[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52961-52963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26644]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5906-7]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete North Hollywood Dump Superfund Site, 
Shelby County, Tennessee, from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 (EPA) announces 
its intent to delete the North Hollywood Dump (the Site) from the 
National Priorities List (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 USEPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) have 
determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public health 
or the environment and, therefore, further response measures pursuant 
to CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before 
November 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Robert P. Morris, North Site 
Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, 
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
public docket which is available for viewing at the North Hollywood 
Dump information repositories at the following locations:

Memphis-Shelby County Public Library, 1850 Peabody Avenue, Memphis, 
Tennessee 38104.
U.S. EPA Record Center, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-3104.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert P. Morris, North Site 
Management Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, 
S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104, (404) 562-8794 or 1-800-435-9233, 
ext. 28794.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4 announces its 
intent to delete the North Hollywood Dump (the Site) in Memphis, Shelby 
County, Tennessee, from the National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B 
of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP), 40 CFR part 300, and requests comments on its 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 these sites. As described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites 
deleted from the NPL remain eligible for remedial actions in the 
unlikely event that conditions at the site warrant action.
    The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site 
for thirty days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III states the procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the North Hollywood Dump Site and 
explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.

[[Page 52962]]

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites or releases may 
be deleted from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response 
is appropriate. In making a determination to delete a site or release 
from the NPL, EPA shall consider, in consultation with the State, 
whether any of the following criteria have been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have 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 the environment and, 
therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.
    Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow 
for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA's policy is that a 
subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five 
years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure 
that the site remains protective public health and the environment.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this Site: (1) EPA Region 4 has recommended deletion and has prepared 
the relevant documents; (2) The Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation has concurred with the deletion decision; (3) Concurrent 
with this Notice of Intent to Delete, a local notice has been published 
in local newspapers and has been distributed to appropriate Federal, 
state, and local officials and other interested parties. This document 
announces a 30-day public comment period, provides an address and 
telephone number for submission of comments, and identifies the 
location of the local site repository; and (4) Region 4 has made all 
relevant documents available in the Regional Office and local site 
information repository.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management. 
As mentioned in section II of this document, Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the 
NCP states that the deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility for future response actions.
    For deletion of this Site, EPA will accept and evaluate public 
comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete before making a final 
decision to delete. If necessary, the Agency will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments 
received.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect 
deletions in the final update following the Notice. 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 following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.

A. Background

    The 70-acre North Hollywood Dump was used as a municipal dump from 
the 1930s until the City closed it in 1967. However, some dumping of 
non-chemical refuse probably continued until 1980.

B. History

    In the late 1940s, the Hayden Chemical Company used the Site to 
dispose of wastes generated in the production of sodium hydrochloride. 
Hayden later was bought out by Velsicol Chemical Corporation, which 
continued the practice of dumping at the Site. At one time, pesticide-
contaminated sludge from a closed sewer line leading to the Velsicol 
plant was removed and buried in a small area known as the ``Endrin 
Pit.'' The Site was also used for the disposal of other industrial 
wastes from plants in the Memphis area. In the 1960s, Buckeye Cellulose 
in Memphis sent copper-contaminated material to the Site for disposal. 
In 1980, the EPA found pesticides and heavy metals in surface soil, 
groundwater and pond sediments on the Site. The Site contained 
pesticides in soils at levels of concern, for example, chlordane at 160 
mg/kg (the action level used for chlordane was 100 mg/kg (ppm). Due to 
high community concern in the early 1980s, the State of Tennessee 
recommended this Site as the State's highest priority hazardous waste 
site. Approximately 10,000 people live within three miles of the dump 
site. An elementary school is situated close to the dump.
    The groundwater and surface water ponds were contaminated with 
pesticides including chlordane and endrin. The soil was contaminated 
with pesticides and heavy metals including lead, copper, and arsenic. 
Ingestion or direct contact with contaminated groundwater or soil posed 
a potential public health threat. Ingestion of contaminated fish caught 
from surface water on the Site also posed a potential public health 
risk.
    The Site was addressed in two stages: removal actions and a long-
term remedial phase focused on the cleanup of the entire Site.
    In 1980, the EPA took an emergency action to slow the movement of 
contaminants from the Site. Also, the EPA installed a chain-link fence 
around the Site and began a program to monitor on-site wastes. In 1981, 
a technical assistance group made up of representatives from the State, 
the City of Memphis, Shelby County, local industry, and the EPA, 
removed some of the chemical wastes from the surface of the Site.
    On October 23, 1981, the Site was proposed for the National 
Priorities List (NPL). The EPA then assumed the lead role from TDEC to 
complete investigations into the extent and nature of contamination. 
The Site was placed on the NPL on September 8, 1983. The Potentially 
Responsible Parties (PRPs) took over the study April 1, 1984. After the 
completion of the Supplemental Remedial Investigation and Feasibility 
Study (RI/FS) on September 13, 1990, the Record of Decision (ROD) was 
finalized.

