[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 137 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36770-36771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17616]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5259-9]


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

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency.

Action: Notice of intent to delete NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base 
(site) from the National Priorities List: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces 
its intent to delete the NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
proposed 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) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of 
Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) have determined that all 
appropriate CERCLA actions have been implemented and that no further 
cleanup is necessary. Moreover, the State and EPA has determined that 
the remedial activities conducted at the site to date have been 
protective of public health, welfare and the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before 
August 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: R. Matthew Wilkening, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail Stop: HW-124, 
Seattle, Washington 98101-9797.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
U.S. Navy's public docket which is available for viewing at the NAS 
Whidbey Island Seaplane Base repositories at the following locations:

Engineering Field Activity, NW (primary Admin. Record loc.) Naval 
Facilities Engineering Command, 19917 7th Ave. Poulsbo, Washington
Oak Harbor Library, 7030 70th N.E., Oak Harbor, Washington
Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Coupeville Library, 788 N.W. 
Alexander, Coupeville, Washington
NAS Whidbey Island Library (for those with base access) 115 W. 
Lexington St., Oak Harbor, Washington.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Matthew Wilkening, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail Stop: HW-124, 
Seattle, Washington 98101-9797, (206) 553-1284.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces its 
intent to delete NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base from the National 
Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300, and 
requests comments on this proposed deletion. EPA identifies sites that 
appear to present a significant risk to human health or the environment 
and maintains the NPL as a list of those sites. As noted in Section 
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL remain eligible 
for remedial actions in the unlikely event that conditions at the site 
warrant such actions.
    EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this 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 
this action. Section IV discusses the NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base 
Site and explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria. 

[[Page 36771]]


II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted 
from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response is 
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a release from the 
NPL, EPA considers, in consultation with the state, whether any of the 
following criteria have been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate fund financed response under CERCLA have been 
implemented, and no further 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.
    Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow 
for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA's policy is that a 
subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five 
years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure 
that the site remains protective of public health and the environment. 
In the case of this Site, where no hazardous wastes are above health 
based levels and future access does not require restriction, operation 
and maintenance activities and five-year reviews will not be conducted. 
However, if new information becomes available which indicates a need 
for further action, the federal government may initiate remedial 
actions. Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted 
from the NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL without the 
application of the Hazard Ranking System.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this Site: (1) The Navy has implemented all appropriate response 
actions required for the Site. The completion of this action the 
qualified Site for inclusion on the Superfund Site Construction 
Completion List and may be used to initiate Deletion from the NPL 
procedures. (2) The Washington State Department of Ecology concurred 
with the proposed deletion decision. (3) A notice has been published in 
the local newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate Federal, 
State, and local officials and other interested parties announcing the 
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of 
Intent to Delete; and, (4) All relevant documents have been made 
available for public review in the local Site information repositories.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes to assist Agency management. As 
mentioned in Section II of this Notice, section 300.425(e)(3) of the 
NCP states that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility for future response actions.
    For deletion of this Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and 
evaluate public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before 
making a final decision to delete. If necessary, the Agency will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary if any significant public comments are 
received.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect 
deletions in the final update following the Notice. Public notices and 
copies of the Responsiveness Summary, if any, will be made available to 
local residents by the Regional office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposed deletion of this Site from the NPL.
    The Seaplane Base was commissioned on September 21, 1942 along with 
Ault Field. Together they form the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station 
(NAS) encompassing approximately 7000 acres of rural land on the 
northern side of Whidbey Island. The NAS is located at the north end of 
the Puget Sound and the eastern portion of the Straight of Juan de Fuca 
in the State of Washington.
    The Seaplane Base was used for seaplane maintenance, torpedo 
overhaul, rocket firing training, and patrol operations until 1945, 
when NAS Whidbey Island was placed on reduced operating status. 
Maintenance and support activities performed at the Base from the 1940s 
to the late 1970s generated both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes 
that were disposed of at their generation points or in the nearby 
landfill. In some cases wastes accidentally spilled have entered or 
were threatening to enter the environment.
    In the mid 1980s the Navy identified several potentially 
contaminated areas on the Seaplane Base. On February 21, 1990 the EPA 
listed the Base on the NPL, making it a Superfund site subject to the 
requirements of CERCLA. On December 22, 1993, the Record of Decision 
was signed by the Navy, EPA, and Ecology outlining remedial action to 
be performed at the site. Surface soil at several localized areas were 
found to pose potential risks to future residential use. Excavation of 
this soil began during the fall of 1994 and continued until 1300 cubic 
yards were excavated. The final action was the disposal of the 
investigation-derived waste on November 29, 1994.
    The remedial action that occurred at the Seaplane Base removed all 
contaminated soil that posed a risk to human health or the environment, 
thus post remediation operation and maintenance activities are not 
extensive. The only significant operation and maintenance activity to 
be performed at an area that had been used for disposal of construction 
debris. While there is no health risk posed by this site, Washington 
State requires that a notice indicating past use of this site be 
attached to the site. This consists of a deed notification should the 
Navy ever sell this property. The deed will contain a notification that 
the property contains a past construction and demolition debris 
landfill.
    Human health and ecological risk assessments were performed to 
assess current or future potential adverse human health or ecological 
effects associated with exposure to chemicals detected in soils, 
groundwater, surface water and sediments at NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane 
Base. Based on comparison of site specific analytical data with EPA and 
State risk-based screening criteria, ecological benchmarks, toxicity 
values, and the detection frequency and exposure potential of chemical 
constituents, it was concluded that chemicals at NAS Whidbey Island 
Seaplane Base do not pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the 
environment, under any land use scenario. Accordingly, EPA will not 
conduct ``five-year reviews'' at this Site.
    One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may 
delete a site from the NPL if ``the responsible parties or other 
persons have implemented all appropriate response actions required.'' 
EPA, with concurrence of Ecology, believes that this criterion for 
deletion has been met. Therefore, EPA is proposing deletion of this 
Site from the NPL. Documents supporting this action are available from 
the docket.

    Dated: July 5, 1995.
Chuck Clarke,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 95-17616 Filed 7-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P