[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 116 (Thursday, June 17, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32466-32468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15172]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6359-7]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Davis Glocester-Smithfield 
Regional (GSR) Landfill site from the National Priorities List; request 
for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region I announces 
its intent to delete the Davis GSR Landfill site from the National 
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 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 State of Rhode Island have determined that the Site poses 
no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, no further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are 
appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this site may be submitted on or before July 
19, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Anna Krasko, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. EPA Region I, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HBO), 
Boston, MA 02114-2023.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
public docket which is located at EPA's Region I Records Center and is 
available for viewing by appointment only at 90 Canal Street, 1st 
Floor, Boston, MA 02114, (617) 918-1440.
    A copy of the public docket is also available for viewing at the 
Davis GSR Landfill site information repository at: E. Smithfield Public 
Library, 50 Esmond Street, N. Smithfield, RI (401) 231-5150.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Krasko, Remedial Project Manager, 
U.S. EPA Region I, 1 Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HBO), Boston, MA 
02114-2023, (617) 918-1232 or Matthew DeStefano, Project Manager, Rhode 
Island Department of Environmental Management, 235 Promenade Street, 
Providence, RI 02908-5767, (401) 222-2797.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region I announces its 
intent to delete the Davis GSR Landfill site, N. Smithfield, RI, 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 this deletion. The 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. Sites on 
the NPL may be the subject of remedial actions financed by the 
Hazardous Substance Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to 
40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains 
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if conditions at the site 
warrant such action. Whenever there is a significant release from a 
site deleted from the NPL, the site shall be restored to the NPL 
without application of the Hazard Ranking System (HRS).
    The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site 
for thirty (30) 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 procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the Davis GSR Landfill site and 
explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes criteria that the Agency uses to delete sites 
from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e)(1), sites 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 has been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (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 shown that the release poses 
no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.

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    Prior to deciding to delete a site from the NPL, EPA must determine 
that the remedy, or existing site conditions at sites where no action 
is required, is protective of public health, welfare, and the 
environment. In the case of this Site, the baseline risk assessment 
concluded that conditions at the Site pose no unacceptable risk to 
human health and the environment. Consistent with the September 29, 
1997 Record of Decision, EPA and the State will conduct residential 
well testing in the vicinity of the Site for a period of at least five 
years. If new information becomes available which indicates a need for 
further remedial action, EPA may initiate such actions. EPA may also 
support further response activities which could be initiated by the 
State in the interest of public health.

III. Deletion Procedures

    In the NPL rulemaking published on October 15, 1984 (49 FR 40320), 
the Agency solicited and received comments on whether the notice of 
comment procedures followed for adding sites to the NPL also should be 
used before sites are deleted. Comments also were received in response 
to the amendments to the NCP proposed on February 12, 1985 (50 FR 
5862). Formal notice and comment procedures for deleting sites from the 
NPL were subsequently added as a part of the March 8, 1990 amendments 
to the NCP (55 FR 8666, 8846). Those procedures are set out in 40 CFR 
300.425(e)(4) of the NCP. Deletion of sites 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.
    Upon determination that at least one of the criteria described in 
40 CFR 300.425(e)(1) has been met, EPA may formally begin deletion 
procedures. The following procedures were used for the intended 
deletion of this Site:
    (1) EPA Region I issued a Record of Decision which documented that 
no further remedial action is necessary for the Davis GSR Landfill site 
and that no statutory five year review will be undertaken. The ROD also 
called for residential well monitoring for at least five years and the 
data evaluation by EPA and the State to determine possible need for 
further monitoring at the site beyond the initial five years;
    (2) The State of Rhode Island has concurred with the Record of 
Decision and the proposed deletion decision;
    (3) Concurrent with this National 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; and
    (4) The Region has made all relevant documents available for public 
review in the Regional Office and the local Site information 
repository.
    This Federal Register document, and a concurrent notice in the 
local newspaper in the vicinity of the Site, announce the initiation of 
a 30-day public comment period and the availability of the Notice of 
Intent to Delete. The public is asked to comment on EPA's intention to 
delete the Site from the NPL; all critical documents needed to evaluate 
EPA's decision are included in the information repository and deletion 
docket.
    Upon completion of the 30-day public comment period, EPA Region I 
will evaluate these comments before the final decision to delete. The 
Region will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, which will respond to 
each significant comment and any significant new data received during 
the public comment period. This response document will be made 
available to the public at the information repository. If EPA still 
determines that deletion from the NPL is appropriate after receiving 
public comments, a final notice of deletion will be published in the 
Federal Register and the final deletion package will be placed in the 
information repository.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for deleting 
the Davis GSR Landfill site from the NPL.

