[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 30, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39645-39646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-19327]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-SS44-6]


Proposed Administrative Settlement Under Section 122(h) and 
Section 106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as Amended, 42 U.S.C. 
9622(h) and 42 U.S.C. 9606(a), Black Hawk Iron and Metals Site, 
Waterloo, IA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposed administrative settlement; Black Hawk Iron 
and Metal Site, Waterloo, Iowa.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
enter into an administrative settlement to resolve claims under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 
1980 (CERCLA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9622(h). This settlement is 
intended to resolve the liability of Chicago Central & Pacific 
Railroad, for the response costs incurred and to be incurred at the 
Black Hawk Iron and Metal Superfund Site, Waterloo, Iowa.

DATES: Written comments must be provided on or before August 29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Belinda Holmes, Assistant 
Regional Counsel, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101 and should refer 
to: In the Matter of Black Hawk Iron and Metal Site, Waterloo, Iowa, 
Chicago Central & Pacific Railroad, EPA Docket No. 96-F-0006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Belinda Holmes, Assistant Regional Counsel, United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, 
Kansas 66101, (913) 551-7714.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed settling party is Chicago 
Central and Pacific Railroad Company (CCP), the owner and operator of 
approximately a 0.25 acre active railroad spur, that is part of the 
Black Hawk Iron and Metal Superfund Site (the Site).
    The Black Hawk Iron and Metal Site was operated as a scrap metal 
salvage operation from the early 1950s until May, 1991. At least three 
separate businesses have operated at the Site,

[[Page 39646]]

including Black Hawk Iron and Metal, Inc., R&M Midwest Metals, Inc., 
and Capital Metals, Inc. Various salvage operations at the Site 
included resale of scrap metal and transformers and lead reclamation 
from batteries, as well as smelting of copper and other metals. The 
Site is approximately 4.5 acres in size and is comprised of two 
parcels, divided by a 0.25 acre active railroad spur owned and operated 
by CCP. The Site is surrounded by approximately twenty-three (23) 
single family residences on the West, North and East sides. The strip 
of land on which the rail spur is built was conveyed to the Dubuque & 
Sioux City Railroad Company by two separate deeds in October, 1925 and 
June, 1928. The strip of property, including the rail spur, was 
conveyed to the Illinois Central Railroad Company in December, 1985 as 
part of CCP's purchase of several rail lines from Illinois Central 
Railroad. The parcels north and south of the rail spur are owned by 
other potentially responsible parties. The south 1.3 acre parcel was 
used for the disposal of broken battery casings and the scrap debris, 
including empty wooded wire rope spools.
    In November, 1993, neighborhood residents reported to the Waterloo 
Fire Department that a child had returned home from the Site with a 
small jar of metallic mercury which the child had collected while 
playing at the Site. The Waterloo Fire Department referred the matter 
to the Black Hawk County Health Department and IDNR for investigation. 
IDNR requested assistance from EPA, and EPA personnel visited the Site 
and collected several samples form the Site. Mercury in concentrations 
of up to 3,490 mg/kg, arsenic in concentrations up to 59.9 mg/kg, 
antimony in concentrations up to 1,200 mg/kg, copper in concentrations 
up to 313,000 mg/kg, and lead in concentrations up to 53,000 mg/kg were 
present in soils at the site. In addition soil samples from ten of the 
adjacent residents contained lead in concentrations exceeding 500 mg/
kg.
    A large percentage of the surface area of CCP's property was 
covered with battery casings and fragments of lead plates.
    In June 1994, EPA conducted an emergency removal action to 
stabilize conditions at the Site. Residential soils containing lead at 
levels greater than 500 mg/kg were removed and impounded on-site. In 
addition, 3,500 linear feet of security fencing was installed around 
the north and south parcels. During the summer of 1995, CCP performed 
its own investigation of the Soils on the 0.25 acre rail spur. Results 
of sampling conducted by CCP showed lead in surface soil at 
concentrations up to 1,690 mg/kg, and in subsurface soil at 
concentrations up to 17,840 mg/kg.
    On August 28, 1995, the Regional Administrator of EPA Region VII, 
signed an Action Memorandum authorizing a second removal action at the 
Site. The Action Memorandum, among other things, authorized EPA to 
excavate and dispose of contaminated surface soil at the Site, 
including the soil beneath and around the rail spur owned by 
Respondent. The total cost of cleanup of the Site was estimated at 
approximately $3.8 million. The Action Memorandum includes a 
determination by EPA that the Site, if unaddressed, presents an 
imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or welfare or to 
the environment. Part of the basis for this determination was the 
continued possibility that neighborhood children would be exposed to 
the contamination at the Site by trespassing on the Site or by 
inhalation of dust blown from the Site.
    The proposed settlement provides that Respondent shall comply with 
the following provisions:
    1. CCP shall pay to the EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund ninety 
thousand dollars ($90,000.00) in reimbursement of past and future 
response costs. In addition, the settlement required CCP to perform a 
portion of the work at the Site, including removing and replacing rails 
and equipment, and grading and building a crossing.
    2. CCP is also required to provide access to the property within 
the site owned by CCP until EPA completion of all response activities 
at the Site.
    3. The proposed settlement further provides CCP with a covenant not 
to sue CCP for judicial imposition of damages or civil penalties or to 
take administrative action against CCP provided CCP performs as 
required under the terms of the settlement.
    The settlement has been approved by the Attorney General in 
accordance with Section 122(h)(1) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 122A(h)(1).

    Dated: July 5, 1996.
William Rice,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-19327 Filed 7-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M