[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 30, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21366]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 30, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5061-8]

 

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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete the Dupont County Road X23 Site, Lee 
County, Iowa from the National Priorities List: Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7 announces 
its intent to delete the Dupont County Road X23 Site, located in Lee 
County, Iowa from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests 
public comment on this action. The NPL constitutes appendix B to the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 
40 CFR part 300, which the EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act (CERCLA), as amended. The reason this action is being taken is that 
Superfund Remedial Activities have been completed.

DATES: Comments concerning this site may be submitted on or before 
September 29, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Michael J. Sanderson, Acting 
Director, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
    Additional Information: Comprehensive information on this site is 
available through the EPA Region 7 public docket, which is located in 
the EPA's Region 7 office and is available for viewing by appointment 
only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
holidays. Requests for appointments or copies of the background 
information from the Regional public docket should be directed formally 
to the EPA Region 7 docket office.
    The address for the Regional docket office is: U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas 
66101.
    Background information from the Regional public docket is also 
available for viewing at the Dupont County Road X23 Site information 
repository which is located with: Idol Rashid Memorial Branch, Fort 
Madison Public Libraries, 3421 Avenue L, Fort Madison, Iowa 52627.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Roemerman. U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas 
66101, (913) 551-7694.

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 7 announces its 
intent to delete the Dupont County Road X23 Site, Lee County, Iowa 
Site, from the National Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes 
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 Response Fund (Fund). Pursuant to 
Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the National Contingency Plan (NCP), any site 
deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial 
actions if future conditions at the site warrant such action.
    The EPA will accept comments on its intention to delete this site 
from the NPL for thirty days after the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.
    Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites 
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that the 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 EPA 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, in consultation with the State, will consider 
whether any of the following criteria have been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    (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.
    Section 121(f)(1)(C) of CERCLA, and Sec. 300.425(e)(2) of the NCP 
require State concurrence before deleting a site from the NPL.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for 
subsequent Fund-financed actions if future conditions warrant such 
actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states: ``All releases 
deleted from the NPL are eligible for further Fund-financed remedial 
actions should future conditions warrant such action. Whenever there is 
a significant release from a site deleted from the NPL, the site shall 
be restored to the NPL, without application of the HRS [hazard ranking 
system].''
    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. 
As mentioned in Section I of this notice, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP 
makes clear that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility for future Fund-financed response actions.

