[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
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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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