A. Site Background and History

    The 58-acre Site includes a 21-acre landfill located in a semi-
rural area off Tarkiln Road in the Towns of Glocester and Smithfield, 
Rhode Island. This Site is not Davis Liquid Waste or Davis Tire Pile 
Site, which are also located in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The GSR 
Landfill was first licensed by the State to receive municipal waste in 
1974, and acceptance of waste ceased in 1982. In 1978, after the public 
expressed concern about operation of this privately owned landfill, the 
State declined to renew the landfill's license citing numerous 
violations and failure to comply with previous orders. Numerous legal 
actions to close the landfill ensued, and the State Supreme Court ruled 
in favor of the State in 1982. At that time the landfill had stopped 
accepting solid waste, but the engineered cover was never constructed. 
As a result of several Volatile Organic Compounds being detected in the 
early 1980s in several on-site monitoring wells and one nearby 
residential well, the Davis GSR Landfill Site was added to the NPL in 
1986.
    From 1991 to 1993, after site access had been finally obtained, EPA 
conducted an extensive Remedial Investigation (RI) to determine the 
nature and extent of contamination and to assess potential risks to 
human health and the environment. Results of this investigation 
concluded that the landfill appeared to be the source of various 
chemicals, the spread of which was limited to the immediate vicinity of 
the landfill with no evidence of contamination downgradient. No 
distinct plume of groundwater contamination was found to be emanating 
from the landfill. None of the residential well tests conducted 
periodically since the early 1980s, including the latest post-ROD 
testing in February of 1999, confirmed the presence of elevated levels 
of contaminants.
    Based on the results of the RI and risk assessment, EPA issued a 
record of Decision (ROD) for the Site on September 29, 1997. The ROD 
documented the decision that no further remedial action was necessary 
at Davis GSR Landfill site because the conditions at the Site pose no 
unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

B. Characterization of Risk

    Based on the levels of organics and metals that were detected in 
the groundwater, soil, surface water, sediment and air, and the 
unlikely future exposure to the groundwater in a limited area in the 
wetlands immediately adjacent to the landfill, EPA has determined that 
the potential for adverse ecological and human health risks from site 
groundwater or other media to be unlikely. Exposure pathways considered 
for the Davis GSR Landfill Site risk assessment, assuming no remedial 
actions were taken, included ingestion of groundwater, contact with 
Site soils, surface water, and sediment, and inhalation of landfill 
gas.
    No current health risks are associated with exposure to groundwater 
at the Site since the contaminated groundwater is not used for drinking 
water. Elevated levels of benzene and manganese were detected at the 
Site in the wetlands between the landfill and the Nine Foot Brook. 
However, exposure to the groundwater as a drinking water source in this 
limited area is unlikely due to the steep topography and proximity to 
wetlands which would preclude development. Although the risk associated 
with arsenic is at the upper end of the acceptable risk range (i.e., 
10-4), the contaminant is at levels below those established 
as safe in the Safe Drinking Water Act. The cancer

[[Page 32468]]

risk is largely attributable to one contaminant, arsenic, although 
benzene and beryllium also contribute but at lower levels. Manganese is 
the main contributor to the noncarcinogenic hazard index of 8.4, which 
may present a level of concern for a human health drinking water 
scenario, assuming that groundwater at this location is ingested as a 
sole source of drinking water. This is a very conservative estimate of 
future exposure, however, as this location is immediately adjacent to 
the landfill and is not likely to be used for future water supplies due 
to the existing topographical and wetland considerations.
    No adverse health effects associated with the inhalation of 
landfill gas, and ingestion of, or contact with, the contaminants in 
surficial soils, surface water and sediments were found, assuming 
conservative exposure to children who may trespass and wade in the 
wetlands and have skin contact with contaminants. All current and 
future risks attributable to these exposures were below the lower end 
of the acceptable risk range (i.e., 10-6). Thus, even if the 
Site in the future is used for recreational or residential purposes, 
the resulting frequency of exposure would not pose unacceptable risk to 
human health.
    EPA also evaluated the potential risk to the environment posed by 
contamination at the site. Contaminant concentrations in sediments 
found in the Davis GSR wetlands and surface waters were compared to 
Sediment Quality Criteria (SQC) as part of the ecological risk 
assessment. Given the abundance of surrounding water bodies and 
wetlands, it is unlikely that a reduction in viable wetland habitat, 
due to sediment contamination associated with the Davis GSR Landfill, 
would adversely impact any flora and fauna populations. The levels of 
contaminants found in the landfill surface soils also do not appear 
likely to pose significant ecological risk. Results of a conservative 
food chain modeling also indicated no adverse effects, and therefore, 
did not suggest the need for cleanup.
    The Record of Decision (ROD) was signed by the Director of the 
Office of Site Remediation and Restoration on September 29, 1997. The 
No Action ROD recommendation includes: No further remedial action. 
Long-term monitoring will be conducted.
    Based on the information currently available, EPA, with the 
concurrence of the State of Rhode Island, has determined that the 
release poses no significant threat to public health or the environment 
and, therefore, taking of remedial measures at this time is not 
appropriate.

    Dated: May 21, 1999.
John P. DeVillars,
Regional Administrator, Region I.
[FR Doc. 99-15172 Filed 6-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P