[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 155 (Thursday, August 12, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43970-43972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-20550]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6417-3]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Anchor Chemicals Superfund Site 
from the National Priorities List; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 
Region 2, announces its intent to delete the Anchor Chemicals Superfund 
Site (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 & 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), as amended. EPA and the New York State 
Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) have determined that 
all appropriate response actions have been completed and no further 
action by the responsible parties is appropriate under CERCLA. In 
addition, EPA and NYSDEC have determined that response activities 
conducted to date at the Site have been protective of public health, 
welfare, and the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the deletion of the Site from the NPL may be 
submitted on or before September 13, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Thomas Taccone, Remedial 
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 
Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
    Comprehensive information on the Site is contained at: U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Superfund Records Center 290 
Broadway, Room 1828, New York, New York 10007-1866,

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(212) 637-4308, Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9:00am--5:00 pm.
    Information on the Site is also available for viewing at the Site 
Administrative Record Repository located at: Hicksville Library, 
Community Room, 169 Jerusalem Avenue, Hicksville, L.I. 11801, Tel. 
(516) 931-1417, Hours: Mon.Thurs. 9:00 am-9:00 pm or Fri.-Sat. 
9:00 am-5:00 pm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Taccone at the address 
above or by telephone at (212) 637-4281 or by electronic mail at 
``Taccone.T[email protected].''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 2 announces its intent to delete the Anchor Chemicals 
Superfund Site (the Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and 
requests public comment on this deletion. The NPL is appendix B to the 
National Oil & Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 
which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of CERCLA, as amended, 42 
U.S.C. 9601 et seq. 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 (the Fund). Pursuant to 
Sec. 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.
    EPA will accept comments concerning the deletion of the Site from 
the NPL for 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 how the Site meets the NPL 
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)(1)(i)-(iii), 
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is 
appropriate. In making this determination, EPA, in consultation with 
the NYSDEC, will consider whether any of the following criteria has 
been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    (iii) A remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no 
significant threat to public health or to the environment and, 
therefore, taking remedial measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL 
until the State in which the release was located has concurred, and the 
public has been afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposed 
deletion. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible 
party liability or impede Agency efforts to recover costs associated 
with response efforts. The NPL is designed primarily for information 
purposes and to assist Agency management.
    EPA Region 2 will accept and evaluate public comments before making 
a final decision to delete the Site. The following procedures were used 
for the intended deletion of the Site:
    1. EPA Region 2 issued a Record of Decision for the Site in 
September 1995, which stated that no remedial action was necessary, 
since the Site did not pose an unacceptable threat to human health and 
the environment.
    2. EPA has recommended deletion.
    3. The NYSDEC concurred with the deletion decision in a letter 
dated July 7, 1999.
    4. Concurrent with this Notice of Intent to Delete, a notice has 
been published in a local newspaper and has been distributed to 
appropriate federal, state and local officials, and other interested 
parties.
    5. EPA has made available the relevant documents to this decision 
at the addresses listed above.
    The comments received during the comment period will be evaluated 
before any final decision is made. EPA Region 2 will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, which will address any 
significant comments received during the public comment period.
    If, after consideration of the comments it receives, EPA decides to 
proceed with the deletion, the EPA Regional Administrator will place a 
Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect this 
deletion in the next final update. Public notices and copies of the 
Responsiveness Summary, if any, will be made available to local 
residents by EPA Region 2.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following summary provides a brief description and history of 
the Anchor Chemicals Superfund Site and the Agency's rationale for 
recommending deletion of the Site, in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau 
County, New York, from the NPL.
    The Site is approximately 1.5 acres in size and includes one 28,850 
square foot, two-story building. Most of the Site is paved with 
asphalt. The KoBar Company purchased the Site on September 30, 1964, 
and in the same year constructed the building for the Anchor Chemical 
Corporation. Before the building was constructed, the Site property was 
used for agricultural purposes.
    From 1964 to 1978, Anchor Chemical manufactured, blended and stored 
chemicals for the graphic arts industry. Seventeen underground storage 
tanks (USTs), which ranged in size from 500 to 4,000 gallons, were used 
by the company at the Site to store chemicals and solvents, such as 
acetone, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA), methylene chloride, 2-
butoxyethanol and isopropyl alcohol. The chemicals were also stored in 
seven aboveground tanks which were removed from the Site in 1985. The 
tanks ranged in size from 550 to 1,500 gallons.
    In addition, there are nine dry wells and one drain on-Site. The 
dry wells and drain were installed to collect rainwater runoff and 
drainage from the building. Liquid which collects in the dry wells 
infiltrates into the soil. None of the dry wells are connected to a 
sewer.
    In 1977, the Nassau County Health Department (NCHD) discovered 
1,1,1-TCA, trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) in liquid 
samples near the dry wells. In subsequent testing of 14 of the 17 USTs, 
six tanks failed air-over-product tank tightness tests, indicating that 
the tanks had the potential to leak. Five tanks were decommissioned in 
1983; the remaining twelve were decommissioned in 1991. In 1982, the 
NCDH requested Anchor/Lith Kem-Ko, the operators, to investigate the 
possibility of groundwater and soil contamination at the Site.
    Three groundwater monitoring wells were installed in September 
1982. Groundwater samples taken from the wells contained elevated 
levels of 1,1,1-TCA, PCE, dichloroethane,