III. Deletion Procedures

    EPA Region 7 will accept and evaluate public comments before making 
the final decision to delete the site from the NPL. The Agency believes 
that deletion procedures should focus on notice and comment at the 
local level. Comments from the local community are likely to be the 
most pertinent to deletion decisions. The following procedures were 
used for the intended deletion of the site:
    1. EPA Region 7 has recommended the deletion and prepared the 
relevant documents.
    2. The State of Iowa has concurred with the deletion decision.
    3. Concurrent with this National Notice of Intent to Delete a 
notice has been published in local and community 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, which starts two weeks 
from September 13, 1994 and which will conclude on September 29, 1994.
    4. The Region has made all relevant documents 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 is made. The Region will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address any 
comments received during the public comment period.
    A deletion will occur after the Regional Administrator places a 
notice 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 7.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for 
recommending deletion of the Dupont County Road X23, Lee County, Iowa 
Site, from the NPL.
    The DuPont County Road X23 Site is located near West Point, Lee 
County, Iowa. The site is comprised of two subsites, the Baier and the 
McCarl subsites, located within one mile of each other on County Road 
X23. The Baier and McCarl subsites are located within NE\1/4\, SW\1/4\, 
Section 28, Township 68 North, Range 5 West and SE\1/4\, SW\1/4\, 
Section 22 Township 68 North, Range 5 West, respectively.
    DuPont contracted with Charles Knoch to haul and dispose of paint 
wastes from its Fort Madison plant during the period 1949-53. 
(Following this DuPont contracted to have the waste taken to the Strunk 
Farm which was cleaned up voluntarily in 1981 by DuPont.) DuPont 
estimates that 48,000 to 72,000 55-gallon drums of waste were disposed 
of at the two subsites. The Baier subsite, owned at that time by Mr. 
Knoch's sister, was the primary disposal site. In inclement weather 
when the Baier subsite was inaccessible, Mr. Knoch would use the McCarl 
subsite. The McCarl subsite was purchased by DuPont in 1986 to prevent 
a home being built on the site.
    The paint waste was placed in trenches and burned. DuPont estimates 
that as a result of incomplete burning 4,500 to 7,000 tons of ash might 
remain on the site.
    The Baier site was listed as a potentially, uncontrolled, hazardous 
waste site in the Eckhardt Subcommittee Report in November 1979.
    The site was placed on the NPL with a hazard ranking System (HRS) 
score of 46.01 on August 30, 1990, 55 FR 169.
    A Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the Baier Farm was conducted in 
September 1980 by the U.S. EPA Field Investigative Team (FIT).
    A Field Investigation of the Baier Farm was conducted by FIT in 
April 1983. Soil sample analysis found seven priority pollutant metals 
in concentrations exceeding background (concentrations ranged from 90 
to 18,000 ppm). Also detected were six priority pollutant organics in 
soil samples (with concentrations up to 220,000 ppb).
    On March 28, 1984, EPA sent an information request letter to DuPont 
regarding the waste site. DuPont's response indicated another possible 
waste site at the McCarl property on Chalkridge Road.
    In July 1985 FIT oversaw the installation of three ground water 
monitoring wells at the Baier Site. Analyses of ground water samples 
collected from the wells showed elevated levels of aluminum, barium, 
calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, manganese and lead. A 
second round of sampling of these wells in 1986 resulted in similar 
findings, with chromium exceeding the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) 
set forth in 40 CFR part 141. Downstream surface water samples showed 
high concentrations of metals including lead and chromium.
    The Preliminary Assessment for the McCarl subsite was conducted in 
January 1985 by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
    FIT conducted the Site Investigation for the McCarl subsite in July 
1986, including the installation and sampling of three ground water 
monitoring wells. Analysis of soil samples from the investigation 
showed concentrations in excess of background for barium, cadmium, 
chromium, lead, copper, manganese, selenium and zinc. Analysis of 
ground water samples showed concentrations in excess of MCLs for 
antimony (32 times the MCL), cadmium, chromium, selenium. Other metals 
were also detected. DuPont sampled the McCarl ground water wells in 
July 1988 and found higher levels of selenium than found by FIT.
    A Special Notice letter for RI/FS negotiations was sent to DuPont 
on January 31, 1989.
    The EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) to DuPont on 
July 5, 1989. The UAO required a removal action at the Baier/Fedler 
subsite and an RI/FS for both subsites. The Removal Action was 
indefinitely deferred in February 7, 1990, in an amendment to the UAO.
    RI/FS activities were completed in January 1991. As part of the RI/
FS a Baseline Risk Assessment was performed, based on data from the RI, 
to evaluate the potential risks to human health posed by potential soil 
and ground water contamination at the Site. An ecological risk 
assessment was prepared in conjunction with the Baseline Risk 
Assessment. Protective concentrations of contaminants were established, 
based on residential exposure for both the average and reasonable 
worst-case scenarios. Action levels (cleanup criteria) based on these 
exposure scenarios were then developed for soils at the Site.
    The Baseline Risk Assessment indicated that ground water 
contamination posed no threat to human health because of the lack of a 
complete exposure pathway due to the lack of yield from the 
contaminated water bearing unit. Few receptor wells exist in the Site 
vicinity. Furthermore, the nearby residential wells, sampled 
periodically, indicated that metals and volatile organic compounds were 
below all regulatory health-based standards. The ``no-action'' 
alternative was selected for ground water.
    Based on the completed RI/FS, the ROD was issued on May 28, 1991, 
and EPA successfully negotiated a Consent Decree (lodged February 25, 
1992, entered April 23, 1992, Case Number 3-92-CV-10028 in the United 
States District Court, Southern District of Iowa, Davenport Division) 
for Remedial Design/Remedial Action (RD/RA) activities with DuPont. 
DuPont completed the RA at the Site in September 1993. As required by 
the ROD, the RA included: (1) All surface waste materials not amenable 
to the selected technology, such as metal, grinding balls, and paint 
cans, were to be removed and disposed at an off-site RCRA-permitted 
hazardous waste landfill prior to stabilization/ solidification,
    (2) Construction of an on-site waste disposal cell,
    (3) Stabilization/solidification of contaminated soils and 
placement in the on-site disposal cell, and
    (4) Construction of a soil cap over the disposal cell. Restrictions 
on the future use and development of the Site were included to ensure 
the integrity of the cover and the underlying, solidified soil mass and 
to prevent human contact with treated soils.
    EPA in consultation with the State of Iowa, has determined that all 
fund-financed response activities under CERCLA at the Dupont County 
Road X23 Site, Lee County, Iowa have been completed, and that no 
further response is necessary. Therefore, it is proposed that the Site 
be deleted from the NPL.

    Dated: August 1, 1994.
Dennis Grams,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
[FR Doc. 94-21366 Filed 8-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P