C. Characterization of Risk

    At that time, the Site contained high levels of contaminants in 
soils (e.g., 52,400 ppb chlordane, 67,800 ppb heptachlor, 62.7 ppb DDT, 
et. al.) and sediments (e.g., 87 ppm chlordene, 56 ppm chlordane, 21 
ppm heptachlor, 140 ppm lead, et. al.). The ROD required retrofitting 
the landfill to meet legal sanitation standards. This included: 
placement of a 2-foot clay cap, grading, and revegetation; drainage of 
an adjacent 40-acre pond known to have held contaminated sediments; 
installation of an approximate 3-foot cover over the contaminated 
sediments; and the removal of fish found to be contaminated, followed 
by restocking of the pond. Groundwater was to be monitored to ensure 
contamination levels remain within acceptable State alternative 
concentration levels (ACLs) which were set to be protective of surface 
water (e.g., 0.45 micrograms/liter (g/L) endrin, 0.51 
g/L chlordane, 0.23 g/L heptachlor, et. al.). 
Additionally, the fenced Site was to be expanded and maintained and, 
restrictions on future use of the Site were put into place. TDEC 
concurred with the selected remedy. On August 3, 1992, the PRP, the 
Hollywood Dump

[[Page 52963]]

Steering Committee (HDSC), entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA 
to perform remedy design and cleanup activities at the Site. The Remedy 
Design (RD) was completed September 27, 1993, by the PRP's primary 
consultant, the Memphis Environmental Center (MEC). The PRP's Remedial 
Action Construction Contract was awarded to MEC on January 17, 1994. 
MEC began cleanup activities in early 1994. The capping and grading of 
the landfill and the drum removal was completed by MEC in 1995. 
Drainage and covering of sediments began in 1995 and were completed by 
MEC in December 1996.

D. Operation and Maintenance

    Operation and Maintenance (O&M), including the monitoring program, 
is in place. The monitoring program is specific to the groundwater 
medium. As stipulated in the ROD and the Consent Decree, contaminant 
levels in groundwater are not to exceed ACLs. The contingency 
alternative for groundwater exceeding ACLs is that it will be pumped 
from the shallow aquifer and discharged into the municipal sewer 
system. To date, contaminant levels in groundwater have not exceeded 
ACLs. Cleanup activities at the site are now complete.
    Confirmational monitoring of groundwater demonstrate that no 
significant risk to public health or the environment is posed by 
materials remaining at the Site. The EPA and TDEC concur that 
conditions at the Site pose no unacceptable risks to human health or 
the environment.

E. Five-Year Review

    No hazardous substances remain uncontained or exposed at the Site 
above health-based levels. However, the Site is not available for 
unlimited use or unrestricted exposure. The first policy five-year 
review for this site shall be completed by January 17, 1999.
    One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may 
delete a site from the NPL if the responsible parties or other parties 
have implemented all appropriate response actions required. The EPA, 
with the concurrence of TDEC, contends this criterion has been met. 
Subsequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this Site from the NPL. 
Documents supporting this action are available from the public docket.

    Dated: September 30, 1997.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Deputy Regional Administrator, USEPA, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 97-26644 Filed 10-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P