[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 121 (Thursday, June 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33812-33813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15833]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6364-5]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard site from 
the National Priorities List; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces 
its intent to delete the Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard 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), as 
amended. EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA response 
actions have been implemented and that no further cleanup by 
responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and PADEP 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 from the 
NPL may be submitted on or before July 26, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Deanna Moultrie, (3HS21), 
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch 
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, (215) 814-5125.
    Comprehensive information on this site is available for viewing at 
the Site information repositories at the following locations: U.S. EPA, 
Region 3, Public Reading Room, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 
19103, (215) 814-3157; Weisenberg Township Building, 2175 Seipstown 
Road, Fogelsville, PA 18051, (610) 285-6660.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deanna Moultrie (3HS21), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, PA, 19103, (215) 814-5125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III announces its 
intent to delete the Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Site, Lehigh County, 
Pennsylvania, from the National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of 
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP) 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 those sites. Sites 
on the NPL may be the subject of remedial actions financed by the 
Hazardous Substance Superfund Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to 
Sec. 300.425(e) of the NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains 
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if conditions at the site 
warrant such action.
    EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site from 
the NPL for thirty calendar 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 how the Site meets the deletion 
criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that the Agency uses to delete 
sites from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be 
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In 
making this determination, EPA will consider whether any of the 
following criteria have been met:
    (i) EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that 
responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate response 
actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented and EPA, in consultation with PADEP, has determined that no 
further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate; or
    (iii) Based on a remedial investigation, EPA, in consultation with 
PADEP, has determined that the release poses no significant threat to 
public health or the environment and therefore, taking remedial 
measures is not appropriate.

[[Page 33813]]

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 should also be 
used before sites are deleted. Comments were also received in response 
to the amendments to the NCP proposed on February 12, 1985 (50 FR 
5862). Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individuals rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.
    EPA Region III will accept and evaluate public comments before 
making a final decision to delete. The Agency believes that deletion 
procedures should focus on notice and comment at the local level. 
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 III has recommended deletion and has prepared the 
relevant documents.
    (2) PADEP has concurred with the deletion decision.
    (3) Local notice will be published in local newspapers and 
distributed to appropriate federal, state and local officials and other 
interested parties. This local notice presents information on the site 
and announces the thirty (30) day public comment period on the deletion 
package.
    (4) The Region has made information supporting the proposed 
deletion available in the Regional Office and local site information 
repository.
    The comments received during the notice and comment period will be 
evaluated before the final decision to delete. The Region will prepare 
a Responsiveness Summary, which will address significant comments 
received during the public comment period. A deletion will occur after 
the EPA Regional Administrator places a document in the Federal 
Register. The NPL will reflect any deletions in the final update. 
Public notices and copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made 
available to local residents by Region III.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard Superfund Site occupies approximately 
20 acres within the headwaters of the Iron Run subdrainage basin in 
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The Site is the location of a former 
automobile junkyard and salvage operation involving junk cars, used 
storage tanks and miscellaneous scrap metals and debris with periods of 
activity between 1958 and 1979. The Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Resources reported that operations ceased in 1979.
    The Site was purchased in 1958 by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hebelka, now 
deceased. The property is currently a part of the estate of Lovie 
Hebelka. In December 1985, the EPA Region III Field Investigation Team 
(FIT III) visited the Site for the purpose of conducting a Site 
Inspection (SI). The SI revealed the presence of two battery piles at 
the Site, termed the eastern pile and the western pile. The major 
contaminant identified at this site was lead in soils downgradient from 
the battery piles. The Site was proposed for inclusion on the Superfund 
National Priorities List on June 1, 1986 and finalized on that list on 
August 21, 1987.
    Operable Unit 1 (OU1) addressed the areas of the Site with lead in 
soil concentrations above 560 mg/kg and the piles of scrap battery 
casings lying on top of these soil areas. Operable Unit 2 (OU2) 
addressed the soils outside of this high concentration area, the air in 
the vicinity of the Site, the groundwater in the vicinity (including 
nearby home well water), the nearby stream water and the stream 
sediments.
    A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was 
conducted between March 1987 and July 1991 to define the nature and 
extent of contamination and to identify alternatives for remediating 
the Site conditions. Remedies for the Operable Units were selected and 
described in separate Records of Decision (ROD). ROD 1 was issued March 
31, 1989 for OU1 and ROD 2 was issued September 30, 1991 for OU2. The 
remedy selected in ROD 1 was designed to prevent ingestion of lead-
contaminated particles and soil in excess of health-based levels by 
removing them from the Site and treating and-or disposing of them. This 
was done by removing battery casings and recycling them. Recycling was 
proven to be impractical so they were disposed of in a RCRA landfill. 
Soil above health-based risk levels was excavated, stabilized offsite 
and deposited in a RCRA Subtitle D municipal landfill. Clean soil was 
then backfilled and revegetated. EPA determined that no further action 
was necessary at the Site for OU2 because contamination pathways via 
the site media posed no current or potential threat to human health and 
the environment. Therefore, the remedy chosen in ROD 1, eliminated the 
need for further action.
    Because the remedies chosen for OU1 and OU2 did not result in 
hazardous substances remaining onsite above health-based levels, the 
five-year review process will not apply to this site.
    The remedies selected for this site have been implemented in 
accordance with the Records of Decision. As a result of these remedies, 
human health threats and potential environmental impacts at this site 
have been eliminated. EPA and PADEP find that the remedies implemented 
continue to provide adequate protection of human health and the 
environment.
    EPA, in concurrence with PADEP believes that the criteria stated in 
section II(i) for deletion of this site has been met. Therefore, EPA is 
proposing the deletion of this site from the NPL.

    Dated: April 19, 1999.
Diana Esher,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 99-15833 Filed 6-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P