[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 125 (Monday, June 30, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35115-35116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16895]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5848-7]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan National 
Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete a portion of the Para-Chem Southern 
Inc., Superfund Site from the National Priorities List (NPL).

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), 
Region 4, announces its intent to delete a portion of the Para-Chem 
Southern Inc., Superfund Site from the National Priorities List (NPL), 
which is codified at Appendix B of 40 CFR Part 300, the National Oil 
and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), and requests 
public comment on this proposed action. EPA is pursuing a partial 
deletion for the Para-Chem Superfund Site based on a policy change 
intended to support economic redevelopment for Superfund sites 
(Reference 1). This partial deletion will be media specific for a 
portion of the soils delineated in the attached map (Reference 2). The 
groundwater within these same areas remain listed and is currently 
undergoing remedial action. EPA and the State of South Carolina 
Department of Health and Environmental Control have determined that 
this portion of the soils poses no significant threat to public health 
or the environment and therefore, CERCLA remedial measures are not 
appropriate.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by July 30, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Terry Tanner, US Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St., SW, Atlanta, GA, 30303.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA 
Region 4 public docket, which is located at EPA's Region 4 office and 
is available for viewing by appointment from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, 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 4 docket office.
    The address for the regional docket office is Mrs. Debbie Jourdan, 
US EPA, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St., SW, Atlanta, GA, 30303. The telephone 
number is 404-562-8862.
    Background information from the regional public docket is also 
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the 
Fountain Inn Branch Library, 400 North Main Street, Fountain Inn, SC, 
803-862-2576.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact either Terry Tanner or 
Cynthia Peurifoy at 1-800-435-9233.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    This document is to announce EPA's intent to delete a portion of 
the Para-Chem Southern Inc. Site from the NPL. It also serves to 
request public comments on the deletion proposal.
    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. EPA accepts 
comments on the proposal to delete a site from the NPL for thirty days 
after publication of this document in the Federal Register.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from 
the NPL. In accordance with Sec. 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 4 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 a portion of the Para-Chem Southern 
Inc., Site:
    (1) EPA Region 4 has recommended this partial deletion and has 
prepared the relevant documents.
    (2) The State has concurred with the decision to delete a portion 
of the Para-Chem Southern Inc., Site.
    (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, Sec. 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 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 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 4.

IV. Basis for Intended Para-Chem Southern Inc. Partial Deletion

    The following Site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposed intent for partial deletion of this Site from the NPL.
    The Para-Chem Southern, Inc. site (Site) is located in Greenville 
County, South Carolina, between Simpsonville and Fountain Inn and 
consists of a manufacturing plant located upon approximately 100 acres. 
This site is owned and operated by Para-Chem Southern, Inc. (Para-Chem) 
and is used to produce acrylic polymers, thickeners, latex coatings, 
and adhesives for a variety of consumer and industrial applications. 
The plant has been in operation since 1965 and currently employs 
approximately 150 people.
    The specific areas associated with this partial delisting have been 
the subject of several previous investigations (Reference 2). The 
majority of the

