[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32765-32766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15882]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-5525-3]

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete the Omega Hills North Landfill 
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List; Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) 
Region V announces its intent to delete the Omega Hills Landfill Site 
from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on 
this action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B to 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, because it has been determined 
that all Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and 
U.S. EPA, in consultation with the State of Wisconsin, has determined 
that no further response is appropriate. Moreover, U.S. EPA and the 
State have determined that remedial activities conducted at the Site to 
date have been protective of public health, welfare, and the 
environment.

DATE: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of the Site from the 
NPL may be submitted on or before July 25, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial 
Project Manager, Superfund Division, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson 
Blvd. (SR-6J), 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: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 101 
S. Webster, Madison, WI 53707. 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, Superfund Division, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. 
Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-7253 or Susan Pastor (P-
19J), Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson 
Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 353-1325.
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 Omega Hills North 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 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 Substance 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 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.
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

[[Page 32766]]

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 Omega Hills North Landfill is located in the Village of 
Germantown in Washington County, Wisconsin. The Omega Hills North 
Landfill is a former hazardous and solid waste disposal site. The 
landfill is closed. A clay cover was completed October 1, 1989. 
Contaminants at the site include benzene, vinyl chloride, 
trichloroethylene, and cis 1,-dichloroethylene. Contamination from the 
site extends to bedrock and sand seams located beneath the site to an 
approximate depth of 95 feet. Groundwater contamination (chiefly 
trichloroethylene) has been detected in private wells near the site. 
Residents in the area now use municipal water. The site has undergone 
remediation in the form of installing treatment systems that address 
groundwater, leachate, gas and surface water runoff contamination. The 
potential for continuing migration of contaminants due to groundwater 
movement is a public health concern and is addressed with regular 
monitoring of wells in the area of the site.
    The Omega Hills North Landfill is an 83-acre site that is part of a 
two-site complex. The Omega Hills North Landfill, which is now closed, 
operated as a municipal and industrial waste disposal site that was 
licensed to accept hazardous waste from 1977 to 1982. One of the 
largest landfills in the state, the Omega Hills complex is located in 
the extreme southeastern corner of Washington County near metropolitan 
Milwaukee. The site was proposed for the NPL in September 1983. The 
listing was finalized in September 21, 1984, Federal Register number 
49, volume number 185 and page number 37070-37090.
    Soils at the site are generally fine grained, but there are major 
sand layers that extend vertically to the bedrock and serve as recharge 
zones. An ineffective leachate collection system and large amounts of 
liquid waste allowed very high leachate head levels to develop. Wells 
in the area draw from the underlying Niagara dolomite.
    The sand and underlying dolomite serve as conduits for contaminant 
migration. Hydrogeologic investigations conducted during 1981 through 
1983 detected a groundwater divide that exists within the bedrock 
aquifer along the northwest side of the landfill. A stream to the west 
of the site also inhibits groundwater flow to the west.
    After becoming saturated, layers of sand that intersect the bottom 
and sides of the landfill serve as conduits for transmitting liquid 
wastes and leachate to surrounding groundwater. Data from monitoring 
wells around the landfill indicates that groundwater is contaminated. 
Some nearby wells rely on the same aquifer for water.
    A medical waste incinerator and a methane gas power plant are 
located on the site.
    Remediation activities began at this site in the early 1980's and a 
significant portion of the environmental cleanup has been completed. 
All of this work has been implemented under state solid hazardous waste 
authority and it is EPA's intent to continue using existing state 
environmental regulations to require the on-going long-term care 
activities such as environmental monitoring, leachate extraction and 
treatment, routine maintenance, as well as additional remediation work 
as necessary.
    The majority of the cleanup has been completed. Federal CERCLA 
authorities have not been used to compel any cleanup actions at this 
site. Instead, cleanup activities at the site were initiated using the 
State's authority under RCRA. The State will also require long-term 
operation and maintenance of the site using these RCRA authorities. Any 
future cleanup activities will be addressed using State RCRA 
authorities. As a result, the site should be removed from the NPL.
    EPA, with concurrence from the State of Wisconsin, has determined 
that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Omega 
Hills North 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: June 11, 1996.
Valdas V. Adamkus,
Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, Region V.
[FR Doc. 96-15882 Filed 6-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P