[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 26, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38297-38299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-18256]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5263-5]


Notice of Intent To Delete Stewco, Incorporated Superfund Site 
Waskom, Harrison County, Texas; National Oil and Hazardous Substances 
Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Stewco, Incorporated Superfund 
Site from the National Priorities List: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 announces 
its intent to delete the Stewco, Incorporated Superfund site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
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), as 
amended. EPA and the State of Texas (Texas Natural Resource 
Conservation Commission) have determined that all appropriate actions 
under CERCLA have been implemented and that no further cleanup is 
appropriate. Moreover, EPA and the State have determined that response 
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 25, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Mr. Donn Walters, Community 
Relations Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 6 (6H-MC), 1445 Ross Avenue, 
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-6483 or 1-800-533-3508.
    Comprehensive information on this site is available through the EPA 
Region 6 public docket, which is located at EPA's Region 6 library 
office and is available for viewing from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. The office address is: U. 
S. EPA, Region 6, Library, 12th Floor, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 
75202, (214) 665-6424 or 665-6427.
    Background information from the Regional public docket is available 
for viewing at the Stewco, Incorporated Superfund site information 
repositories located at:

Environmental Protection Agency, Library, 12th Floor, 1445 Ross Avenue, 
Dallas, Texas 75202
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, 12118 North IH-35, 
Building D, Room 190, Austin, Texas 78753, (512) 239-2920
Waskom City Hall, 304 Texas Avenue, Waskom, Texas 75692, (903) 687-2694

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Donald H. Williams, Chief, 
Oklahoma/Texas Remedial Section (6H-SR), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 
665-2197.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 announces 
its intent to delete the Stewco, Incorporated Superfund site, Waskom, 
Harrison County, Texas, from the National Priorities List (NPL), which 
constitutes Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances 
Pollution Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Part 300 (NCP), and requests 
comments on the proposed 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 Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to 
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 this proposal for thirty 
(30) 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 history of this site and explains 
how the 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)(1), 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 shall consider, in consultation with the State, whether any of 
the following criteria have been met:
    (1) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (2) All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    (3) 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.
    Prior to deciding to delete a site from the NPL, EPA must determine 
that the remedy, or existing site conditions at sites where no action 
is required, is protective of public health, welfare, and the 
environment.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for 
subsequent Fund-financed actions if future site conditions warrant such 
actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that Fund-financed 
actions may be taken at sites that have been deleted from the NPL. 

[[Page 38298]]


III. Deletion Procedures

    Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in 
Section 300.425(e)(1) has been met, EPA may formally begin deletion 
procedures. The following procedures were used for the intended 
deletion of this site:
    (1) EPA Region 6 has recommended deletion and has prepared the 
relevant documents.
    (2) The State of Texas has concurred with the deletion decision.
    (3) Concurrent with this National Notice of Intent to Delete, a 
notice will be published in local newspapers and shall be distributed 
to appropriate federal, state, and local officials, and other 
interested parties. This local notice also announces a thirty (30) day 
public comment period on the deletion package.
    (4) The Region has made all relevant documents available in the 
Regional Office and local site and State of Texas information 
repositories.
    These procedures have been completed for the Stewco, Incorporated 
site. This Federal Register notice, and a concurrent notice in the 
local newspaper in the vicinity of the site, announce the initiation of 
a 30-day public comment period and the availability of the Notice of 
Intent to Delete. The public is asked to comment on EPA's intention to 
delete the site from the NPL; all critical documents needed to evaluate 
EPA's decision are included in the information repository and deletion 
docket.
    Upon completion of the 30-day public comment period, the EPA 
Regional Office will evaluate these comments before the final decision 
to delete. If necessary, the Region will prepare a Responsiveness 
Summary, to address those concerns raised by the comments received 
during the public comment period. The Responsiveness Summary will be 
made available to the public at the information repositories. Members 
of the public are welcome to contact the EPA Regional Office to obtain 
a copy of the Responsiveness Summary, when available. If EPA still 
determines that deletion from the NPL is appropriate after receiving 
public comments, a final notice of deletion will be published in the 
Federal Register. However, it is not until a notice of deletion is 
published in the Federal Register that the site would be actually 
deleted.

