[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 193 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-24806]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 6, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5087-3]

 

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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company 
Superfund site from the National Priorities List: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II Office 
announces its intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company site from 
the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on these 
actions. 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 State of New York have determined that no further 
fund-financed remedial action is appropriate at the site and actions 
taken to date are protective of public health, welfare, and the 
environment.

DATE: Comments concerning the site may be submitted on or before 
November 15, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Kathleen C. Callahan, Director, 
Emergency and Remedial Response Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region II, 26 Federal Plaza, room 737, New York, NY 10278.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Comprehensive information on this site is available through the EPA 
Region II public docket, which is located at EPA's Region II Office in 
New York City, 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: Ms. Janet Cappelli, Remedial Project Manager, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 26 Federal Plaza, room 
29-100, New York, NY 10278, (212) 264-8679.
    Background information from the Regional pubic docket related to 
the Radium Chemical Company site is also available for viewing at 
information repositories noted below:

Sunnyside Branch, Queens Public Library, 43-06 Greenpoint Avenue, 
Sunnyside, New York 11107
Woodside Branch, Queens Public Library, 54-22 Skillman Avenue, 
Woodside, New York 11377.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletions

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces its 
intent to delete the Radium Chemical Company site, Woodside, Queens 
County, New York from the NPL and requests public comment on these 
actions. The NPL constitutes appendix B to the NCP, which EPA 
promulgated pursuant to section 105 of CERCLA, as amended. 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 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 the site warrant such action.
    The EPA will accept comments concerning the Radium Chemical Company 
site for thirty days after 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 procedures that EPA is using for 
these actions. Section IV discusses how the sites meet the deletion 
criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria the Agency uses to delete sites 
from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR Section 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 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 is appropriate; 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 the environment and, therefore, taking of 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 the most pertinent to deletion 
decisions. The following procedures were used for the intended deletion 
of the Radium Chemical Company site:
    1. EPA Region II has recommended deletion and has prepared the 
relevant documents.
    2. The State of New York has concurred with the deletion decisions.
    3. Concurrent with this 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-day public comment period on 
the deletion package, which starts two weeks from the date of the 
notice, October 15, 1994, and will conclude on November 15, 1994.
    4. The Region has made all relevant documents available in the 
Regional Office and local site information repositories.
    The comments received during the notice and comment period will be 
evaluated before any final decision is made. EPA Region II will prepare 
a Responsiveness Summary, which will address the comments received 
during the public comment period.
    The deletion will occur after the EPA 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 the Region II 
Office.

