[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 42 (Friday, March 1, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8012-8014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4830]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------


ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5433-2]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Kummer Sanitary Landfill from 
the National Priorities List; Request for Comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) 
Region V announces its intent to delete the Kummer Sanitary Landfill 
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 U.S. EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 
105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended. This action is being taken 
by U.S. EPA and the State of Minnesota. Both Agencies have determined 
that no further Federal response under CERCLA is appropriate. Any 
necessary future response actions will be undertaken by the State under 
the Minnesota Landfill Law enacted in 1994.

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of the Site from the 
NPL may be submitted on or before April 1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Terry Roundtree (SR-6J), Remedial 
Project Manager or Gladys Beard (SR-6J), Associate Remedial Project 
Manager, Office of Superfund, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., 
Chicago, IL 60604. Comprehensive information on the site is available 
at U.S. EPA's Region V office and at the local information repository 
located at: The Bemidji City Library, 6th and Beltrami, Bemidji, MN 
56601. Requests for comprehensive copies of documents should be 
directed formally to the Region V Docket Office. The address and phone 
number for the Regional Docket Officer is Jan Pfundheller (H-7J), U.S. 
EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 353-5821.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gladys Beard (SR-6J), Associate 
Remedial Project Manager, Office of Superfund, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 
W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-7253 or Cheryl Allen (P-
19J), Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson 
Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 353-6196.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region V announces 
its intent to delete the Kummer Sanitary Landfill Site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes Appendix B of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 
and requests comments on the proposed deletion. The EPA identifies 
sites that 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 actions financed by the 
Hazardous Substance Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund) or by 
responsible parties. Pursuant to Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any 
site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial 
actions if the conditions at the site warrant such action.
    The U.S. EPA will accept comments on 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.
    Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Furthermore, deletion 
from the NPL does not in any way alter U.S. EPA's right to take 
enforcement actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for 
informational purposes and to assist in Agency management.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria the Agency uses to delete Sites 
from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be 
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In 
making this determination, U.S. EPA will consider, 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; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have 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, remedial measures are not appropriate. 

[[Page 8013]]


III. Deletion Procedures

    Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in 
300.425(e) has been met, U.S. EPA may formally begin deletion 
procedures once the State has concurred. 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 comment period. The public is 
asked to comment on U.S. EPA's intention to delete the Site from the 
NPL. All critical documents needed to evaluate U.S. EPA's decision are 
included in the information repository and the deletion docket.
    Upon completion of the public comment period, if necessary, the 
U.S. EPA Regional Office will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to 
evaluate and address comments that were received. The public is welcome 
to contact the U.S. EPA Region V Office to obtain a copy of this 
responsiveness summary, if one is prepared. If U.S. EPA then determines 
the deletion from the NPL is appropriate, final notice of deletion will 
be published in the Federal Register.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The Kummer Landfill Sanitary is located in Northern Township, 
Beltrami County, Minnesota and borders the city of Bemidji. The 
Northern township has an estimated population of 3,997 in 1993 and 
contains a large mobile home park which is located east and southeast 
of the Site. The Kummer Landfill waste occupies approximately 23 acres 
in the southern portion of the township and is about 750 feet from the 
nearest residence. The landfill is situated above a shallow surficial 
sand aquifer which serves as a primary source of drinking water for the 
area.
    In June 1984, the Site was placed on the National Priorities List 
(NPL), Federal Register 51 page 21071.
    On September 29, 1984, the U. S. EPA and MPCA executed a 
Cooperative Agreement for implementing a Remedial Investigation/
Feasibility Study (RI/FS). Following the discovery of ground water 
contamination, a Determination of Emergency was issued by the MPCA on 
July 17, 1984. This permitted the expenditure of State Superfund money 
for a temporary water supply for affected residents. The Minnesota 
Department of Health (MDH) and MPCA delineated a three and one-half 
block area east of the landfill as a well advisory area. On August 28, 
1994, the MPCA authorized the expenditure of State Superfund money for 
a focused FS on a water system for the advisory area. Eighty-one 
property owners received letters from MDH on August 29, 1984, which 
notified them that they should discontinue the use of their private 
wells for drinking and cooking purposes.
    Because of the complexity of work at the Kummer Sanitary Landfill, 
the activities at the site have been divided into three operable units, 
which are:

