[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3365-3367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1715]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5403-3]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites; Notice
of Intent to Delete 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site from
the National Priorities List (NPL): Request for Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete and request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces its intent
to delete the 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site in Wichita,
Sedgwick County, Kansas, 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 of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended.
Because of the unique circumstances surrounding the 29th and Mead
Ground Water Contamination Site, the Agency has determined that no
further federal steps under CERCLA are appropriate. The Site will
instead, in a pilot project, be deferred to the State of Kansas and
addressed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
EPA will consider the effectiveness and efficiency of the Site cleanup
as well as the likelihood that a similarly favorable outcome could be
reproduced elsewhere before determining whether such a policy will be
considered for other sites. The rationale supporting this action is
explained in the Basis for Intended Site Deletion section.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of the 29th and Mead
Ground Water Contamination Site should be submitted on or before March
1, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Mail original and three copies of comments (no facsimiles or
tapes) to Docket Coordinator, Headquarters; U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; CERCLA Docket Office; (Mail Code 5201G); 401 M
Street, SW; Washington, D.C. 20460; (703) 603-8917.
Comprehensive information on the 29th and Mead Ground Water
Contamination Site is maintained in the public docket, which is
available for public review at the information
[[Page 3366]]
repositories in three locations. Requests for appointments or copies of
the background information from the public docket should be directed
to:
Docket Coordinator, Headquarters, U.S. EPA CERCLA Docket Office (Mail
Code 5201G); Crystal Gateway #1, 1st Floor; 1235 Jefferson Davis
Highway; Arlington, VA 22202. Phone: (703) 603-9232; Hours: 9:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding Federal holidays. (Please
note this is viewing address only. Do not mail documents to this
address.)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII; 726 Minnesota Avenue;
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Phone: (913) 551-7959. Hours: 8:00 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.
Wichita District Office; Kansas Department of Health and Environment;
130 S. Market St., Suite 6050; Wichita, Kansas 67202-3802. Phone: (316)
337-0620; Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding state holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Site-specific questions should be
directed to Kenneth Rapplean; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
Region VII; 726 Minnesota Avenue, Superfund Division; Kansas City,
Kansas 66101; Tel. (913) 551-7769. General questions should be directed
to Mary Ann Rich; Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (Mail Code
5204G); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 401 M Street, SW;
Washington, D.C. 20460; Tel. (703) 603-8825.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for the Intended Deletion of the 29th and Mead Site from
the NPL
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to delete
the 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site in Wichita, Sedgwick
County, Kansas from the NPL, which constitutes Appendix B of the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
and requests comments on this proposed deletion. 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
Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains
eligible for Fund-financed Remedial Actions should future conditions at
the Site warrant such action. EPA will accept comments concerning this
Site for thirty (30) calendar days after publication of this Notice in
the Federal Register.
Section II of this Notice explains the criteria for the deletion of
this Site from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is
using for this action. Section IV discusses 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 the NCP at 40 CFR 300.425(e),
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further Fund-financed CERCLA
response action is appropriate. EPA typically considers, in
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria has
been met: (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; (ii) all appropriate Fund-
financed response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further
response 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.
In light of the planned State action in this case, EPA finds that
all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties
under CERCLA is appropriate. Deletion under this approach does not
indicate that the cleanup has been completed, but rather that no
further Superfund involvement is necessary, and that the Agency expects
the response to be completed under an Agreement between the City of
Wichita and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). In
the event such response action is not taken under KDHE oversight, EPA
retains the right to take further remedial action at this site, and to
restore this Site to the NPL. CERCLA 105(e); 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3).
III. Deletion Procedures
The NCP at 40 CFR 300.425(e) specifies the procedures to be
followed in deleting sites from the NPL. It directs that Notice and an
opportunity to comment must be given before deleting sites from the
NPL. By this Notice, EPA intends to notify the public of its proposal
to delete the 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site from the
NPL, and it will accept comments from the public on this proposal for a
period of thirty (30) days after the date of publication in the Federal
Register. The following procedures were used for the intended deletion
of this Site:
(1) EPA has recommended deletion and has prepared the relevant
documents.
(2) The State has concurred with the proposed deletion decision
after reviewing the deletion Notice and providing comments to EPA
before its publication in the Federal Register. The State reviewed the
Notice in less than the usual 30 days allotted for such review.
(3) A notice has been published in a major local newspaper and has
been distributed to appropriate Federal, State, and local officials,
and other interested parties.
(4) EPA has made all relevant documents available in the Regional
Office and local Site information repository.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or
revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designated
primarily for information purposes and to assist EPA management. As
mentioned in Section II of this Notice, 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) states
that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for
future Fund-financed response actions.
EPA will accept and evaluate public comments before making a final
decision to delete, and will address them in a Responsiveness Summary,
which EPA will place in the docket for this decision.
