[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 27, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44025-44026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21572]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[ID CAD065021594; FRL-5558-8]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Louisiana-Pacific Superfund Site
from the National Priorities List: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, announces
its intent to delete the Louisiana-Pacific Site (the ``Site'') in
Oroville, California, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and
requests public comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes
Appendix B of 40 CFR Part 300, which is the National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), promulgated pursuant to
Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of
California Department of Toxic Substances Control have determined that
the Site poses no significant threat to human health or the environment
and, therefore, further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are not
appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site from the
NPL may be submitted on or before September 26, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the following address: Keith
Takata, Director, Superfund Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA
Region 9 public docket, which is located at EPA Region 9's Superfund
Records Center, at the address above, and is available for viewing
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
Additional information on the Louisiana-Pacific Superfund Site,
including that contained in the public docket, is also available for
viewing at the Site repositories:
Butte County Public Library, 1820 Mitchell Avenue, Oroville, CA 95966,
(916) 538-7596
Meriam Library, California State University at Chico, Chico, CA 95929-
0295, (916) 898-5710
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick Schauffler, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street (H-7-2), San
Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 744-2359.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, announces its
intent to delete the Louisiana-Pacific Site, located in Oroville,
California, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests
comments on this deletion. The NPL constitutes Appendix B to the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
40 CFR Part 300. EPA identifies sites that present a significant risk
to public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as
a list of those 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.
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 procedures that EPA is using for
this action. Section IV discusses the Louisiana-Pacific 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 when 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; or
(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.
The levels of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants
that remain at the Site are within the levels that allow for unlimited
use and unrestricted exposure. Thus, subsequent review of the Site
pursuant to section 121(c) of CERCLA, will not be required. If new
information that indicates a need for further action becomes available,
EPA may initiate response actions. Wherever 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) EPA Region 9 has recommended deletion and has prepared
the relevant documents; (2) the State of California has concurred with
the proposed deletion decision; (3) a notice has been published in the
local newspaper 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 for public review in the local Site information repositories.
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's Regional Office will accept and
evaluate
[[Page 44026]]
public comments on EPA's 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 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
interested parties by the Regional Office.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
A. Site Background
The Louisiana-Pacific (L-P) Superfund Site consists of a wood
processing plant and landfill located in Butte County just south of the
city limits of Oroville, California (population 10,560). The plant and
landfill are located about \1/2\ mile apart and are separated by the
Koppers Company, Inc., Superfund site, which is also on the NPL.
Log storage, lumber production and hardboard manufacturing take
place at the L-P plant. It lies in the Feather River floodplain at an
elevation of about 145 feet above mean sea level in an area of tailings
piles created by dredger mining activities that ceased around 1936. The
northern part of the plant is occupied by buildings and paved with
asphalt. The central part of the plant has been graded relatively level
for log storage. The western margin and southwest corner of the plant
retain much of the historic, irregular dredge-tailing topography since
modified by quarrying for log-deck base material.
Land use in the vicinity of the Site is mixed agricultural,
residential, commercial and industrial. One- to five-acre farms exist,
and much of the produce and livestock is raised for home use and not
sold commercially. Residential areas are located to the south,
southeast, west and northeast of the Site. Three schools are located
within a two-mile radius of the Site.
B. History
Georgia-Pacific Corporation purchased the present L-P site in 1969
and completed construction of the sawmill facility in 1970. Louisiana-
Pacific Corporation took control of the property in 1973. The hardboard
facility was constructed in 1973, and L-P began operations at the
landfill in 1978.
Between 1970 and 1984, L-P used a fungicide spray containing
pentachlorophenol (PCP) to prevent fungal discoloration of sawn lumber.
In 1973, a state agency discovered PCP contamination in local
groundwater south of the L-P and Koppers plants. PCP contamination was
also detected in surface water, sawdust and wood waste at the L-P plant
and landfill. As a result, the L-P site was placed on the NPL in
February 1986. In December 1986, EPA began remedial investigations of
surface water, soil, sediment, groundwater, wood waste and air at the
L-P site to characterize the nature and extent of contamination. EPA
issued the Remedial Investigation (RI) report and the Endangerment
Assessment in 1989. Concurrent investigations of air quality were
conducted by L-P and the Butte County Air Pollution Control District
over a one-year period beginning in 1988. The Feasibility Study (FS)
report was issued in May 1990.
In September 1990, EPA issued an Interim Record of Decision that
required institutional controls as well as further soil sampling for
arsenic and groundwater monitoring for arsenic and formaldehyde. L-P
conducted the required sampling and monitoring pursuant to an
administrative order issued by EPA in July 1991. The results indicated
that contaminant concentrations in soil and groundwater at the Site do
not pose a significant risk to human health or the environment. EPA
issued a final ROD in August, 1995, documenting that no further
remedial action was necessary at the L-P site.
C. Community Relations Activities
Fact sheets were sent out to the public at key progress points in
the investigation. Technical exchange meetings were held monthly or
bimonthly at the Site during the field work phase of the RI, with
representatives of public agencies and local citizen groups invited to
attend. RI/FS documents, including the Remedial Investigation report,
the Endangerment Assessment report, and the Feasibility Study report,
were sent to the local libraries and a representative of a community
group. Similarly, documents prepared by L-P and EPA following the 1990
Interim ROD also were sent to local libraries.
The May 1995 proposed plan was distributed using EPA's mailing list
for this site. A public comment period on the proposed plan was held
between May 20, 1995 and June 19, 1995. Public notice appeared in local
newspapers, including the Oroville Mercury-Register, prior to the
opening of the public comment period. A formal public meeting was held
on June 1, 1995.
D. Characterization of Risk
The results of the EPA and L-P investigations have shown that
groundwater, surface water, soil, sediment and wood waste contain
various contaminants used by L-P and Koppers. Concentrations on the L-P
plant were found to be highest in an area along the L-P/Koppers
boundary. Contaminants in this area will be addressed as part of the
Koppers cleanup. Although PCP, arsenic and formaldehyde were detected
in soils and groundwater elsewhere at the L-P site, the concentrations
were below state and federal drinking water standards (for arsenic and
PCP) and health-based levels of concern (for formaldehyde). EPA
believes that conditions at the Site pose no unacceptable risks to
human health or the environment.
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 the concurrence of the California Department
of Toxic Substances Control, believes that this criterion for deletion
has been met. Consequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this Site from
the NPL. Documents supporting this action are available in the Regional
NPL Docket.
Dated: August 9, 1996.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-21572 Filed 8-26-96; 8:45 am]
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