IV. Basis for Intended Deletion of the Radium Chemical Company Site

    The Radium Chemical Company (RCC) site is located at 60-06 27th 
Avenue in Woodside, Queens County, New York, in a light industrial/
residential sector. The site consisted of a 1-story brick building (and 
a part of a second brick building which shared a wall with this 
building) bordered on the west by 27th Avenue and on the east by the 
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), a major roadway into New York City.
    Founded in New York in 1913, RCC initially produced luminous paint 
for watch dials and instruments. Later, the company manufactured, 
leased and sold radium-226 in the form of implant sources to hospitals, 
medical centers, and research laboratories. In the late 1950's, RCC 
transferred its operations to the present location in Woodside, New 
York. The radium and radon devices were stored on-site in lead 
containers in a brick vault room. Eventually the demand for radium 
sources lagged as they were replaced with advanced radiotherapy 
techniques using cesium and cobalt sources. Subsequently, many leased 
radium sources were returned to RCC and were stored on-site.
    In 1983, the State of New York suspended the RCC operating license 
due to various disposal and safety infractions. RCC attempted to obtain 
permission to begin operations again in 1986, but was denied. The New 
York State Department of Labor issued its first Stipulation and Order 
against RCC on October 17, 1987, for the removal of the radium sources 
and decontamination of the building. The owner was unable to finance 
the remediation and, subsequently, abandoned the building. This 
resulted in a second Stipulation and Order, issued on July 20, 1988, 
determining that the facility could not be maintained and that it was 
de facto abandoned by RCC. Remaining on-site were a large number of 
radium-containing sealed devices, some of which were suspected of 
releasing radium and radon gas. The amount of radium-226 at the site 
was established to be 110 Curies (Ci). Also on-site were hundreds of 
containers of laboratory chemicals, many of which were reactive, 
corrosive, flammable, and/or potentially shock-sensitive.
    In July 1988, at the request of the State of New York, the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) undertook a limited emergency 
removal action under CERCLA, et seq., to secure the facility and remove 
the radioactive sources. EPA provided 24-hour security and initiated 
measures to stabilize the site. By August 1988, EPA had erected fencing 
around the perimeter and installed remote monitoring surveillance, a 
foam fire suppressant system, special vents, and other safety measures. 
In February 1989, EPA contracted with Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. to 
remove the radium sources and other hazardous materials from the site 
and transport them to approved disposal facilities. The removal action 
was completed in October 1989. Approximately 120 Ci of radium in the 
form of sources, contaminated debris, and loose radium salts and 
luminous compounds were removed from the site. This material was 
disposed of at facilities located in Richland, Washington and Beatty, 
Nevada, both operated by U.S. Ecology.
    On February 10, 1989, at EPA's request, the U.S. Agency for Toxic 
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) issued a Public Health Advisory 
to alert the public, EPA, and the State of New York of a serious threat 
to human health, based on the threatened release of radium-226 from the 
RCC site. In an August 1989 special NPL update, EPA proposed the RCC 
site for the NPL based on the ATSDR advisory. On November 21, 1989, the 
RCC site was added to the National Priorities List.
    EPA completed a Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) of the site in 
April 1990. Excessive levels of Rn-222 and Ra-226 remained in the RCC 
facility, along with various radium contaminated hazardous chemicals. 
On June 21, 1990, EPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) selecting a 
remedy for the RCC site. The ROD called for the following remedial 
activities at the site: decontamination of the RCC facility; 
dismantlement of the RCC building; excavation of contaminated soils and 
subsurface structures; and transport and disposal of wastes to an 
approved waste disposal facility.
    The EPA community relations activities at the site included a 
public meeting in May 1990 to present the results of the FFS and the 
preferred alternative for remediation of the site. All public comments 
received were addressed. A major concern of the public was the 
disruption to the local businesses caused by street closings. EPA held 
subsequent meetings with the local business owners to determine the 
least obtrusive method for achieving our needs.
    The remedial action at the site began in September 1990 with 
limited mobilization of the Site for surveying purposes. On-site 
decontamination began on November 16, 1990 and the first shipment of 
radioactive wastes left the Site on July 11, 1991. The RCC building was 
decontaminated and dismantled. A portion of an adjoining building, 
leased by RCC, was fully decontaminated and restored. Dismantling, 
excavation, and restoration activities were essentially completed by 
January 1993. Removal of all wastes from the site and revegetation was 
completed in August 1993. A limited excavation of soils surrounding a 
sewer line adjacent to the RCC property was conducted during July 1994.
    Approximately 812 tons of radioactive soil and debris and 92 cubic 
feet of radium-contaminated hazardous wastes were transported to the 
Envirocare of Utah, Inc. facility in Clive, Utah for disposal. 
Approximately 862 tons of uncontaminated masonry and concrete building 
debris were transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, 
New York for disposal. Other wastes, including approximately 45 tons of 
elemental lead and 20 tons of structural steel, were transported to the 
Scientific Ecology Group (SEG), Inc. facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee 
for decontamination and recycling to the nuclear industry. 
Approximately 2.5 Ci of tritium watch faces were transported to the 
Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. facility in Barnwell, South Carolina for 
disposal. Approximately 36.7 kilograms of radium-contaminated elemental 
mercury were transported to the University of Tennessee for 
decontamination, followed by ultimate disposal of the treated residuals 
at the Chem-Nuclear facility in Barnwell, South Carolina and recycling 
of the decontaminated elemental mercury. Approximately 1.03 
millicuries, associated with a radium calibration source, was 
transported to Rutgers University for use in radon-generation research. 
Confirmatory sampling showing the site has been decontaminated below 
the required levels, that contaminated soils have been excavated and 
disposed of off-site, and that the site has been backfilled with clean 
soil, provide further assurance that the site no longer poses any 
threats to human health or the environment.
    EPA, with concurrence of the State of New York, has determined that 
all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Radium 
Chemical Company site have been completed, and that no further cleanup 
is necessary.

    Dated: September 21, 1994.
Jeanne M. Fox,
Regional Administrator, USEPA Region II.
[FR Doc. 94-24806 Filed 10-5-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M