[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 3, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46418-46419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21823]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5557-7]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan National 
Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Seldon Clark Property from the 
General Electric/Shepherd Farm Superfund Site from the National 
Priorities List (NPL).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region IV, 
announces its intent to delete the Seldon Clark Property from the 
General Electric/Shepherd Farm Superfund Site 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 by EPA, pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 
1980, as amended. EPA and the State of North Carolina Department of 
Environment, Health, and Natural Resources have determined that the 
Seldon Clark Property poses no significant threat to public health or 
the environment and therefore, CERCLA remedial measures are not 
appropriate.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by October 3, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Giezelle S. Bennett, Remedial 
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV, 345 
Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30365.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA 
Region IV public docket, which is located at EPA's Region IV office and 
is available for viewing by appointment from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Requests for appointments or 
copies of the background information from the regional public docket 
should be directed to the EPA Region IV docket office.
    The address for the regional docket office is Ms. Debbie Jourdan, 
U.S. EPA, Region IV, 345 Courtland St, NE, Atlanta, GA 30365. The 
telephone number is 404-347-5059, ext 6217.
    Background information from the regional public docket is also 
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the 
Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington Street, 
Hendersonville, NC 28792. The telephone number is 704-697-4725. The 
library is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 
and on Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact either Giezelle Bennett 
or Diane Barrett, U.S. EPA, Region IV, 345 Courtland Street, N.E., 
Atlanta, GA 30365, 1-800-435-9233 ext. 2065 or 2073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    This notice is to announce EPA's intent to delete the Seldon Clark 
Property portion of the General Electric/Shepherd Farm Superfund Site 
from the NPL. It also serves to request public comments on the deletion 
proposal. EPA will accept comments on this proposed action for deletion 
for thirty days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.
    EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health, welfare, or environment and maintains the NPL as the 
list of these sites. Sites on the NPL qualify for remedial responses 
financed by the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund (Fund). As 
described in Sec. 300.425 (e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL 
remain eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely 
event that conditions at the site warrant such actions.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from 
the NPL. In accordance with Section 300.425(e) of the NCP, sites may be 
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In 
making this determination, EPA, in consultation with the State, 
considers whether the site has met any of the following criteria for 
site deletion:
    (i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been 
implemented and no further response actions are deemed necessary; or
    (iii) The remedial investigation has determined that the release 
poses no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, no remedial action is appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    EPA Region IV will accept and evaluate public comments before 
making a final decision to delete. Comments from the local community 
may be the most pertinent to deletion decisions. The following 
procedures were used for the intended deletion of the Seldon Clark 
Property portion of the General Electric/Shepherd Farm Site: (1) EPA 
Region IV has recommended deletion and has prepared the relevant 
documents. (2) The State has concurred with the decision to delete the 
Seldon Clark property. (3) Concurrent with this announcement, a notice 
has been published in the local newspaper and has been distributed to 
appropriate federal, state, and local officials announcing the 
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on the Notice of Intent 
to Delete. (4) EPA has made all relevant documents available for public 
review at the information repository and in the Regional Office.
    Partial deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, 
alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is 
designed primarily for information purposes and to assist EPA 
management. As mentioned earlier, Section 300.425(e)(30) of the NCP 
states that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility of the site for future Fund-financed response actions.
    For the partial deletion of this Site, EPA will accept and evaluate 
public comments on this Notice of Intent to Delete before finalizing 
the decision. The Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to 
address any significant public comments

[[Page 46419]]

received during the comment period. The deletion is finalized after the 
Regional Administrator places a Notice of Deletion in the Federal 
Register.
    The NPL will reflect any deletions in the next publication of the 
final rule. Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness Summary 
will be made available to local residents by Region IV.