Because the deletion of this site presents nationally significant
issues, the Federal Register Notice proposing to delete this Site from
the NPL will be signed by the Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response. The NPL will reflect any deletions in the
next final rule. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness
Summary will be made available to local residents by Region VII.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site is located in
northern Wichita, Kansas and includes a mixture of residential,
commercial, and industrial development. The Site is a ground water
plume that covers approximately 1,440 acres. Among contaminants
detected in significant concentrations in the ground water are volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene, carbon
tetrachloride, toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, methylene chloride,
trans- and/or cis-1,2-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, and 1,1,1-
[[Page 3367]]
trichloroethane. The Site was placed on the NPL on February 21, 1990
(55 FR 6154).
On July 30, 1994, the City of Wichita, Kansas, petitioned the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the 29th
and Mead Ground Water Contamination Site from the NPL, in effect, by
revising the Site's Hazard Ranking System (HRS) score. On November 29,
1994, EPA denied the petition, in part because there was no reason to
change the HRS scoring of the Site.
The Agency, however, recognizes that legitimate issues were raised
regarding the overall process for Site cleanup developed by the City
and State, and has reconsidered its decision not to delete the Site
from the NPL. This decision is not based on any re-evaluation of the
Site or the Hazard Ranking System score but rather on the City's
previous successful development of a strategy for cleanup of the
Gilbert and Mosley Site, a site that was deferred to the State, and the
expectation that the City and the State, through their enforceable
agreement, can accomplish the same results at the 29th and Mead Ground
Water Contamination Site without additional federal intervention. The
reasoning for this decision is described below. EPA will use the
results of this pilot project to evaluate the efficiency and
effectiveness of the Site cleanup before determining whether to grant
future deletions of final NPL sites based on deferrals to states.
EPA finds that, because the City and the State have agreed to
address the contamination at the 29th and Mead Site, no further
response action under CERCLA is necessary at this Site due to the
following circumstances:
First, Kansas is one of seven states to pilot and successfully
implement EPA's state deferral program. The purpose of the deferral
program is to encourage qualified, interested States to address, under
State laws, the large number of sites now in EPA's listing queue,
thereby accelerating cleanup. Kansas has worked actively with EPA and
Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) to ensure successful cleanup of
these sites.
Second, the cleanup of the 29th and Mead Ground Water Contamination
Site will be patterned after another pilot site, Gilbert and Mosley,
one of ten sites that was deferred to the State prior to proposal to
the NPL under EPA's Superfund Administrative Improvements Program. The
City of Wichita, in partnership with KDHE, successfully developed a
strategy for cleanup of that site. Specifically, the City:
(1) Entered into an enforceable agreement with KDHE;
(2) Has secured agreement from one of the principal PRPs at Gilbert
and Mosley (Coleman Company) to pay their part of the cleanup;
(3) Issued Certificates of Release to property owners participating
in the cleanup strategy which ensure that no contribution suits will be
filed by parties participating in the settlement;
(4) Developed an agreement with financial institutions to re-
establish lending in the area, and obtained up-front financial
commitments to fund the capital investment of the clean-up costs and
studies required;
(5) Implemented a tax increment financing (TIF) district where,
after improvements were made, the higher restored property values
provided the tax base to pay for the improvements; and
(6) Established a Technical Advisory Committee and a Citizens
Steering Committee to facilitate citizen involvement;
(7) Agreed to plan and ensure implementation of a remedial
investigation, remedial design and cleanup of the site.
The City of Wichita received the 1992 Ford Foundation and Kennedy
School of Government Innovations in State and Local Government Award
for its creative solutions to the Gilbert and Mosley Superfund site.
The remedial design for an interim groundwater containment and
treatment system is now being developed pursuant to the Gilbert and
Mosley agreement, and the project is ahead of the schedule proposed in
that agreement.
Third, the two sites are adjacent and the principal PRP has been
cooperative at both sites.
Fourth, based on this experience, EPA expects that KDHE and the
City of Wichita will undertake similar efforts that will be protective
of human health and the environment at the 29th and Mead Ground Water
Contamination Site.
The City of Wichita has now entered into an enforceable agreement
with KDHE under which the City will assume responsibility for funding
and developing a cleanup strategy at the 29th and Mead site. A copy of
the Agreement is available for review at the three docket locations
listed in the Addresses section above.
This action is consistent with EPA's reinvention of environmental
regulation to achieve the best results at the least cost through
emphasis on performance-based management. In particular, this action
reflects the goals of the XL Program (FRL-5197-9; May 23, 1995) by
providing flexibility to replace current requirements with alternative
strategies that achieve better bottom line environmental results. This
action also reflects the goals of EPA's community-based environmental
protection initiative by empowering state and local officials to better
meet the needs and priorities of the communities.
For these reasons EPA proposes to delete the 29th and Mead Ground
Water Contamination Site from the NPL.
Should conditions change (i.e., insufficient progress toward
cleanup), nothing shall preclude the Environmental Protection Agency
from restoring this facility to the NPL in the future should the Agency
determine, after consultation with the State, that such listing will
facilitate the implementation of response actions in a timely manner.
Should that be deemed necessary and EPA determines that there is a
significant release from the Site, the Agency may take remedial action
at the site, and may restore the Site to the NPL without application of
the HRS under 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3).
Dated: December 14, 1995.
Elliott P. Laws,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-1715 Filed 1-30-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P