IV. History and Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for deleting 
the Stewco, Incorporated (Stewco) Superfund site from the NPL.
    The Stewco Superfund site is located in Waskom, Harrison County, 
Texas, near the Texas/Louisiana State line. The site consists of ponds 
at two locations approximately one mile apart. Location #1 is a one-
half acre plot located on Texas Highway 9, approximately one-half mile 
south of Interstate Highway 20. Location #2 is on the eastbound access 
road of Interstate 20, one mile west of Highway 9. Petroleum storage 
facilities are located directly north of the Stewco site. Land use 
south of the site is residential. Land east of the site is undeveloped 
at the present time.
    The Stewco site was operated as a truck-tank washing facility from 
1972 to 1983. Wastewater was generated from high pressure washing and 
steam cleaning tank trucks used to haul glue, gasoline, diesel and jet 
fuel, and creosote. Wastewater and tank residues were disposed of in 
two ponds at Location #1. Excess wastewater was trucked to a pond at 
Location #2 for disposal.
    In August 1976, Corbett Transport, Inc., the predecessor to Stewco, 
obtained state permits for the disposal of wastewater from the truck 
washing operation. Field inspections conducted by the Texas Natural 
Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), formerly the Texas Department 
of Water Resources, indicated numerous violations of the Stewco permit 
requirements. These violations included unauthorized surface water 
discharges at Location #1, ground water contamination, and inadequate 
operation of the wastewater neutralization facility. After the site was 
abandoned in 1983, the ponds at Location #1 filled with rain water, 
eventually overtopping the dike around the ponds. This created a 
serious threat of the dikes collapsing, which would result in a 
substantial release of hazardous substances to surrounding businesses 
and one residence.
    As a result of this threat, the EPA Region 6 Emergency Response 
Branch conducted a removal action in April 1984. A detailed account of 
this action is available in the EPA On-Scene Coordinator's ``After 
Action Report'' (May 1985).
    Soil and ground water analytical data collected prior to and during 
the 1984 removal action was used to propose the site for inclusion on 
the NPL in June 1984. Although Location #1 had undergone an immediate 
removal action, the ranking was performed as if the removal never 
occurred. Inclusion of the site on the NPL was based on the potential 
for site contaminants to migrate to the Wilcox aquifer, the drinking 
water supply for the city of Waskom. Several private wells were also 
located within a one-half mile radius of the site. At the time of the 
ranking, constituents of concern were polynuclear aromatic 
hydrocarbons, phthalates, DDT, and aromatic solvents.
    Field investigations conducted by EPA from 1983 through 1988 showed 
organic contamination in soil, ground water, surface water, and pond 
sediments onsite. In 1988, EPA conducted a remedial investigation (RI) 
to determine the extent and magnitude of any risks posed by 
contaminants at the site and concluded that several contaminants 
detected during the RI are not attributable to the Stewco site. Benzene 
and xylene, found in soils in 1988, were not found in soil samples 
taken in 1983 and 1984 on the Stewco property at Location #1. However, 
these compounds were documented in reports of soil samples taken from 
petrochemical facilities directly north of Stewco. Background 
concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) detected 
were higher than concentrations in soil samples taken onsite.
    The highest concentrations of benzene and 1,2-dichloroethane in the 
ground water were found in wells placed perpendicular to the gradient 
across the site. Benzene was also documented in monitoring wells 
located east and southeast of Stewco, areas unaffected by the Stewco 
operation. Any release of contaminants of concern from the Stewco site 
would be detected in monitoring wells located immediately downgradient 
of Location #1. Because contamination was not detected in these wells, 
EPA does not believe that the Stewco site is the source of 
contamination of the shallow ground water at Location #1. No 
contaminants of concern were detected in any of the residential wells 
sampled during the RI, indicating that area water supplies have not 
been impacted by the Stewco site.
    At Location #2, benzene and xylene were detected in a shallow 
monitoring well upgradient of the pond. Xylene was also detected in a 
shallow monitoring well installed perpendicular to the ground water 
gradient. However, these chemicals were not found in either the shallow 
or the deep monitoring wells installed downgradient of Location #2. EPA 
would expect to detect contamination in downgradient wells if the pond 
was a source of contamination.
    The 1988 remedial investigation and risk assessment were designed 
to assess the completeness of the 1984 removal action. Sampling 
undertaken during the RI indicated that the average excess cancer risk 
for a resident onsite at Location #1 was reduced to 2 in 

