been met. Subsequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this Site from the

NPL. Documents supporting this action are available from the deletion

docket.

H. State Concurrence

EPA has consulted with the Florida Department of Environmental

Protection (FDEP) in evaluating the Site for deletion. FDEP has

concluded that activities at the Site have been completed in accordance

with the site Records of Decision and the remedy is protective of human

health and the environment.

Dated: November 30, 1998.

A. Stanley Meiburg,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

[FR Doc. 98-33742 Filed 12-22-98; 8:45 am]

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