[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 203 (Friday, October 18, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54343-54344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26453]


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


ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5634-6]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from 
the National Priorities List.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region II announces 
the deletion of the Marathon Battery Company site from the National 
Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is 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), as amended. EPA and the State of New York have determined 
that all appropriate Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Fund)-
financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and that no 
further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA 
and the State of New York have determined that remedial actions 
conducted at the site to date have been protective of public health, 
welfare, and the environment.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 18, 1996.

ADDRESSES: For further information contact: Pamela Tames, P.E., 
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
II, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866, (212) 637-4255

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Tames at (212) 637-4255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: 
Marathon Battery Company site, Cold Spring, New York.
    The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was 
June 10, 1996. EPA received five comment letters.
    One commenter expressed concern about the discrepancies between the 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) 20 
milligram/kilogram (mg/kg) cadmium cleanup level for residential soils 
and the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) 10 mg/kg 
cadmium cleanup level. In response, it was explained that the 20 mg/kg 
cleanup level for cadmium in residential soils was based upon the 
results of a risk assessment performed by ATSDR, which made certain 
assumptions regarding the quantity of vegetables grown in the cadmium-
contaminated residential soils and subsequently ingested by the 
residents. Using different assumptions, NYSDOH concluded that 10 mg/kg 
was protective of public health. While EPA and New York State did not 
agree on a residential soil remediation cleanup level, New York State 
agreed to remediate all contaminated residential soils between NYSDOH's 
10 mg/kg cadmium cleanup level and ATSDR's 20 mg/kg cadmium cleanup 
level.
    Several commenters expressed concern that post-excavation soil 
samples were not collected by New York State's contractors. In 
response, it was indicated that six inches of soil were removed from 
the entire front and back yards (cadmium contamination in the 
residential yards did not exist below 6 inches) if contamination was 
found above the State's cleanup level of 10 mg/kg. In those areas where 
the residents indicated that they intended to plant vegetables, 12 
inches of soil was removed. Since soils in those areas that had cadmium 
contamination exceeding the cleanup level have been removed and 
replaced with clean soil and fresh sod, confirmatory sampling was not 
deemed necessary.
    A commenter expressed concern about the presence of cadmium 
contamination twenty-two feet beneath the surface on the former battery 
facility grounds. This contamination resulted from a tank located 
adjacent to the former battery facility which had leaked cadmium 
nitrate, thereby contaminating the underlying soil. In response, it was 
noted that, while post-excavation sampling in one area of the site 
showed that some cadmium contamination remained in the saturated soils, 
it is believed that by placing two feet of limestone at the bottom of 
the twenty-by sixty-foot excavation (to keep the cadmium insoluble) and 
backfilling the twenty foot deep excavation will be protective of 
public health and the environment and should in no way impact the 
ability to redevelop the former battery plant grounds.
    A commenter expressed concern regarding the retention of the 
temporary haul road's guardrail and the construction of a barrier at 
the intersection of the temporary haul road and Chestnut Street, in 
that these improvements are inconsistent with zoning and Planning Board 
regulations. In response, it was explained that EPA's approved 
engineering design called for scarifying the temporary haul road (which 
was constructed to alleviate truck traffic on the Village's narrow 
roadways during the remediation of the site), planting grass, and 
installing a barrier to eliminate access from Chestnut Street. While 
the haul road was rendered nonfunctional and inaccessible to vehicles 
from Chestnut Street, the wooden guardrail, consisting of approximately 
two-foot-high telephone poles with a horizontal wooden rail running 
through it (which originally was used to prevent trucks from driving 
off the haul road), was left in place at the request of the property 
owner to protect hikers from falling from the steep slope. The Village 
of Cold Spring Planning Board has requested the submission of site plan 
documentation showing the changes that have been made to his property 
so that it can review the matter. EPA is working with the property 
owner and the contractor that performed the

[[Page 54344]]

remediation of the site so that this information can be provided to the 
Planning Board.
    EPA identifies sites which appear to present a significant risk to 
public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as 
the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of Fund-
financed remedial actions. Any site deleted from the NPL remains 
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely event that 
conditions at the site warrant such action. Section 300.66(c)(8) of the 
NCP states that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted 
from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect 
responsible party liability or impede EPA efforts to recover costs 
associated with response efforts.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, Water supply.

    Dated: September 20, 1996.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.

    40 CFR part 300 is amended as follows:

PART 300--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321 (c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 
12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp.: p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 
2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp.: p. 193.

Appendix B--[Amended]

    2. Table 1 of Appendix B to Part 300 is amended by removing the 
Marathon Battery Corporation site, Cold Spring, New York.

[FR Doc. 96-26453 Filed 10-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 6560-50-P