[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]
[[Page 35115]]
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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
[[Page 35116]]
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