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investigatory and remedial actions taken within the area targeted for 
partial delisting was performed under a Consent Order issued by the 
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control 
(Reference 3).
    Four former disposal areas were identified as a result of the 
investigatory work performed under the South Carolina Department of 
Health & Environmental Control Consent Order. Because the soils 
targeted for partial delisting only encompass one of the former 
disposal areas, disposal area No. 1, the remainder of this report will 
focus on the activities associated with this disposal area. The three 
remaining disposal areas and corresponding soils will be addressed in a 
future Close Out Report once all activities have been completed for 
this site.
    Operating under a Buried Drum Removal Plan (Reference 4) approved 
by DHEC, Para-Chem performed removal and disposal activities for former 
disposal area No.1 in May and June of 1987. A total of 686 tons of 
drums, waste, and contaminated soils were excavated, classified as a 
hazardous waste by characteristic, and shipped to the GSX landfill. 
Removal activities are presented in the Documentation for Waste Removal 
Report (Reference 5). On June 15, 1987, RMT submitted both analytical 
results for conformational soil sampling and a proposal for additional 
excavation of soils to SC DHEC (Reference 6). On June 18, 1987, SC DHEC 
granted approval of the June 15, 1987 proposal (Reference 7). The 
additional excavation and backfilling of the excavated area with 
adjacent fill was completed on June 18, 1987.
    The former disposal area No. 1 was also the subject of an expanded 
investigation under an AOC issued by EPA. Two of the objectives for 
this AOC were to determine whether any additional areas within the 
vicinity of former disposal area No. 1 were acting as a continual 
source of groundwater contamination and to confirm the effectiveness of 
the previous waste removal efforts.
    As part of the Remedial Investigation supporting EPA's AOC the 
disposal area No. 1 was subjected to a soil gas screening procedure for 
VOCs. Levels measured at these four stations did not exceed background 
levels. The soil gas screening results were further supported by 
conformational sampling using CLP methodologies. Additional subsurface 
soil samples (HA-6, HA-7) were taken specifically from the immediate 
area surrounding former disposal area No. 1 and analyzed for TCL, TAL 
and tetrahydrofuran. Copper and lead were detected at concentrations 
above background levels but did not pose a health risk. No organic 
contaminants were detected at any concentration above the Contract 
Required Detection Limits (Reference 8, pg 3-9).
    On September 27, 1993, a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued for 
this Site. The ROD did target specific areas for soil and groundwater 
remediation, however, no soil remediation was required within the areas 
targeted for this partial deletion.
    Additional sampling in support of this partial delisting petition 
was outlined in a letter dated May 30, 1996, titled Delisting Petition 
and Plan for Sampling. Sampling results were submitted in a July 19, 
1996, report titled Delisting Assessment Results. With the exception of 
acetone in samples DA01-01A (62 ug/kg) and DA01-04 (39 ug/kg), no 
volatile organic compounds were present above the laboratory detection 
limits. The acetone concentrations present within these two samples 
were well below the site performance standard of 4,687,000 ug/kg 
(Reference 9).
    The removal activities of contaminated soil within the areas 
targeted for partial delisting at the Para-Chem Southern Inc. are 
considered a permanent remedy. No additional treatment of soils within 
these areas will be necessary. As such no operation and maintenance 
activities are necessary for the soils targeted for this partial 
delisting. Because no hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants 
remain in the soils within the areas targeted for partial delisting, no 
Five Year Review will be performed on these areas.
    EPA in concurrence of the State of South Carolina Department of 
Health & Environmental Control, has determined that all appropriate 
Fund-financed responses under CERCLA for the soils within the areas 
targeted for this partial deletion have been completed, and that no 
further activities by responsible parties are appropriate. Therefore, 
EPA proposes to delete this area from the NPL.

    Dated: March 28, 1997.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency.

References

1. Federal Register 55466, Vol. 60, No. 211, Wednesday, November 1, 
1995.
2. Partial Delisting Map, RMT Inc., June 14, 1996.
3. South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control 
Consent Order 86-17-W,SW, February 21, 1986.
4. Buried Drum Removal Plan, Para-Chem Southern, RMT Inc., July 15, 
1986.
5. Documentation Report for Waste Removal, Para-Chem Southern, Inc., 
December 1987.
6. Buried Drum Removal Project correspondence, RMT Inc., to Gil 
Trentanove, SC DHEC, June 15, 1987.
7. South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, 
buried drum removal project correspondence, June 18, 1987.
8. Remedial Investigation Report for Para-Chem Southern, Inc., 
January 1993, page 3-9.
9. Delisting Assessment Results for Para-Chem Southern Inc. Site, 
correspondence from Fletcher Group to Terry Tanner, EPA, July 19, 
1996.

[FR Doc. 97-16895 Filed 6-27-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P