[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 155 (Friday, August 11, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41051-41053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19003]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5269-7]


National Oil and Hazardous Substance Contingency Plan; National 
Priorities List Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Ossineke Groundwater Contamination 
Site.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces its intent 
to delete the Ossineke Groundwater Contamination Site (the ``OGC 
Site''), from the National Priorities List (NPL), 40 CFR part 300, 
appendix B, 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 of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. This action to delete 
the OGC Site from the NPL is proposed because EPA's Office of Superfund 
(OSF) and the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) 
have determined that using the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the 
``Fund'') to fund further 

[[Page 41052]]
remedial action under CERCLA at this Site is not appropriate. Either 
OUST or the State of Michigan will undertake any necessary corrective 
actions at the OGC Site under the authorities of the Michigan Leaking 
Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Statute, the Michigan Environmental 
Response Act (MERA), or Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA). MDNR evaluates and responds to sites according to 
a State specific priority ranking scheme. The OGC site will be 
evaluated and addressed consistent with this scheme.

DATES: Comments concerning the OGC Site may be submitted on or before 
September 11, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments to be considered by EPA in making this decision 
should be mailed to: Linda Nachowicz: Remedial Project Manager; Waste 
Management Division; Remedial Response Branch WI/MI; U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5; 77 West Jackson Boulevard; Chicago, IL 
60604-3507.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Nachowicz: Remedial Project 
Manager; Waste Management Division; Remedial Response Branch WI/MI; 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5; 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard; Chicago, IL 60604-3507; telephone (312) 886-6337.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comprehensive information on the OGC Site is 
available for public review in the deletion docket that EPA Region 5 
has prepared. The deletion docket contains the documents and 
information EPA reviewed in the decision to propose to delete the OGC 
Site from the NPL. The docket is available for public review during 
normal business hours at the EPA Region 5 docket room at the above 
address and at the NBD Alpena Bank; 11686 U.S. Highway 23 South; 
Ossineke, MI 49766.

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces its intent to 
delete the Ossineke Groundwater Contamination Site in Ossineke, 
Michigan (the ``OGC Site''), 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 this action.
    The EPA identifies sites which may 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 action financed by the Hazardous Substance Superfund Response 
Trust Fund (the ``Fund'') or by responsible parties. Pursuant to the 
NCP at 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3), any site deleted from the NPL remains 
eligible for future Fund-financed response actions and for re-listing 
on the NPL, if conditions at the site ever warrant such action.
    The EPA will accept comments concerning the proposal to delete the 
OGC Site from the NPL for thirty (30) calendar 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 the OGC Site and 
explains how the OGC 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 the NCP at 40 CFR 300.425(e), 
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response under 
CERCLA is appropriate. In making this determination, EPA considers, in 
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have 
been met: Whether responsible or other parties have implemented all 
appropriate and required response action; whether 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 whether the release of hazardous 
substances poses no significant threat to public health or the 
environment, and, therefore, taking of remedial measures is not 
appropriate. (55 FR 8813, March 8, 1990.)
    In the past, EPA has indicated that in some cases it may be 
appropriate to delete from the NPL those sites that meet all the 
criteria for deferral to RCRA, and, in addition, present circumstances 
that otherwise make deletion appropriate. See 51 FR 21059 (June 10, 
1986); 53 FR 30008 (August 9, 1988). On August 9, 1988 (53 FR 30009), 
EPA indicated that while it would not systematically review sites 
already on the NPL to see whether they are eligible for deletion on 
this basis, it would consider requests for deletion that showed the 
circumstances to be appropriate.
    The Underground Storage Tanks (UST) Program was established by 
Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as 
amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) and 
as amended by SARA. The UST Program has authority to address releases 
of petroleum from leaking underground storage tanks.
    Deletion under this approach does not indicate that the cleanup has 
been completed, but rather that no further Superfund involvement is 
appropriate, and that EPA has determined that any necessary corrective 
action will be considered under another statutory authority, RCRA 
Subtitle I.
    As discussed further below, the EPA has determined that the above 
criteria for deletion of the OGC Site from the NPL have been fulfilled. 
Any necessary corrective action at the OGC Site will be considered 
under either the EPA's UST Program or the Michigan Department of 
Natural Resources, pursuant to RCRA Subtitle I and the Michigan Leaking 
Underground Storage Tank statute. No further Fund-financed action, 
pursuant to CERCLA, at the OGC Site is deemed appropriate at this time.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The NCP at 40 CFR 300.425(e) specifies the procedures to be 
followed in deleting sites from the NPL. Prior to proposing deletion 
from the NPL and prior to developing the Notice of Intent to Delete, 
EPA must consult with the State. The EPA, in consultation with the 
State, must decide whether the criteria for deletion of Sec. 300.425(e) 
have been met.
    Section 300.425(e) also directs that the Notice of Intent to Delete 
be published in the Federal Register, and that a concurrent notice be 
published in a local newspaper of general circulation near the site. By 
publication of this Federal Register notice for the OGC Site, EPA is 
extending to the public a period of thirty (30) calendar days after 
publication to comment on the proposed deletion. Information supporting 
the EPA's intent to delete the OGC Site is contained in the information 
repository and deletion docket, and is available to the public for 
inspection.
    EPA will accept and evaluate public comments before making a final 
decision, and will address all significant comments made and 
significant data provided in a Responsiveness Summary. The 
Responsiveness Summary will be placed in the deletion docket. If, after 
consideration of these comments, EPA decides to proceed with the 
deletion, EPA will publish in the Federal 

