[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 88 (Monday, May 9, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11084]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 9, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-4882-8]

 

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.Action: Notice of intent to 
delete the Bioclinical Laboratories 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 Bioclinical Laboratories (BCL) site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
action. The NPL is appendix B of 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 State 
of New York have determined that no further action is appropriate at 
the BCL site under CERCLA. Moreover, EPA and the State have determined 
that activities conducted at the BCL site to date have been protective 
of public health, welfare, and the environment.
DATES: Comments concerning the deletion of the BCL site from the NPL 
may be submitted on or before May 9, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning the BCL site deletion may be mailed to:

    Mr. Damian J. Duda, Remedial Project Manager, Emergency and 
Remedial Response Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region II, room 29-100, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, New York 10278.
    Background information on the BCL site is contained at the EPA 
Region II public docket, located at EPA's Region II office, and is 
available for viewing, by appointment only, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. For further information, or 
to request an appointment to review the public docket, please contact 
Mr. Damian J. Duda at (212) 264-9589.
    The public docket on the BCL site is also available for viewing at 
the document repositories located at:

    Connetquot Public Library, 760 Ocean Avenue, Bohemia, New York 
11716; and
    Sachem Public Library, 150 Holbrook, Holbrook, New York 11741.
    The formal and more comprehensive Administrative Record for the BCL 
site is located at the Connetquot Library only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Damian Duda at (212) 264-6589.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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 BCL site from the 
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 EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA). 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 Substances 
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 conditions at such sites warrant such 
action.
    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 how the BCL 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 has been met:

    (i) EPA, in consultation with the State, 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 the State, has determined 
that no further cleanup by responsible parties isappropriate; or
    (iii) Based on a remedial investigation, EPA, in consultation with 
the State, has determined that the release poses no significant threat 
to public health or to the environment and, therefore, taking remedial 
measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL 
until the State in which the release was located has concurred, and the 
public has been afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposed 
deletion. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible 
party liability or impede Agency efforts to recover costs associated 
with response efforts. The NPL is designed primarily for informational 
purposes and to assist Agency management.
    EPA Region II 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 most pertinent to deletion 
decisions. The following procedures were used for the intended deletion 
of the BCL site:

1. EPA Region II has recommended deletion and has prepared the 
relevant documents. EPA has also made all relevant documents 
available in the Regional office and local BCL site information 
repositories.
2. The State of New York has concurred with the deletion decision.
3. Concurrent with this national Notice of Intent to Delete, a 
notice has been published in local newspapers and has been 
distributed to appropriate Federal, state and local officials and 
other interested parties. This notice announces a thirty (30) day 
public comment period on the deletion package starting on May 9, 
1994 and concluding on June 7, 1994.
    The comments received during the comment period will be evaluated 
before any final decision is made. If necessary, EPA Region II will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary which will address any comments 
received during the public comment period.

    If, after consideration of these comments, EPA decides to proceed 
with deletion, the EPA Regional Administrator will place a notice of 
deletion in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in 
the next final update. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness 
Summary will be made available to local residents by Region II.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The BCL site is located at 1585 Smithtown Avenue in the Hamlet of 
Bohemia, Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York and is approximately 
0.5 mile south of Long Island's MacArthur Airport.
    The BCL site consists of a 10-unit (A-J), one-story building 
situated on a 2.6-acre paved lot. The building has approximately 39,000 
square feet of floor space. The building is serviced by two distinct 
on-site sanitary systems, each consisting of a septic tank, 
distribution pool, and related storm drain drywells, located south of 
the building on the east and west sides.
    BCL was founded in 1972 to formulate and repackage industrial 
chemicals for wholesale distribution to manufacturers and previously 
occupied Unit I of the 10-unit building. BCL utilized the east sanitary 
system. In 1984, BCL moved its operations to another location. As of 
April 1990, BCL had ceased operations altogether.
    Panatone Finishing Corporation (Panatone), which leased Unit D, was 
determined to be another source of organic and inorganic contamination 
at the BCL site. Panatone was involved in the preparation and 
application of finished metal products and discharged to the west 
sanitary system of the building. Panatone is no longer in operation.
    Previous BCL site investigations showed that there had been:
    (1) Unregulated discharges to the on-site sanitary systems and to 
an on-site leaching pool; and
    (2) Unacceptable raw material (chemicals) and waste handling 
practices which resulted in frequent spills to the surface soils.
    The BCL site was proposed for the NPL on June 1, 1986 (52 FR 21099) 
and was promulgated final to the NPL on March 31, 1989 (54 FR 13296).
    Historically, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services 
(SCDHS) issued enforcement actions against both BCL and Panatone, and 
some cleanup actions had been performed, with the most recent cleanup 
action occurring in May 1992.
    Under the direction of EPA, Ebasco Services, Inc. conducted a 
remedial investigation (RI) from May 1989 to March 1992 to characterize 
the geology, groundwater hydrology and chemical quality of the soils 
and groundwater at the BCL site. The investigation consisted of 
sampling the suspected source areas, the subsurface soils, the surface 
soils and the sediments and liquids in the two sanitary systems, a 
soil-gas survey, monitoring well installation (on-site and off-site), 
well-point sampling, groundwater sampling and geotechnical testing. All 
sampling results, both organic and inorganic, were compared with New 
York State and Federal applicable or relevant and appropriate 
requirements (ARARs).
    Four rounds of groundwater sampling data, taken over the course of 
over two years, indicated isolated organic and inorganic contamination; 
in some cases, State or Federal maximum contaminants levels (MCLs) were 
exceeded. The contamination was determined to be the result of the 
following non-site related conditions: (1) Background or upgradient 
conditions; (2) high total suspended solids in some samples, which were 
not representative of the quality of the groundwater; and/or (3) 
ongoing discharges to the existing sanitary systems. The concentrations 
of contaminants in the sanitary sediments/aqueous samples were also 
found to be related to ongoing discharges into the existing sanitary 
systems.
    At the conclusion of the RI process, EPA, in consultation with the 
State of New York, issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on September 30, 
1992, that determined that the BCL site does not pose a significant 
threat to human health or the environment and that no further action 
was required.
    Having met the deletion criteria, EPA proposes to delete the BCL 
site from the NPL.
    Dated: April 8, 1994.
Kathleen C. Callahan,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-11084 Filed 5-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F