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chlorodibromo-methane, methylene chloride and TCE. Soil samples, taken 
during the well installations, revealed the presence of methylene 
chloride and 1,1,1-TCA. On June 10, 1986, the Site was placed on the 
National Priorities List.
    On June 2, 1989, EPA issued an Administrative Order on Consent to 
the K.B. Company, the owner of the property and successor to Kobar, to 
undertake a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) to 
determine the nature and extent of contamination at the Site and to 
evaluate options for cleanup. Field work was completed in February 1995 
and an RI report was submitted to EPA in March 1995. The report 
revealed a significant decrease in the concentration of the 
contaminants in the groundwater and soil from those levels observed in 
the early 1980s. In addition, the risk assessment determined that the 
Site did not pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the 
environment. EPA published these findings in a Record of Decision (ROD) 
on September 29, 1995.
    The ROD stated that the risks posed by the Site contamination are 
within the acceptable risk range, but noted that four dry wells on Site 
were found to be contaminated with chromium, lead, 1,1,1-TCA and other 
volatile compounds. Groundwater samples from several monitoring wells 
on Site also showed concentrations of chromium and 1,1,1-TCA above 
Maximum Contaminant Levels. On September 29 and 30, 1995, a removal 
action was performed at the Site. The action consisted of the removal 
and off-Site disposal of contaminated soils and sediments from the dry 
wells to prevent further groundwater contamination. The excavated 
materials were disposed of in accordance with Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements. The completion of the removal action 
was documented in a Removal Action Report, dated May 1996, by the 
responsible parties. The ROD stated that no additional action was 
necessary at the Site upon completion of the removal action. EPA 
formally acknowledged completion of the action in a Preliminary 
Closeout Report for the Site on September 30, 1996. Results from two 
rounds of groundwater samples, which were collected in April 1996 and 
July 1997, confirmed the effectiveness of the removal action and that 
the Site does not pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the 
environment. A Final Close Out Report was not prepared by EPA, since 
completion of all response actions for the Site has been documented in 
the ROD and in the Preliminary Closeout Report.
    The responsible parties have completed all necessary response 
actions at the Site. EPA, in consultation with NYSDEC, has determined 
that the Anchor Chemicals Superfund Site does not pose a significant 
threat to human health or the environment. No further Site remediation 
is necessary.
    Because all of the necessary response actions have been competed at 
the Site, and since the Site does not pose an unacceptable risk to 
human health and the environment, EPA has also determined that the 
five-year review requirement of section 121(c) of CERCLA, as amended, 
is not applicable.

    Dated: July 27, 1999.
Herb Barrack,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 99-20550 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P