Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, Texas: Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for Recreational Fishing Service Losses

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, Texas:

Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage

Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for

Recreational Fishing Service Losses

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce; United States Department of the Interior (DOI); Texas Parks

and Wildlife Department (TPWD); Texas General Land Office (TGLO); Texas

Natural Resources and Conservation Commission (TNRCC).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Draft Damage Assessment and

Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for recreational fishing

service losses associated with the Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL

Site, and of a 30-day period for public comment on the draft plan

beginning September 28, 1999.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 43 CFR 11.32 and 11.81-.82, notice is hereby given

that a document entitled, ``Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration

Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL

Site Recreational Fishing Service Losses'' (Draft DARP/EA) is available

for public review and comment. This document has been prepared by the

state and federal natural resource trustee agencies listed above to

address recreational fishing services affected by releases of hazardous

substances from the Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site (`Lavaca

Bay Site' or `Site'). This Draft DARP/EA presents the Trustees'

assessment of the recreational fishing service losses attributable to

the Site, and their proposed plan to compensate for the recreational

fishing service losses by restoring recreational fishing services. The

Trustees will consider comments received during the public comment

period before finalizing the DARP/EA for recreational fishing service

losses.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing on or before October 28,

1999.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft DARP/EA should be sent to

Richard Seiler of TNRCC, MC142, PO Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087 or

Tony Penn of NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, Station 10218, Silver

Spring, MD 20910. Written comments on the plan should be sent either to

Richard Seiler of TNRCC or Tony Penn of NOAA at the addresses listed

above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site

is located in Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas and encompasses

releases of hazardous substances from Alcoa's Point Comfort Operations

facility. Between 1948 and the present, Alcoa has constructed and

operated several types of manufacturing processes at this facility,

including aluminum smelting, carbon paste and briquette manufacturing,

gas processing, chlor-alkali processing, and alumina refining. Past

operations at the facility have resulted in the release of hazardous

substances into the environment, including through the discharge of

mercury-containing wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966 to 1970 and

releases of mercury into the bay through a groundwater pathway. In

April 1988, the Texas Department of Health (TDH) issued a ``closure

order'' prohibiting the taking of finfish and crabs for consumption

from a specific area of Lavaca Bay near the facility due to elevated

mercury concentrations found in these species.

The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay Site was added to the National

Priorities List (NPL), pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42

U.S.C. 9601, effective on March 25, 1994 (59 FR 8794, February 23,

1994). The Site was listed primarily due to the presence of mercury in

several species of fish and crab in Lavaca Bay, the fishing closure

imposed by TDH, and the presence of mercury and other hazardous

substances in bay sediments adjacent to the facility. Alcoa, the State

of Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an

Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) under CERCLA in March 1994 for

the conduct of a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS)

for the Site.

NOAA, DOI, TPWD, TGLO and TNRCC (collectively, the Trustees) are

designated natural resource trustees under section 107(f) of CERCLA,

section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution and Control Act (FWPCA), 33

U.S.C. 1321, and other applicable federal or state laws, including

Subpart G of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances

[[Page 52295]]

Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR 300.600-300.615. The Trustees

are authorized to act on behalf of the public under these authorities

to protect and restore public resources and services injured or lost as

a result of discharges or releases of hazardous substances.

Paralleling the RI/FS process for the Site, the Trustees have

undertaken an assessment of the natural resource injuries and service

losses attributable to hazardous substances from the Site. The

assessment for this Site has been aided and supported by Alcoa's

cooperation pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement between Alcoa and the

Trustees, which was effective January 14, 1997. The Draft DARP/EA

released today was developed under the cooperative assessment framework

outlined in the MOA and addresses the lost access to or use of fishery

resources due to the closure. These losses begin in 1988 and will

continue until removal of the closure order, which is expected to occur

through remedial activities at the Site. The Draft DARP/EA identifies

the assessment procedures used to define the recreational fishing

service losses, including to scale restoration actions, and identifies

the restoration actions preferred for use to restore recreational

fishing services as a basis for compensating for assessed losses.

The Draft DARP/EA released today does not address any other natural

resource injuries or services losses that may be attributable to the

Site. Other resource injuries or losses are being considered by the

Trustees in the assessment process but will be addressed in one or more

subsequent Draft DARP/EA(s).

Interested members of the public may request a copy of the Draft

DARP/EA for recreational fishing service losses from either Richard

Seiler or Tony Penn at the addresses given above. Written comments

should be submitted to these individual and will be considered by TPWD,

TGLO, TNRCC, NOAA, and DOI, in finalizing the DARP/EA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact:

Richard Seiler at (512) 239-2523, email: [email protected] or

Tony Penn, at (301) 713-3038 x 197, email: [email protected].

Dated: September 21, 1999.

Captain Ted I. Lillestolen,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone

Management.

[FR Doc. 99-25017 Filed 9-27-99; 8:45 am]

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