[[Page 41053]]
Register a final notice announcing the deletion.
    The following procedures are being used for the intended deletion 
of the OGC Site:
    The State of Michigan has concurred with this decision to address 
contamination under RCRA, Subtitle I authority.
    Concurrent with this national Notice of Intent to Delete, a local 
notice will be published in the local newspaper and will be distributed 
to appropriate federal, state and local officials and other interested 
parties. This local notice will specify a 30 day comment period.
    The Region has made all relevant documents available in the 
Regional Office and local site information repository.

IV. Basis for the Intended Deletion of the OGC Site

    The Ossineke Groundwater Contamination Site is located in the 
southern portion of the Village of Ossineke near the intersection of 
U.S. Route 23 and Nicholson Hill Road in Alpena County, Michigan. The 
Site lies approximately 1.8 miles southwest of Lake Huron.
    In June 1977, the Alpena County Health Department (ACHD) began 
receiving complaints from Ossineke residents about odors in their 
drinking water. Sampling confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons. The 
ACHD advised residents using the upper aquifer to stop using their 
wells as a drinking water source. On April 13, 1982, the Michigan State 
Police responded to a report of gas odors in the basements of several 
businesses. These reports were verified and it was discovered that a 
snow plow had hit a self-service gasoline pump during the winter, 
causing the release of an unknown amount of gasoline.
    The Site was evaluated by U.S. EPA's OSF in July 1982 and placed on 
the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983. In June 1986, 
residential wells affected by contamination were replaced by the 
Michigan Department of Public Health.
    The final Remedial Investigation (RI) Report was issued on January 
31, 1991. Field work for the RI began in May 1989 and was completed in 
March 1990. The results of the RI show that contaminants of concern at 
the OGC Site are petroleum-related and were likely caused by petroleum 
or petroleum product releases from leaking USTs in the area. A CERCLA 
Feasibility Study was not conducted for the OGC Site.
    On June 28, 1991, a Record of Decision for the OGC Site was signed 
by the Regional Administrator of EPA Region 5. The ROD selected the 
remedy of no further action.
    On the basis of the RI and ROD, the OGC Site was referred to the 
EPA UST Program established by Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation 
and Recovery Act (RCRA). The State of Michigan also has regulatory 
authority and jurisdiction to address releases from petroleum USTs, 
under Michigan's Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) statute 
enacted in 1988, and has been delegated the authority to address this 
facility under its Cooperative Agreement under Subtitle I of RCRA. The 
State of Michigan, through the Michigan Department of Natural 
Resources, concurs with the ROD for the OGC Site.
    Responsibility for the determining whether future clean-up of the 
OGC Site shall be taken is with the State of Michigan DNR under a 
cooperative agreement and the EPA's UST Program. Any petroleum-related 
contamination currently at the OGC Site as a result of leaking USTs may 
be addressed, if appropriate, either by the EPA's UST Program or by the 
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Such actions may include 
corrective actions and/or enforcement actions under the authority of 
RCRA Subtitle I, the Michigan LUST statute, or the Michigan 
Environmental Response Act (MERA) (1982 P.A. 307, as amended).
    Based on the above circumstances, EPA has concluded that in this 
case deletion from the NPL of the OGC Site is appropriate. In this 
case, EPA can make a finding that all appropriate Fund-financed 
response under CERCLA has been implemented and that no further CERCLA 
response action by responsible parties is appropriate. Deletion under 
this approach does not indicate that the clean-up has been completed, 
but rather that no further Superfund involvement is necessary at the 
OGC Site, and that EPA expects any necessary response actions to be 
completed under RCRA, Subtitle I.

    Dated: December 8, 1994.
Valdas V. Adamkus,
Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 5.
[FR Doc. 95-19003 Filed 8-10-95; 8:45 am]
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