[[Page 38299]]
1,000,000 by the removal action. The non-cancer risk (Hazard Index) was 
reduced to less than 1.0. Non-carcinogenic health effects are not 
expected at sites with a Hazard Index less than 1.0. These risk levels 
are consistent with EPA's remedial goal of 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 
1,000,000 excess lifetime cancer incidents and a Hazard Index of 1.0 or 
less. Based on this reduction in risk at Location #1, EPA determined 
that no further remedial activities were necessary to address soil 
contamination at Location #1.
    The excess lifetime cancer risk associated with the maximum 
concentration of benzene found in the ground water at Location #2 was 
calculated to be 2 in 100,000 in the 1988 RI. This calculation was made 
assuming that the ground water was developed as a drinking water 
supply. Because this risk is well within the target risk range for 
Superfund remedial actions of 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 1,000,000, EPA 
determined that no remedial action is necessary to address ground water 
contamination at Location #2.
    EPA activities to address the contamination at the Stewco site 
during the 1984 removal action consisted of removing the source of the 
contamination from the site. Approximately 400,000 gallons of liquid 
wastes were pumped from Location #1, treated by activated carbon 
adsorption, and discharged to a storm water runoff drain adjacent to 
the site. In addition, approximately 5,500 cubic yards of sludges were 
excavated from these lagoons, stabilized, and shipped offsite for 
disposal in a hazardous waste landfill permitted under the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Finally, the lagoon area was 
backfilled with clean soil, covered with a 10-mil thick synthetic liner 
and one foot of compacted clay, graded, and re-seeded with grass.
    No removal activities were considered necessary at Location #2 
since contaminant concentrations did not pose a risk and no evidence of 
dike failure or pond liquids spilling over the dike was found.
    The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was consulted 
and supports these conclusions.
    Data generated during the 1988 RI indicated that the removal action 
conducted in 1984 adequately addressed any actual or potential threats 
posed by the Stewco site. A comment period for public input on the 
proposed No Further Action decision for Stewco began on July 25, 1988, 
and closed on August 23, 1988. EPA met with the Mayor of Waskom, Texas, 
and editors of the local newspaper to discuss the plan on August 4, 
1988. On September 16, 1988, a Record of Decision, selecting the final 
remedy for the Stewco site, was signed by the Region 6 Regional 
Administrator. Specifically, the selected remedy included:
    1. Closure of existing monitoring wells, if not needed for future 
offsite investigations;
    2. Further investigation of the nearby petroleum storage facilities 
(Mobil and Texaco) to assess any contribution to existing ground water 
contamination;
    3. Deletion of the site from the NPL if EPA determines that offsite 
sources, and not the Stewco site, are contributing to ground water 
contamination.
    While investigations conducted in 1986 at petroleum storage 
facilities adjacent to Stewco detected benzene contamination offsite, 
EPA requested, as part of the 1988 Record of Decision, that TNRCC 
conduct an investigation of these facilities under RCRA. The purpose of 
this investigation, conducted by the Mobil Oil Corporation in 
compliance with guidelines set by TNRCC, was to confirm that ground 
water contamination in the area was, in fact, not attributable to 
Stewco. Data submitted in a report written by Applied Earth Sciences 
for Mobil (December 10, 1990), indicate that a hydrocarbon plume is 
migrating from a storage facility north of Mobil, across a portion of 
the Mobil property and the Stewco property. Benzene concentrations were 
reported in monitoring wells north of the Mobil property ranging from 
9,700 ug/l to 27,000 ug/l and from 180 ug/l to 300 ug/l south of the 
property. EPA believes that this report demonstrates sufficiently that 
ground water contamination found during the Stewco RI is not 
attributable to the Stewco site.
    No operation and maintenance activities are required at the Stewco 
site. The five-year review requirements of Section 121 (c) of the 
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 are not 
applicable, since contaminants attributable to Stewco are at 
concentrations that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted access.
    EPA's removal action addressed volatile (benzene, toluene, and 
xylene) and semi-volatile (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) 
contamination found at the Stewco site. Soil and ground water sampling 
conducted during the 1984 removal action and the 1988 remedial 
investigation confirm that contaminants attributable to Stewco do not 
remain onsite in concentrations that would pose an excess risk beyond 
EPA's target risk range, as set in the NCP. Therefore, EPA's removal 
action and No Further Action Record of Decision are protective of human 
health and the environment. The State of Texas has concurred with the 
Record of Decision.
    The documentation supporting the Record of Decision and this 
deletion notice is included in the Administrative Record and files for 
the Stewco site. A bibliography of documents supporting this deletion 
notice is attached.
    EPA, with concurrence of the State of Texas, has determined that 
all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Stewco 
Superfund site have been completed, and that no further cleanup by 
responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and the State of 
Texas have determined that remedial actions conducted at the site to 
date have been protective of public health, welfare, and the 
environment.

    Dated: June 29, 1995.
Myron O. Knudson,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-18256 Filed 7-25-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P