[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 225 (Monday, November 23, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64668-64670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30964]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6190-6]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Cedartown Municipal Landfill 
Superfund site from the National Priorities List (NPL); request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: EPA, Region 4 (EPA) announces its intent to delete the 
Cedartown Municipal Landfill 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.

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site will be 
accepted until December 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Annie M. Godfrey, Remedial 
Project Manager, South Site Management Branch, Waste Management 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

[[Page 64669]]

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 a.m. to 4 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: Cedartown Public Library, 245 East Avenue, 
Cedartown, Georgia, 30125-3001, Telephone No. (770) 748-5644.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Annie M. Godfrey, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, (404) 562-8919.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA announces its intent to delete the Cedartown Municipal Landfill 
Superfund Site (the Site), in Polk County, Georgia from the National 
Priorities List (NPL) which constitutes appendix B of 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 of 
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 Region 4 issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in November 
1993. The selected remedy included landfill cover maintenance, controls 
to restrict land use and prevent groundwater use, and groundwater 
monitoring to ensure that the contaminants were reduced naturally and 
did not move away from the site. Groundwater monitoring was to be 
continued after groundwater performance standards are achieved. The ROD 
contained a contingency for pumping and treating groundwater if the 
performance standards could not be attained.
    (2) EPA Region 4 issued a ROD amendment in May 1998, following two 
and one-half years of groundwater monitoring. Monitoring data indicated 
that only manganese remained above the performance standard and did not 
appear to be migrating offsite. The amendment changed the remedy to 
utilize institutional controls to restrict groundwater use in the areas 
beneath the site where performance standards are exceeded and to 
eliminate monitoring and the pump and treat contingency.
    (3) The Georgia EPD concurred with the proposed deletion decision.
    (4) 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.
    (5) All relevant documents have been made available for public 
review in the local Site information repository.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself, create, alter, or 
revoke any 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 EPA 
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. Site Background

    The Cedartown Municipal Landfill site is located in Polk County on 
the outskirts of the City of Cedartown, Georgia, approximately 62 miles 
northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. The Site is situated on the western edge 
of Cedartown and is bordered on the east by Tenth Street, the south by 
Route 100 (Prior Station Road), and the north and west by undeveloped 
and/or agricultural land. Property to the east of the Site consists of 
an industrial complex. Land to the north, west and south of the Site is 
a mixture of residential, agricultural, and

[[Page 64670]]

undeveloped land. The Site lies within the limits of the City of 
Cedartown.
    The Site occupies approximately 94 acres and has wooded areas along 
the north, south and west. A seasonal stream and pond, which appear 
during periods of high precipitation, exist approximately 700 feet west 
of the Site perimeter. The eastern half of the Site is covered by thick 
grasses. Approximately 10 acres of land, situated between the eastern 
and western halves of the Site, were not used for landfill operations. 
One leachate seep was observed on-site.

B. History

    The Site encompasses a former iron ore mine which subsequently was 
used as a municipal landfill. While the landfill received primarily 
municipal solid sanitary waste during its operation, quantities of 
industrial waste were also reportedly disposed at the Site. The 
industrial wastes disposed at the Site may have included the following:
     Sludge from an industrial waste water treatment system,
     Animal fat and vegetable oil skimmings from a separation 
unit,
     Liquid dye wastes,
     Latex paint and paint sludges, and
     Plant trash.
    In 1979, in accordance with then applicable State regulations 
pertaining to the closure of landfills, the landfill was covered with a 
layer of clay soil varying in thickness from one to 12 feet. A 
vegetative cover was then planted over the soil layer to prevent 
erosion.
    From 1985 to 1987, EPA evaluated conditions at the Site and 
identified areas of potential investigation. EPA then proposed the Site 
for inclusion on the National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1988 and 
finalized the listing in March 1989. In November 1993, EPA issued a 
Record of Decision (ROD) for the Site. The ROD selected a remedy 
consisting of the following:
     Cover maintenance and seep controls,
     Institutional controls to minimize land use and prevent 
groundwater use,
     Surface water monitoring to assess whether contaminants 
were leaching from the seep,
     Groundwater monitoring to assess the migration and/or 
natural attenuation of contaminants,
     Implementation of a contingency pump and treat system if 
groundwater performance standards were not met, and
     Continued groundwater monitoring after groundwater 
performance standards were achieved.
    EPA Region 4 issued a ROD amendment in May 1998 which amended the 
remedy to utilize institutional controls to restrict groundwater use in 
the areas beneath the site where performance standards are exceeded and 
to eliminate monitoring and the pump and treat contingency. The City of 
Cedartown (the City) has implemented the required institutional 
controls to restrict groundwater use at the Site. The City has annexed 
all property which lies above the landfill area. A city ordinance is in 
place to restrict the installation of wells on these properties. 
Additional ordinances restrict the placement of groundwater wells on 
adjacent property.

C. Characterization of Risk

    Groundwater monitoring for two and one-half years has demonstrated 
that levels of all constituents of concern, except manganese, are below 
performance standards. Groundwater concentrations of manganese have 
remained stable in the wells which exceed the standard. Elevated levels 
of manganese have not been detected in more distant wells. In addition, 
EPA analysis of groundwater data demonstrates that elevated manganese 
may be caused by mining activities which occurred before the Site was 
used as a municipal landfill. Risk to human health has been reduced to 
acceptable levels by controlling access to contaminated groundwater. 
Institutional controls implemented by the City will restrict the use of 
groundwater in areas where performance standards are not met. The 
results of the ecological risk assessment indicated that the Site 
provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife, but that chemical 
exposures on the Site do not represent a threat to wildlife which may 
inhabit the area. No endangered or sensitive resident species or 
critical habitats were identified in the study area.
    EPA believes that conditions at the Site pose no 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 ``the 
responsible parties or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required.'' EPA, with concurrence from the Georgia 
Environmental Protection Division (EPD), 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 regional public docket. Since waste will remain on the site, a 
five year review will be required in the future.
    EPA, with concurrence of the Georgia EPD, has determined that all 
appropriate response under the CERCLA 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 30, 1998.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 98-30964 Filed 11-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P