[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 139 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37435-37436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17905]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5537-8]


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

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency.

Action: Notice of intent to delete Bonneville Power Administration 
(BPA)/Ross Complex from the National Priorities List: request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 announces 
its intent to delete the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)/Ross 
Complex 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 EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments 
and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Public Law Number 99-400 (CERCLA).
    EPA has determined, and Washington State's Department of Ecology 
(Ecology) has concurred, that the BPA/Ross Complex site poses no 
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, 
further remedial measures are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this site may be submitted on or before 
August 19, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Nancy Harney, U.S. EPA Region 10, 
Mail Stop: ECL-111, 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101.
    Comprehensive information on this site is available through the 
Region 10 Deletion Docket, which is located at EPA's Region 10 office 
and is available for viewing by appointment only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Appointments for 
copies of the background information from the Regional public docket 
should be directed to the EPA Region 10 docket office at the following 
address: Lynn Williams, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 10, Environmental Cleanup Office, ECL-110, Superfund Records 
Center, 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101.
    The Deletion Docket is also available for viewing at the following 
locations:

BPA/Ross Complex, 5411 NE Highway 99, Plant Services Building, 2nd 
Floor, Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver Regional Library, 1007 East Mill Plain Boulevard, Vancouver, 
Washington

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Harney, U.S. EPA Region 10, Mail 
Stop: ECL-111, 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, (206) 553-
6635.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 
announces its intent to delete the BPA/Ross Complex site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes Appendix B of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (``NCP''), 40 
CFR Part 300, and requests comments on this proposed deletion. EPA 
identifies sites on the NPL that appear to present a significant risk 
to human health or the environment and maintains the NPL as the list of 
these sites. EPA may delete a site from the NPL if it determines that 
no further response is required to protect human health and the 
environment. As described in Section 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 are later found to warrant 
such actions.
    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 BPA/Ross Complex site and 
explains 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 Section 300.425(e) of the NCP, 
40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be deleted from 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 parties have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate response under CERCLA has 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.
    It is EPA's policy that 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, 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. In the case of this site, the selected remedies are 
protective of human health and the environment. Consistent with Section 
XIX of the BPA/Ross Complex Federal Facility Agreement (FFA), BPA will 
conduct a five-year review of these final remedies. If new information 
becomes available which indicates a need for further action, EPA may 
initiate remedial actions. Whenever there is a significant release from 
a site deleted from the NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL 
without the application of the Hazard Ranking System.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this site: (1)

[[Page 37436]]

All appropriate response under CERCLA has been implemented and no 
further action by BPA is appropriate; (2) Ecology has concurred with 
the proposed deletion decision; (3) a notice has been published in the 
local newspapers and has been distributed to appropriate federal, state 
and local officials and other interested parties announcing the 
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of 
Intent to Delete, and (4) all relevant documents have been made 
available in the local site information repositories.
    Deletion of the site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency 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 response actions.
    For deletion of this site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and 
evaluate public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before 
making a final decision to delete. The Agency will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary if significant public comments are offered.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice 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 the Regional office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposal to delete this site from the NPL:
    The BPA/Ross Complex consists of a 235-acre tract in Clark County 
on the eastern side of U.S. Highway 99. The site is an active facility 
that has been owned and operated by the BPA since 1939 to coordinate 
the distribution of hydroelectric power generated by the Federal 
Columbia River Power System to regions throughout the Pacific 
Northwest. Since its construction, the site has provided research and 
testing facilities, maintenance and construction operations, and waste 
storage and handling operations for BPA.
    In November 1989 the EPA placed the BPA/Ross Complex on the NPL, 
making it a Superfund site subject to the requirements of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA). The listing was based on the presence of volatile organic 
compounds (VOCs), Trichloroethane (TCA), Dichloroethene (DCE) in 
groundwater, PCBs in surface soils, and the Ross Complex's proximity to 
the City of Vancouver's drinking water supply. As a result of the 
listing, and pursuant to a Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) signed by 
BPA, EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology on May 1, 1990, BPA 
conducted a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) to 
determine the nature and extent of contamination at the Ross Complex 
and to evaluate alternatives for cleanup of contaminated areas.
    To facilitate the Superfund investigation process, the site was 
divided into two separate Operable Units (OUs), (OUA and OUB). The OUA 
investigation focused on surface soil contamination. Of the 21 waste 
units evaluated as part of the RI, the OUA Record of Decision (ROD) 
signed on May 6, 1993, required remedial action for only 3 areas. A 
total of 2,544 tons of contaminated soil was excavated and disposed at 
an approved off-site landfill in Arlington, Oregon. PCB-contaminated 
concrete footings and debris were also removed and disposed offsite. 
Soils in the Wood Pole Storage Area East were treated by enhanced 
bioremediation and then covered by a cap of clean gravel.
    The OUB RI focused on characterization of subsurface soils in two 
waste units and also included characterization of the shallow perched 
water table, the deep groundwater aquifer beneath the Ross Complex, and 
surface water and sediments in Cold Creek and Burnt Bridge Creek. 
Perched water tables and the deep aquifer beneath the Ross Complex were 
tested for a wide range of potential contaminants including VOC's, 
pesticides, herbicides, metals, base neutral acids, PCB's, phenols, 
phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's). Based on the 
findings of the RI, the OUB ROD signed on September 29, 1993, required 
installation of a multi-layered permanent cap at the Fog Chamber Dump 
Trench Area 1. Remedial action was not required for groundwater, 
surface water or sediments.
    EPA believes that the remedial actions taken at this site are 
protective of human health and the environment and no further remedial 
action under CERCLA is warranted. However, the OUB ROD requires 
institutional controls for subsurface soils as well as groundwater 
monitoring at several on-site wells to verify that groundwater 
conditions remain adequately protective.
    As previously stated, one of the three criteria for deletion 
specifies that EPA may delete a site from the NPL if ``all appropriate 
response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further action by 
responsible parties is appropriate.'' EPA, with concurrence of Ecology, 
believes that this criterion for deletion has been met. Therefore, EPA 
is proposing deletion of the BPA/Ross Complex site from the NPL. 
Documents supporting this action are available at the designated 
information repositories.

    Dated: June 20, 1996.
Chuck Clarke,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 96-17905 Filed 7-17-96; 8:45 am]
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