[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 193 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52072-52074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26193]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5899-9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete Monsanto Superfund Site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL): Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4 announces 
its intent to delete the Monsanto Superfund Site from the 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), which EPA promulgated 
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). EPA and the State of 
Georgia (State) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA actions 
have been implemented and that no further cleanup by responsible 
parties is appropriate under CERCLA. Moreover, EPA and the state have 
determined that remedial activities conducted at the site to date have 
been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment and that 
the remaining groundwater monitoring and treatment are adequately being 
addressed by the State under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
(RCRA).

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site will be 
accepted until November 5, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: John A. McKeown, Remedial Project 
Manager, South Site Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., 
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 only 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 4 Docket Office.
    The address for the Regional Docket Office is: Ms. Debbie Jourdan, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, 
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, Telephone No.: (404) 562-8862.
    Background information from the regional public docket is also 
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at the 
following address: Augusta Richmond County Public Library, 902 Green 
Street, Augusta, Georgia 30901, Telephone No.: (706) 821-2600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John A. McKeown, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, (404) 562-8913.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA announces its intent to delete the Monsanto Superfund Site, in 
Richmond County, Georgia from the National Priorities List (NPL) which 
constitutes Appendix B on the National Oil and Hazardous Substances 
Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), and requests comments on this 
proposed deletion. 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 (Fund). Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of 
the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-
financed Remedial Actions in the event that conditions at the site 
warrant such action. EPA will accept comments concerning this Site for 
thirty (30) calendar days after publication of this document in the 
Federal Register.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for the deletion 
of sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is 
using for this action. Section IV discusses how the Site meets the 
deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that the EPA uses to delete sites 
from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e). releases may be 
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In 
making this determination, EPA will consider, in consultation with the 
State, whether any of the following criteria have been met:
    (i) Responsible parties 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 determined that the release 
poses no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, taking or remedial measures is not appropriate; or
    (iv) The site is a regulated treatment, storage, or disposal 
facility (TSD) regulated under the authority of the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
    Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from 
the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed Remedial Actions in the 
event that conditions at the site warrant such action.

III. Deletion Procedures

    EPA 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 this Site:
    (1) EPA has recommended deletion and has prepared the relevant 
documents.
    (2) The State has concurred with the deletion decision.
    (3) A local notice has been published in local newspapers and has 
been distributed to appropriate federal, state, and local officials, 
and other interested parties.
    (4) EPA has made all relevant documents available in the Regional 
Office and local site information repository.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself, create, alter, or 
revoke any

[[Page 52073]]

individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designated primarily for 
information purposes and to assist EPA management. As mentioned in 
Section II of this document, 40 CFR 300.425 (e)(3) states that deletion 
of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for future Fund-
financed response actions.
    Any comments received during the notice and comment period will be 
evaluated before the final decision to delete. EPA will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address any comments 
received during the public comment period.
    A deletion occurs after the EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator 
places a document in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect any 
deletions in the next final update. Public notices and copies of the 
Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local residents by 
Region 4.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The Monsanto Superfund site is located approximately three miles 
southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The site is bordered on the north by 
Marvin Griffin Road, on the east by the Norfolk and Southern railroad, 
on the south by Butler Creek and on the west by other industrial 
properties. Phinizy Swamp is located approximately 4,570 feet northeast 
of the site. The Monsanto plant covers approximately 75 acres. Within 
the plant's boundary, there are two landfills covering 0.2 acres that 
were used to dispose of phosphoric acid sludge. The landfills are 
located along the eastern boundary of the Monsanto plant property. The 
site is located in an industrial park which is zoned for heavy 
industrial use. Within a three mile radius of the site, land is zoned 
commercial, residential and industrial. The nearest residential area is 
one-half mile northwest of the site. Surface elevations across the site 
range from 140 to 146 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL).
    The Monsanto-Augusta Plant has been in operation since 1962. From 
1966 to 1974, two landfills (0.1 acre each), approximately six feet 
deep, were used to dispose of solid waste and sludges which contain 
arsenic trisulfide. Arsenic trisulfide is a waste resulting from the 
preparation of food grade phosphoric acid. Plant officials estimate 
approximately 1500 pounds of arsenic were placed in these landfills. In 
1971, Landfill #1 was covered with soil, crowned with gravel and seeded 
with grass. In 1977, Landfill #2 was closed by Monsanto in the same 
manner as Landfill #1.
    The site was first identified by the Georgia Environmental 
Protection Division (EPD) in August 1975. In June 1979, Monsanto, under 
the supervision of the EPD, began monitoring the quality of the 
groundwater south of the site. In February 1980, at the request of EPD, 
Monsanto installed additional monitoring wells and collected twenty-
three soil samples on the site. The groundwater monitoring program 
revealed arsenic levels in the surficial aquifer exceeding the Maximum 
Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic of .05 mg/l.
    During November 1983, Monsanto, under the supervision of EPD, 
excavated the waste from both of the landfills. The material excavated 
from the landfills was transported to a RCRA permitted landfill in 
Emelle, Alabama. After the contents of the landfills were removed, soil 
samples were collected from the bottom of the excavated area and tested 
for Extraction Procedure (EP) toxicity for arsenic and other metals. EP 
toxicity is a test used to identify wastes that are likely to leach 
hazardous concentrations of toxic substances and to determine if a 
contaminant is a characteristic hazardous waste. The soil from the 
bottom of the excavated area did not exceed the EP toxicity standard 
for arsenic of 5.0 ppm.
    In September of 1984, the Monsanto site was added to the National 
Priorities List (NPL). In September of 1986, Georgia EPD requested EPA 
to initiate a delisting process. This request was based on RCRA 
permitting at the site and the site's status as a Treatment, Storage 
and Disposal (TSD) facility. Later, in 1989, a RCRA permit for the 
facility was approved by the Georgia EPD.
    On January 18, 1989, EPA issued a special notice letter to Monsanto 
to give Monsanto the opportunity to conduct, with EPA oversight, the 
Remedial Investigation (RI) and Feasibility Study (FS). Monsanto 
entered into an Administrative Order on Consent for performance of the 
RI/FS, with an effective date of April 27, 1989.
    Fieldwork for the RI was initiated by Monsanto in October 1989 and 
completed in January 1990. The final RI report was accepted by EPA on 
August 20, 1990. The FS report was submitted to EPA by Monsanto on 
September 16, 1990.
    On December 7, 1990, the Regional Administrator signed a Record of 
Decision (ROD) selecting the following remedy:
     Continued quarterly monitoring of the surficial aquifer 
groundwater to evaluate compliance with groundwater protection 
achievement levels (GPALs) and drinking water standard or MCL of 50 
g/l through natural attenuation. If monitoring results 
indicated noncompliance with these standards, a contingency remedy of 
pumping the contaminated ground water and discharging to the Publicly 
Owned Treatment Works (POTW) would be initiated.
    The performance standard for arsenic in groundwater is the 
reduction to the MCL of 50 g/l through natural attenuation and 
meeting of interim GPALs resulting in attainment of the MCL. This 
remedy and the contingency remedy addressed environmental concerns 
presented by the contaminated groundwater and eliminated the principal 
threats posed by this media. The contingency remedy was initiated in 
May of 1992 upon non-attainment of the performance standards for 
natural attenuation. Sampling results, verified by EPA, determined that 
arsenic was present at levels above ROD specified performance standards 
in several shallow water monitoring wells.
    The contingency remedy was formally initiated on December 30, 1992, 
upon EPA's approval of the Remedial Design. Construction was 
accomplished by the Monsanto Corporation under the provisions of a 
consent decree. Monsanto's contractor, Dames and Moore, began work in 
February of 1993. EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division 
conducted a final inspection on April 16, 1993 and on May 5, 1993, the 
Region IV Waste Management Division Director approved the Preliminary 
Closeout Report which documents construction completion.
    Two extraction wells and piping for discharge into the POTW were 
constructed as part of the Remedial Design. Due to the relatively low 
levels of arsenic contamination, the arsenic concentration was less 
than the POTW's pretreatment standard of 1 mg/l. Groundwater extraction 
and discharge, was initiated on a quarterly basis and will continue 
until the arsenic performance standard of 50 g/l is met for a 
period of 6 months or 2 monitoring periods.
    Since the Remedial Action was initiated in 1993, significant 
reduction in the arsenic concentration levels in the groundwater has 
been achieved. Quarterly sampling reports, along with monthly progress 
reports and appropriate technical memorandums documenting any 
modification have been submitted by Monsanto to EPA as specified in the 
1991 Record of Decision. The same information is submitted to the 
Georgia EPD in compliance with Monsanto's Hazardous Waste Facility 
Permit HW-074(S) under the authority of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA).

