[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9403-9405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5531]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5436-8]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete A.L. Taylor Superfund Site, Brooks, 
Kentucky from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces 
its intent to delete the A.L. Taylor Site (the Site) from the National 
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed 
action. In July, 1988, EPA issued a notice announcing its intent to 
delete this Site. Prior to the final determination to delete the Site 
the Agency adopted a policy of waiting until after a five-year review 
of a site to consider delisting. The first five-year review of the A.L. 
Taylor Site has been completed, and the results indicated that the 
remedy is protective of the human health and environment. Therefore, 
this notice is being revised to account for recent Site conditions. The 
NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil 
and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated 
pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and 
the Commonwealth of Kentucky have determined that the Site poses no 
significant threat to public health and the environment and therefore, 
further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments may be submitted by April 17, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Liza I. Montalvo, Remedial 
Project Manager, North Superfund Remedial Branch, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 
30365.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
public docket which is available for viewing at the A.L. Taylor 
Superfund Site information repositories at the following locations:
    Ridgeway Memorial Library, 127 Walnut Street, Shepherdsville, KY, 
40165.
    U.S. EPA Record Center, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA, 
30365.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liza I. Montalvo, U.S. EPA Region 4, 
345 Courtland St., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30365, 404-347-3555 Ext. 2030 or 
1-800-435-9233 Ext. 2030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4, announces its 
intent to delete the A.L. Taylor Site, Brooks, Kentucky, from the 
National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of the National Oil and 
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300, 
and requests comments on its 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 these sites. As 
described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL 
remain eligible for remedial actions in the unlikely event that 
conditions at the site warrant such action.
    The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site 
for thirty 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 the procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the A.L. Taylor Superfund Site 
and explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that releases 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:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate fund-financed response under CERCLA have been 
implemented, and no further 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.
    Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow 
for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA's policy is that a 
subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five 
years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure 
that the site remains protective of public health and the environment. 

[[Page 9404]]


III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this Site: (1) EPA Region 4 has recommended deletion and has prepared 
the relevant documents, (2) The Commonwealth of Kentucky has concurred 
with the deletion decision, (3) Concurrent with this Revised Notice of 
Intent to Delete, a local notice has been published in local newspapers 
and has been distributed to appropriate federal, state and local 
officials, and other interested parties. This local notice announces a 
thirty (30) day public comment period, provides an address and 
telephone number for submission of comments, and identifies the 
location of the local site repository; and (4) Region 4 has made all 
relevant documents available in the Regional Office and local site 
information repository.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management. 
As mentioned in Section II of this Notice, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the 
NCP states that the deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility for future response actions.
    For deletion of this Site, EPA Region 4 will accept and evaluate 
public comments on EPA's Revised Notice of Intent to Delete before 
making a final decision to delete. If necessary, the Agency will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public 
comments received.
    A deletion occurs when the EPA Regional Administrator places a 
final action in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect 
deletions in the final update following the notice. Public notices and 
copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local 
residents by Region 4.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following Site summary provides the Agency's rational for the 
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.

A. Site Background

    The A.L. Taylor Site, sometimes referred to as ``The Valley of the 
Drums,'' is a 13-acre site located in Brooks, Bullitt County, Kentucky, 
near the community of Brooks. The Site is approximately 1.3 miles west 
of Interstate 65 and 1.7 miles northwest of Brooks, Kentucky, off of 
State Highway 1020. The Site is bordered to the north and west by woods 
and to the south and east by several private rural residences and a 
golf course.

