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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6364-5]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;

National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard site from

the National Priorities List; request for comments.

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

its intent to delete the Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard 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 (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 by

responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and PADEP 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 July 26, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Deanna Moultrie, (3HS21),

Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch

Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, (215) 814-5125.

Comprehensive information on this site is available for viewing at

the Site information repositories at the following locations: U.S. EPA,

Region 3, Public Reading Room, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA

19103, (215) 814-3157; Weisenberg Township Building, 2175 Seipstown

Road, Fogelsville, PA 18051, (610) 285-6660.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deanna Moultrie (3HS21), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, 1650 Arch Street,

Philadelphia, PA, 19103, (215) 814-5125.

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 Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Site, Lehigh 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 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 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 whether any of the

following criteria have been met:

(i) EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that

responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate response

actions required; or

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

implemented and EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that no

further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate; or

(iii) Based on a remedial investigation, EPA, in consultation with

PADEP, has determined that the release poses no significant threat to

public health or the environment and therefore, taking remedial

measures is not appropriate.

[[Page 33813]]

III. Deletion Procedures

In the NPL rulemaking published on October 15, 1984 (49 FR 40320),

the Agency solicited and received comments on whether the notice of

comment procedures followed for adding sites to the NPL should also be

used before sites are deleted. Comments were also received in response

to the amendments to the NCP proposed on February 12, 1985 (50 FR

5862). Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or

revoke any individuals rights or obligations. The NPL is designed

primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.

EPA Region III will accept and evaluate public comments before

making a final decision to delete. The Agency believes that deletion

procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local level.

Comments from the local community may be the most pertinent to deletion

decisions. The following procedures were used for the intended deletion

of this site:

(1) EPA Region III has recommended deletion and has prepared the

relevant documents.

(2) PADEP has concurred with the deletion decision.

(3) Local notice will be published in local newspapers and

distributed to appropriate federal, state and local officials and other

interested parties. This local notice presents information on the site

and announces the thirty (30) day public comment period on the deletion

package.

(4) The Region has made information supporting the proposed

deletion available in the Regional Office and local site information

repository.

The comments received during the notice and comment period will be

evaluated before the final decision to delete. The Region will prepare

a Responsiveness Summary, which will address significant comments

received during the public comment period. A deletion will occur after

the EPA Regional Administrator places a document in the Federal

Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in the final update.

Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made

available to local residents by Region III.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Superfund Site occupies approximately

20 acres within the headwaters of the Iron Run subdrainage basin in

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The Site is the location of a former

automobile junkyard and salvage operation involving junk cars, used

storage tanks and miscellaneous scrap metals and debris with periods of

activity between 1958 and 1979. The Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Resources reported that operations ceased in 1979.

The Site was purchased in 1958 by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hebelka, now

deceased. The property is currently a part of the estate of Lovie

Hebelka. In December 1985, the EPA Region III Field Investigation Team

(FIT III) visited the Site for the purpose of conducting a Site

Inspection (SI). The SI revealed the presence of two battery piles at

the Site, termed the eastern pile and the western pile. The major

contaminant identified at this site was lead in soils downgradient from

the battery piles. The Site was proposed for inclusion on the Superfund

National Priorities List on June 1, 1986 and finalized on that list on

August 21, 1987.

Operable Unit 1 (OU1) addressed the areas of the Site with lead in

soil concentrations above 560 mg/kg and the piles of scrap battery

casings lying on top of these soil areas. Operable Unit 2 (OU2)

addressed the soils outside of this high concentration area, the air in

the vicinity of the Site, the groundwater in the vicinity (including

nearby home well water), the nearby stream water and the stream

sediments.

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

conducted between March 1987 and July 1991 to define the nature and

extent of contamination and to identify alternatives for remediating

the Site conditions. Remedies for the Operable Units were selected and

described in separate Records of Decision (ROD). ROD 1 was issued March

31, 1989 for OU1 and ROD 2 was issued September 30, 1991 for OU2. The

remedy selected in ROD 1 was designed to prevent ingestion of lead-

contaminated particles and soil in excess of health-based levels by

removing them from the Site and treating and-or disposing of them. This

was done by removing battery casings and recycling them. Recycling was

proven to be impractical so they were disposed of in a RCRA landfill.

Soil above health-based risk levels was excavated, stabilized offsite

and deposited in a RCRA Subtitle D municipal landfill. Clean soil was

then backfilled and revegetated. EPA determined that no further action

was necessary at the Site for OU2 because contamination pathways via

the site media posed no current or potential threat to human health and

the environment. Therefore, the remedy chosen in ROD 1, eliminated the

need for further action.

Because the remedies chosen for OU1 and OU2 did not result in

hazardous substances remaining onsite above health-based levels, the

five-year review process will not apply to this site.

The remedies selected for this site have been implemented in

accordance with the Records of Decision. As a result of these remedies,

human health threats and potential environmental impacts at this site

have been eliminated. EPA and PADEP find that the remedies implemented

continue to provide adequate protection of human health and the

environment.

EPA, in concurrence with PADEP believes that the criteria stated in

section II(i) for deletion of this site has been met. Therefore, EPA is

proposing the deletion of this site from the NPL.

Dated: April 19, 1999.

Diana Esher,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 99-15833 Filed 6-23-99; 8:45 am]

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