[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 27, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28961-28963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13853]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-6102-3]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan; National
Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Novaco Industries Superfund site
from the National Priorities List; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region
5 announces its intent to delete the Novaco Industries 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 EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have determined that the
Site no longer poses a significant threat to public health or the
environment and, therefore, further remedial measures pursuant to
CERCLA are not appropriate.
DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before June
26, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Russell D. Hart, U.S. EPA Region
5, Superfund Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Mail Stop: SR-6J,
Chicago, Illinois 60604. Comprehensive information on this Site is
available through the administrative record which is available for
viewing at the following locations:
U.S. EPA Records Center--Seventh Floor, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604.
Bedford Township Hall and Monroe County Library--Bedford Branch,
Bedford, Michigan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russell D. Hart, U.S. EPA Region 5,
Superfund Division, SR-6J Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-4844.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region 5 announces its intent to delete the Novaco Industries
Site location in Temperance, Michigan from the NPL, Appendix B of the
NCP, 40 CFR part 300, and requests comments on this 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 section 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 such action.
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 discusses the procedures that EPA is
using for this action. Section IV discusses the Novaco Industries Site
and explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that releases may be deleted
from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a 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 response under CERCLA has been implemented,
and no further 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 of public health and the environment.
In the case of this Site, the selected remedy is protective of human
health and the environment. The five year groundwater monitoring
program required by the 1991 Record of Decision (ROD) Amendment has
indicated that no hazardous substances or contaminants remain on site
above
[[Page 28962]]
levels that allow for unlimited use or exposure. Therefore no five year
review of this remedy is required. If new information becomes available
which indicates a need for further action, EPA may initiate remedial
actions. Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted
from the NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL without the
application of the Hazardous Ranking System.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of
this Site: (1) EPA Region 5 issued a ROD in 1986 which called for
groundwater extraction, on-site treatment of chromium contaminated
groundwater, and discharge to Indian Creek; (2) EPA Region 5 amended
the ROD in 1991 by requiring only additional monitoring well
installation and a five year monitoring program to verify that no
unacceptable levels of contaminants from the site remain in the
groundwater; (3) based on the findings of that five year monitoring
program the EPA Region 5 determined that no further response is
appropriate for this site since during the monitoring program no
exceedances occurred of either hexavalent chromium or total chromium
drinking water Maximum Contaminant Limit (MCL) of 50 ug/l as
established by the Safe Drinking Water Act; (4) MDEQ concurrence
concerning Novaco Industries Site deletion was sought and obtained; (5)
a notice has been published in the local newspaper and has been
distributed to appropriate federal, state, and local officials and
other interested parties announcing the commencement of a 30-day public
comment period on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete; and (6) all
relevant documents, including a tabulation summary of all 1993-1997
sampling results have been made available for public review in the
local Site information repositories.
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, section 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's Regional office 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 document.
Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness summary will be
made available to local residents by the Regional office.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following site summary provides the Agency's rational for the
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.
A. Site Background
The Novaco Industries site is located at 9411 Summerfield Road, at
the intersection of Summerfield and Piehl in Temperance, Michigan. The
site lies approximately 50 miles south of Detroit and 5 miles north of
Toledo. The facility occupies a 2.6 acre parcel. The Novaco study area
consists of Novaco Industries, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post
#9656, and nearby residences having water supply wells screened within
the sand/gravel aquifer or limestone aquifer which could be affected by
the Novaco site.
B. History
The Novaco Industries site formerly performed tool and die
manufacturing and repair. Approximately 85 residences and businesses
are located within a half-mile of the site. Around 1979, a buried tank
of chromic acid, used for plating purposes, developed a leak and an
unknown quantity of acid leaked into the surrounding soils. By the
early 1980s, chromium was detected at concentrations above both federal
and state drinking water standards, in three water supply wells at
Novaco Industries, the nearby VFW Post, and the Moyer's residence and
one observation well. Novaco replaced the three water supply wells and
extracted and treated contaminated groundwater in 1979. Following
winter shutdown of the groundwater purge and treat system, Novaco never
resumed its operation and declared bankruptcy.
The Novaco site was subsequently placed on the NPL in September
1983. While Novaco's short-term remedial operation did succeed in
removing substantial amounts of contamination (approximately 400 pounds
of hexavalent chromium), the remaining contamination continued to
migrate. The Remedial Investigation (RI), performed by the EPA,
identified a small area of contaminated groundwater with concentrations
of chromium that exceeded relevant cleanup criteria. Based on these
studies the EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on June 27, 1986,
which required the installation of a groundwater purge and on-site
treatment system to remove the remaining contamination.
Design investigations conducted during spring 1988, determined that
the previously defined nature and extent of groundwater contamination
no longer held true at Novaco. Additional investigations were performed
in the spring of 1989. Based on those studies, which indicated the
concentrations of chromium contamination no longer exceeded relevant
cleanup criteria, the EPA proposed to amend the existing ROD to a ``no
action ROD'' with groundwater monitoring for five years and if the
chromium concentrations remained below the cleanup criteria no further
action would be warranted. The state concurred with this amended ROD.
The EPA issued the amended ROD in September 1991. The groundwater
monitoring network established during the RI was further developed and
sampling for the five year program began in February 1993. During the
first year samples were collected quarterly. Since the results of that
sampling indicated all samples were below the detection limits stated
in the quality assurance project plan the frequency of sampling was
reduced to semi-annually. The five year program has been completed and
indicated there are no chromium concentrations above relevant cleanup
criteria. Therefore no further remedial action is needed.
EPA periodically sent summaries of analytical results to concerned
residents.
EPA's ARCS contractor has completed the task of dismantling the
groundwater monitoring network in accordance with procedures
established by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. This
work was accomplished in December 1997, and was in part overseen in the
field by MDEQ representatives.
C. Characterization of Risk
Confirmational monitoring of groundwater conducted from 1993-1997
demonstrated that no significant risk to public health or the
environment is posed by residual materials remaining at the Site. EPA
and MDEQ believe that conditions at the site do not now pose
unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.
One of the three criteria for deletion specifies that EPA may
delete a site from the NPL if ``all appropriate response under CERCLA
has been implemented, and no further action by responsible parties is
appropriate.''
[[Page 28963]]
EPA, with the concurrence of MDEQ, believes that this criterion for
deletion has been met. Subsequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this
Site from the NPL. Documents supporting this action are available from
the docket.
Dated: May 14, 1998.
David Ullrich,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region V.
[FR Doc. 98-13853 Filed 5-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P