IV. Basis for Intended Seldon Clark Property Deletion

    The following Site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposed intent for partial deletion of this Site from the NPL.
    The General Electric/Shepherd Farm Site consists of three non-
contiguous disposal areas in East Flat Rock, Henderson County, North 
Carolina. These disposal areas (subsites) are known as the GE property, 
the Shepherd Farm property, and the Seldon Clark property.
    The GE Subsite is approximately 50 acres in size and located at the 
southeastern corner of Spartanburg Highway and Tabor Road. The Shepherd 
Farm Subsite is approximately 31 acres in size and is located on Roper 
Road, approximately 2500 feet southwest of the GE Subsite.
    The Seldon Clark Subsite is 1 acre in size and is located at the 
northeastern corner of Spartanburg Highway and Tabor Road, directly 
across the street from the GE Subsite. Geographically, the center of 
the subsite is located at 35 deg.16'35''N latitude and 82 deg.25'00''W 
longitude according to the Hendersonville, North Carolina, USGS 7.5 
minute topographic map.
    From 1955 to present, the GE facility has been used to develop, 
design, and manufacture complete high intensity discharge luminaire 
systems, which consists of the assembly of optical components, 
ballasts, mountings, and high mast lowering devices. From about 1955 
until 1975, GE also manufactured ``constant-current'' transformers at 
this facility. These transformers were filled with PCB-containing oil, 
which were delivered to the facility in railroad tank cars.
    Waste streams generated by GE's facility from the beginning of 
plant operations have included construction wastes, buffing compound, 
epoxy compound, phenolic residue, paint sludges, PCB capacitors, 
solvents, transformer oil, electrical insulators/capacitors, waste 
acids, dye cast mold released hydrocarbons, heavy petroleum greases, 
and varnish residues. These waste streams contain many VOCs, heavy 
metals, acids, and PCBs.
    The GE facility contains three landfills, two unlined wastewater 
treatment ponds, 26 acres of landspreading plots, and 18 areas where 
underground storage tanks were located. From approximately 1957 to 
1970, GE wastes were also intermittently deposited at the Shepherd Farm 
property where it was dumped, burned, and bulldozed in an approximate 
3-acre area onsite. The Spring Haven community was later constructed 
over a portion of this dumping area.
    During the 1960s and early 1970s, GE wastes were also dumped in an 
approximate 0.3 acre ravine on the Seldon Clark property. GE reported 
that the property was used for the disposal of construction rubble 
only, but according to Mr. Clark, the ravine was also filled in with 
drums of aluminum paint and drums of cleaning fluid from dye-casting 
machinery. Old transformers are also reported to have been deposited in 
the ravine. However, none of these items were found during EPA's 
investigation.
    In 1988 and 1989, EPA conducted Site Inspections and investigations 
at all three Subsites. The Site was proposed for inclusion on the NPL 
in February 1992 and finalized on the NPL in December 1994.
    EPA performed a Remedial Investigation of all three subsites in 
September 1994. This Notice of Intent to Delete (NOID) is limited to 
the Seldon Clark Subsite.
    Five soil samples were collected from two soil borings on the 
Seldon Clark Subsite. Semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides and 
PCBs were found, but all were at concentrations under the soil cleanup 
levels (SCLs) determined in the feasibility study. One surface water/
sediment sample was taken downgradient of this Subsite. Again, semi-
volatiles and PCBs were found at concentrations below the SCLs. One 
groundwater sample was collected downgradient of the suspected fill 
area. This sample contained one semi-volatile compound at trace 
concentrations.
    A Record of Decision (ROD) for the Site was signed on September 29, 
1995. The ROD recommended soil and groundwater remediation at the GE 
Subsite and the Shepherd Farm Subsite, but not for the Seldon Clark 
Subsite.
    The EPA community relations activities at the Site included a 
public meeting on August 3, 1995 to present to the public the Agency's 
Proposed Plan for remediation at the Site. Public comments received 
during the 60-day public comment period were considered and addressed 
in the Responsiveness Summary. This document was included as an 
appendix to the ROD.
    There are no institutional controls for this Subsite. A five-year 
review will not be conducted at the Subsite, due to the fact that soil 
and groundwater contaminants are below the SCLs. The concentrations 
found in the samples taken do not present a current or future threat to 
public health or the environment.
    EPA, with concurrence of the State of North Carolina, has 
determined that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA 
for the Seldon Clark Subsite have been completed, and that no further 
activities by responsible parties are appropriate. Therefore, EPA 
proposes to delete this Subsite from the NPL.

    Dated: June 11, 1996.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region IV, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency.
[FR Doc. 96-21823 Filed 8-30-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P