B. History

    The A.L. Taylor Site was first identified as a waste disposal site 
by the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources and Environmental 
Protection Cabinet (KDNREPC) in 1967. The paint and coating industries 
in the Louisville area were the primary waste generators using the 
Site. Solvent wastes, from these generators, were disposed in drums by 
burning the wastes in the open pits. Some drums were emptied into open 
pits, cleaned and recycled. Soil from the nearby hillsides was used to 
cover the pits. During the later years of operation, thousands of drums 
were stored on the ground surface.
    KDNREPC first became involved with the Site in 1967 after receiving 
reports of a fire that had been burning for approximately one week. 
After investigating the Site, the State noted that an approved sanitary 
landfill could be operated by Mr. A.L. Taylor at this location with 
proper permitting. However, Mr. Taylor did not apply for a sanitary 
landfill permit, and continued receiving and disposing of waste on the 
Site, under the business name of the A.L. Taylor Drum Cleaning Service, 
until November 1977.
    In January 1979, at the request of KDNREPC, EPA responded to 
releases of oil and hazardous substances at the A.L. Taylor Site. Under 
the authority of Section 311 of the Clean Water Act, the EPA Emergency 
Response Branch addressed the releases of pollutants into Wilson Creek 
by constructing interceptor trenches and a temporary water treatment 
system, securing leaking drums, and segregating and organizing drums on 
site. The EPA operated and maintained the temporary treatment system on 
site until December 1979, when the KDNREPC assumed responsibility for 
the system.
    The EPA's final count of drums located on the Site after the 1979 
emergency response action was 17,051 drums, of which 11,628 were empty. 
In 1980, KDNREPC contacted five Responsible Parties who identified and 
removed approximately 20 percent of the drummed waste remaining on the 
surface. The five generators contacted include: Ford Motor Co.; 
Reliance Universal, Inc.; Louisville Varnish Co.; George W. Whitesides 
Co.; and Kurfee's Coating, Inc. Following this removal, about 4,200 
drums remained.

C. Characterization of Risk

    In 1981, an EPA inspection revealed that deteriorated and leaking 
drums, were again discharging pollutants into Wilson Creek. EPA, 
responding under the emergency provisions of CERCLA, upgraded the 
existing treatment system and moved the remaining 4,200 drums from the 
Site for recycling or disposal. The Site was then regraded to promote 
positive drainage towards Wilson Creek, thus reducing the amount of 
ponded water and minimizing surface erosion. Although, these measures 
eliminated the drummed waste from the surface, contaminated soils and 
buried drums remained on site.
    Analytical data was collected during several site actions, 
including the two immediate removals and the Remedial Investigation. In 
all, approximately 140 compounds were identified. The chemicals found 
most often and in the highest concentrations were: xylene; acetone; 
toluene; phthalates; methyl ethyl ketone; vinyl chloride; fluoranthene; 
dichloroethylene; methylene chloride; anthracene; alkyl benzene; 
aliphatic acids.
    PCBs were detected in low concentrations and several metals, 
including barium, zinc, copper, strontium, magnesium, and chromium, 
were detected in concentrations exceeding background levels.
    The highest concentrations of organic contaminants detected on-
site, other than from drum samples, were from liquid samples collected 
in pits which EPA constructed to test for subsurface contamination. 
Some of the same compounds were detected in water samples from borings 
located down-gradient of these test pits. A Feasibility Study was 
completed in 1982 by Ecology and Environment, Inc., and a Record of 
Decision (ROD) was finalized by EPA in June 1986. The ROD identified 
groundwater and surface water (Wilson Creek) as potential routes of 
exposure to hazardous substances, and selected a final remedy for the 
Site.
    In April 1987, the remedial measures selected in the ROD were 
commenced by Haztech, Inc. These measures included the installation of 
a clay cap, a perimeter drainage system, monitoring wells, and a 
security fence.
    In the fall of 1988, reseeding and regrading of the cap was found 
to be necessary due to erosion problems. In March 1989, all remedial 
construction was completed.

D. Operation and Maintenance

    Operations and Maintenance (O&M) activities were performed by 
Ebasco Services, Inc. The O&M activities included groundwater sampling 
over five quarters from September 1988, through February 1990. The 
Commonwealth of Kentucky will be conducting the remaining 29 years of 
routine O&M with funds they received 

[[Page 9405]]
from a cost recovery settlement with responsible parties for the Site.

E. Five-Year Review

    EPA finalized the first Five-Year Review for the A.L. Taylor Site 
in June 1992, in which groundwater, surface water, leachate, sediment 
and gas samples were collected. The review concluded that the remedy 
was still protective of the human health and environment.

F. State Concurrence to Delete A.L. Taylor Site

    EPA, with concurrence of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, believes 
that the following criterion for deletion have been met: (1) EPA has 
implemented all appropriate response actions required; and (2) All 
appropriate response under CERCLA has been implemented. Consequently, 
EPA is proposing deletion of A.L. Taylor Site from the NPL. Documents 
supporting this action are available from the docket.

    Dated: February 20, 1996.
Phyllis P. Harris,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 4.
[FR Doc. 96-5531 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P