[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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P