Operable Unit 1. Northern Township Municipal Water System
Operable Unit 2. Source Control of contaminants emanating from the 
landfill
Operable Unit 3. Management of the contaminated ground water

    On June 12, 1985, a Record of Decision (ROD) for Operable Unit 1 
was signed which selected an alternative water supply as the remedial 
action. The selected remedy provided for an extension of the existing 
public water supply from the city of Bemidji. Construction of the water 
system began in June 1987, and was completed in the summer of 1990. A 
total of 198 connections to individual homes, businesses, and a mobile 
home park were completed in operable unit one.
    Due to the complexity of the site, the RI investigation was 
completed in phases. The Final RI Report was approved in May 1990. The 
Source Control Operable Unit (Operable Unit 2) FS was completed in 
September 1988. On September 30, 1988, a second ROD was signed which 
selected a cover system for the landfill as the remedial action for 
Operable Unit 2. The selected remedy included a low permeability cap, 
site deed restrictions, fencing and long-term operation and maintenance 
to provide inspections and repairs to the cap. The Construction of the 
cap was completed in October 1991.
    The Ground Water Operable unit (Operable Unit 3) RI/FS was 
completed in July, 1990. Three ground water monitoring programs were 
completed, and eight rounds of data were collected. The results 
revealed that VOCs were being introduced into the shallow ground water 
by the landfill. However, ground water monitoring has shown that the 
plume does not extend to Lake Bemidji.
    On September 29, 1990, a third ROD was signed which selected a 
remedy that included ground water extraction for an estimated period of 
30 years, during which the system's performance would be carefully 
monitored on a regular basis and adjusted as warranted by the 
performance data collected during operation.
    On November 21, 1995, a ROD Amendment was signed concerning the 
ground water Operable unit (OU3). The remedy selected was 
bioremediation which provides no exposure of contaminated ground water 
to potential receptors. The major components of the amended remedy for 
OU3 include:
     Installation of a pilot scale field demonstration to 
determine the feasibility of insitu biodegradation of the chemicals of 
concern;
     Installation of a full scale insitu bioremediation system 
after one year of operation of the pilot scale field demonstration if 
necessary to meet the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for chemicals of 
concern located in ground water;
     Long term monitoring of ground water to verify that the 
concentrations of the chemicals of concern are continuing to decline 
and to measure performance of the pilot scale field demonstration and 
or full scale insitu bioremediation system;
     Continued observance of the Minnesota Health Department 
Well Advisory which regulates the location of future potable wells near 
the Site;
     Institutional Controls in the form of Site access 
restrictions that protect the remedy; and operation and maintenance of 
the remedy, including periodic inspection of the Site.
    The public accepted the remedy in the 1990 OU3 ROD. A public 
information meeting was held by the State of Minnesota on June 5, 1995, 
in Northern Township to inform interested parties on the amend remedy 
and the State 's desire to amend the 1990 ROD. There were no strong 
comments against the change in the remedy.
    In 1994, the Legislature of the State of Minnesota enacted the 
Landfill Cleanup Law, Minn. Laws 1994, ch. 639, codified at Minn. Stat. 
Sec. Sec. 115B.39 to 115B.46 (the Act), authorizing the Commissioner of 
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to assume responsibility 
for future environmental response actions at qualified landfills that 
have received notices of compliance from the Commissioner of MPCA. 
Additionally, the Act established funds to enable the MPCA to perform 
all necessary response, operation and maintenance at such landfills. At 
sites where no responsible parties are conducting response actions 
under CERCLA, MPCA is responsible for issuing a notice of compliance, 
after it determines that all work that could be expected under a state 
order or under state closure requirements has been completed.
    A notice of compliance was issued by MPCA for the Kummer Sanitary 
Landfill Site on November 7, 1995. MPCA has since assumed all 
responsibility for the Kummer Landfill under the Act. Therefore, no 
further response actions 

[[Page 8014]]
under CERCLA are appropriate at this time. Consequently, U.S EPA 
proposed to delete the site from the NPL.
    EPA, with concurrence from the State of Minnesota, has determined 
that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Kummer 
Sanitary Landfill Superfund Site have been completed, and no further 
CERCLA response is appropriate in order to provide protection of human 
health and the environment. Therefore, EPA proposes to delete the site 
from the NPL.

    Dated: February 20, 1996.
Valdas V. Adamkus,
Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, Region V.
[FR Doc. 96-4830 Filed 2-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P