[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 208 (Friday, October 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55261-55262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27047]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5638-5]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Pijak Farm Superfund Site from 
the National Priorities List; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region II, 
announces its intent to delete the Pijak Farm Superfund Site (Site) 
from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on 
this action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is 
the National Oil & Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection (NJDEP) have determined that all appropriate 
response/remedial actions have been completed and no further remedial 
action by the responsible party is appropriate under CERCLA. In 
addition, EPA and NJDEP have determined that remedial activities 
conducted to date at the Site have been protective of public health, 
welfare, and the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the deletion of the Site from the NPL may be 
submitted on or before November 25, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Joseph Gowers, Remedial 
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 290 
Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
    Comprehensive information on the Site is contained in the NJDEP 
public docket and is available for viewing, by appointment only, at: 
NJDEP-Bureau of Community Relations, 401 East State Street, CN 413, 
Trenton, NJ 08625, phone: (609) 984-3081, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm--Monday 
through Friday (excluding holidays), contact: Heather Swartz.
    Information on the Site is also available for viewing at the Site 
Administrative Record Repository located at: New Egypt Library, 10 
Evergreen Road, New Egypt, NJ 08533, contact: Barbara Rothlein, phone: 
(609) 758-7888, hours: Monday (10 am to 5 pm and 7 to 9 pm), Tuesday 
(10 am to 5 pm), Wednesday (1 to 5 pm), Thursday (1 to 5 pm and 7 to 9 
pm), Friday (10 am to 5 pm) and Saturday (10 am to 1 pm).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Gowers 212-637-4413.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

    EPA Region II announces its intent to delete the Site from the NPL 
and requests public comment on this deletion. The NPL is Appendix B to 
the NCP, which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of CERCLA, as 
amended. EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk 
to public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as 
the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of 
remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances Superfund 
Response Trust Fund (the Fund). Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the 
NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed 
remedial actions, if conditions at the site warrant such action.
    EPA will accept comments concerning the deletion of the Site from 
the NPL for 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register until November 25, 1996.
    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 how the Site meets the NPL deletion 
criteria.

[[Page 55262]]

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that the Agency uses to delete 
sites from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425 (e)(1)(i)-(iii), 
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is 
appropriate. In making this determination, EPA, in consultation with 
NJDEP, will consider whether any of the following criteria has been 
met:
    (i) Responsible or other persons have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    (iii) The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses 
no significant threat to public health or to the environment and, 
therefore, taking remedial measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL 
until the State in which the release was located has concurred, and the 
public has been afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposed 
deletion. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible 
party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs associated 
with response efforts. The NPL is designed primarily for information 
purposes and to assist Agency management.
    EPA Region II will accept and evaluate public comments before 
making a final decision to delete the site. The Agency believes that 
deletion procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local 
level. Comments from the local community may be most pertinent to 
deletion decisions. The following procedures were used for the intended 
deletion of the Site:
    1. NJDEP, as the lead agency, has recommended deletion.
    2. EPA Region II concurred with the deletion decision and has 
prepared the relevant documents.
    3. Concurrent with the Notice of Intent to Delete, a notice has 
been published in a local newspaper and has been distributed to 
appropriate Federal, State and local officials, and other interested 
parties.
    The comments received during the comment period will be evaluated 
before any final decision is made. EPA Region II will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address the comments 
received during the public comment period.
    If after consideration of these comments, EPA decides to proceed 
with the deletion, the EPA Regional Administrator will place a Notice 
of Deletion in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions 
in the next final update. Public notices and copies of the 
Responsiveness Summary, if any, will be made available to local 
residents by EPA Region II.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for 
recommending deletion of the Pijak Farm Superfund Site, Ocean County, 
New Jersey, from the NPL.
    The Site is an 87 acre site located in Plumsted Township, Ocean 
County, New Jersey. Approximately 20 acres of the Site is reported to 
have been used from 1963 to 1970 for disposal of drummed and bulk 
wastes. The majority of the disposal occurred in random areas along 
stream valleys and wooded areas within the property.
    The NJDEP conducted an initial inspection of the Site in 1980. As a 
result of initial investigations, EPA proposed that the Site be added 
to the NPL in October 1981.
    A Remedial Investigation (RI) was performed from December 1983 
through May 1984. The RI identified several disposal areas. The 
disposal areas contained discarded polymers, laboratory glassware, lab 
packs, drums and stained soils. Soil samples collected as part of the 
RI yielded various organic compounds and metals.
    A Record of Decision (ROD), which selected a remedy for the Site, 
was signed in September 1984. The selected remedy called for the off-
site disposal of waste material, drums, lab packs and contaminated 
soil, and ground water monitoring for a five year period. In April 
1985, Morton International Incorporated entered into an enforcement 
agreement with NJDEP for performance of the selected remedy.
    Morton began implementation of the selected remedy in May 1985. The 
initial phases of the remedial program included the collection of soil 
samples and digging of test pits in the disposal areas to further 
define the extent of the disposal areas. Subsequent to the off-site 
disposal of the waste and contaminated soil, Morton conducted soil 
sampling to determine whether the NJDEP-established 1 milligram per 
kilogram (mg/kg) cleanup criterion for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 
had been achieved. PCBs were detected in soil at levels exceeding the 1 
mg/kg criterion, prompting further remedial action.
    Removal of PCB-contaminated ``hot spots'' was conducted in August 
and September 1989 and November 1990. Removal of remaining PCB-
contaminated soil was completed during the final phase of the remedial 
action, which was performed in 1994. The cleanup of PCB-contaminated 
soil was confirmed through the collection and analysis of post-
excavation soil samples. Furthermore, ground water monitoring which was 
conducted annually from 1989 through 1994 did not detect Site-related 
contaminants above criteria established for the protection of ground 
water.
    NJDEP and EPA have determined that the remedy implemented at the 
Site is protective of human health and the environment and that no 
further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Hazardous 
substances on Site were cleaned up to levels that would allow for 
unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, therefore the five-year review 
requirement of Section 121(c) of CERCLA, as amended, is not applicable.

    Dated: September 16, 1996.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-27047 Filed 10-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P