[[Page 52074]]

    The Federal Register published on March 20, 1995 at 60 FR 14641, 
announced a notice of policy statement entitled ``The National 
Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sties; Deletion Policy 
for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facilities''. According to 
the notice, a National Priorities List site may be eligible for 
deletion based upon deferral to RCRA corrective action authorities if a 
site satisfies the following four criteria:
    1. If evaluated under EPA's current RCRA/NPL deferral policy, the 
site would be eligible for deferral from listing on the NPL.
    2. The CERCLA site is currently being addressed by RCRA corrective 
action authorities under an existing enforceable order or permit 
containing corrective action provisions.
    3. Response under RCRA is progressing adequately.
    4. Deletion would not disrupt an ongoing CERCLA response action.
    The first criterion requires that the site meet requirements of 
eligibility for RCRA/NPL deferral. The RCRA/NPL deferral policy as 
cited in the March 20, 1995 Federal Register provides that RCRA 
facilities subject to RCRA Subtitle C corrective action requirements 
may be deferred from listing on the NPL. Monsanto's Hazardous Waste 
Facility Permit HW-074(S) contains HSWA provisions for the 
investigation and corrective action of releases from solid waste 
management units and provides conditions for corrective action of 
contaminated groundwater. Thus, the facility is and will be subject to 
Subpart C corrective action requirements until cleanup of contamination 
is complete.
    The second criterion requires that the site be addressed by RCRA 
corrective action authorities under an existing permit or order. 
Hazardous Waste Facility Permit HW-074(S) was issued to the Monsanto 
Company by the Georgia EPD's Hazardous Waste Management Branch in 
August of 1989 and subsequently modified in September of 1991 to 
incorporate the corrective action of contaminated groundwater resulting 
from the disposal of the Arsenic trisulfide sludge in the two onsite 
landfills. Requirements stated within the corrective action permit are 
consistent with the remedy stated in the 1991 CERCLA Record of 
Decision.
    The third criterion evaluates whether response under RCRA is 
progressing adequately. This criterion is met with a letter dated 27 
May 1997 from Mr. Jim Ussery, Program Manager of the Georgia EPD's 
Hazardous Waste Management Branch to Mr. Mario Villamarzo of EPA. The 
contents of the letter indicate that corrective action has been 
effective in remediating contamination and that Monsanto has been very 
cooperative and pro-active in meeting the requirements of their 
corrective action permit.
    The fourth criterion evaluates whether deletion of a site from the 
NPL would disrupt an on-going CERCLA response. The groundwater cleanup 
that is occurring under CERCLA is essentially the same as the RCRA 
Corrective Action Program, therefore, delisting would not disrupt any 
ongoing CERCLA response action.
    In summary, the Monsanto Superfund site easily meets all the 
criteria for deletion from the NPL based on RCRA deferral. This site is 
being addressed adequately under the Hazardous Waste Facility Permit 
enforced by the Georgia EPD. All parties involved approve of this 
action (see attached Documentation Record) which will have no adverse 
affects to any ongoing groundwater extraction or monitoring scheduled 
to take place at the Monsanto Superfund site. Since all waste has been 
removed from the site, a five year review will not be required in the 
future.
    EPA, with concurrence of the Georgia Environmental Protection 
Division, has determined that all appropriate response under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act 
have been completed, and that no further action by responsible parties 
is necessary. Therefore, EPA proposes to delete the Site from the NPL 
and requests public comments on the proposed deletion.

    Dated: September 15, 1997.
Phyllis P. Harris,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4.
[FR Doc. 97-26193 Filed 10-3-97; 8:45 am]
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