[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 9, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26803-26805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11569]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6602-9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Chemform, Inc. Site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4, announces 
its intent to delete the Chemform, Inc. Superfund Site in Pompano 
Beach, Broward County, Florida, from the National Priorities List (NPL) 
and requests public comment on this proposed action. The NPL 
constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 to 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), as amended. 
EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have 
determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been 
implemented and that no further response action is appropriate. 
Moreover, EPA and FDEP have determined that the response actions 
conducted at the Site to date have been protective of public health, 
welfare, and the environment.

DATES: Comments on the proposed deletion from the NPL should be 
submitted no later than June 8, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Mr. Jamey Watt, Remedial Project 
Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, 
S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303-3104.
    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 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 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: Record Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104, Phone: (404) 562-9530.
    Background information from the regional public docket also is 
available for viewing at the Site information repository located at: 
Broward County Main Library, Government Documents, 100 South Andrews 
Avenue, N.E., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jamey Watt, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-3104, (404) 562-8920.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents:

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

I. Introduction

    EPA, Region 4, announces its intent to delete the Chemform, Inc. 
Superfund Site from the NPL, which constitutes Appendix B of the NCP, 
and requests comments on this proposed deletion. EPA identifies sites 
on the NPL that appear to present a significant risk to public health, 
welfare, or the environment. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of 
remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances Superfund 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.
    EPA will accept comments concerning this Site for 30 days after 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Section II of this notice 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 or recategorized on the NPL when 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:
     Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
     All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have 
been implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties 
is appropriate; or
     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.
    CERCLA Section 121 (c), 42 U.S.C. 9621 (c), provides that 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. The OU1 ROD 
signed on September 22, 1992, as amended by the Explanation of 
Significant Differences (ESD) signed on April 2, 1999, calls for such 
Five-Year Review events at the Site. Each Five-Year Review will examine 
the institutional controls identified at the Site and allow for 
additional ground water monitoring if necessary. Five-Year Reviews will 
continue until Site ground water meets maximum concentration limits 
(MCLs). The OU2 ROD selected remedy which addressed soil contamination 
did not require Five-Year Review events. Through soil excavation and 
removal actions, no hazardous substances remained in on-site soils 
above health-based levels. If new information becomes available that 
indicates a need for further action, EPA may initiate a remedial 
action. 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 Hazard Ranking System.

[[Page 26804]]

III. Deletion Procedures

    EPA, Region 4, will accept and evaluate public comments before 
making a final decision on deletion from the NPL. 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:
     EPA has recommended deletion and has prepared the relevant 
documents;
     The State has concurred with the deletion decision;
     Concurrent with this Notice of Intent to Delete, notices 
have been published in local newspapers and have 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;
     EPA has made all relevant documents available at the 
information repositories; and
     EPA will respond to significant comments, if any, 
submitted during the public comment period.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself, create, alter, 
or revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes to assist Agency management. As 
mentioned in section II of this document, 40 CFR 300.425(e)(3) provides 
that deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for 
future Fund-financed response actions nor does it preclude future State 
action pursuant to State law.
    The comments received on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete during 
the notice and comment period will be evaluated by EPA before making 
the final decision to delete. EPA will prepare a Responsiveness 
Summary, if necessary, which will address the comments received during 
the public comment period.
    A deletion occurs when the EPA Regional Administrator places a 
Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. Any deletions from the NPL 
will be reflected in the next NPL update. Public notices and copies of 
the Responsiveness Summary, if necessary, will be made available to 
local residents by the Regional office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following Site summary provides the EPA's rationale for 
deleting the Site from the NPL.
    The four-acre Chemform, Inc. Site lies in a highly industrialized 
section of northeastern Broward County, Pompano Beach, Florida. 
Chemform, Inc. operated as a certified repair and refurbishment station 
of turbine engine components for the aerospace industry. Chemform, Inc. 
also helped design, manufacture, and market electrochemical machines 
for other industries in metal parts manufacturing.
    In 1977, a Broward County Pollution Control Board inspector found 
Chemform, Inc. had violated county regulations by discharging 
industrial wastes (oily liquid and sludge) onto the ground. EPA 
conducted a site screening investigation in August 1985. In July 1986, 
an EPA contractor conducted a sampling investigation. This 
investigation found the main source area of contamination to be 
composed of inorganics in the soil. After evaluating the sampling 
results, EPA proposed the Site for the NPL on June 24, 1988. On October 
4, 1989, the Chemform, Inc. Site was promulgated onto the NPL.
    The Chemform, Inc. Site was divided into two Operable Units (OUs). 
Operable Unit 1 (OU1) addresses ground water contamination. Operable 
Unit 2 (OU2) addresses contaminated soils. There is a Record of 
Decision (ROD) for each operable unit. The OU1 ROD was signed on 
September 22, 1992 and documented a selected remedy of ``No Action with 
Monitoring'' for the ground water. The September 16, 1993 OU2 ROD 
selected remedy for soil was ``No Further Action'' due to previous soil 
removal operations.
    The ``No Action with Monitoring'' selected remedy for OU1 was based 
on the Remedial Investigation results and risk assessment, which 
indicated no remediation of ground water was needed at the Site. This 
was due to soil and waste removal actions in 1992 designed to eliminate 
the potential for inorganic constituents to leach from surface and 
subsurface soils into the ground water. The OU1 ROD called for 
quarterly ground water monitoring of the contaminants of concern (COCs) 
for no less than one year. The COCs identified in the OU1 ROD were 
selected based upon their toxicological properties, concentrations and 
frequency of occurrence during the OU1 Remedial Investigation.
    Post-ROD quarterly ground water monitoring of the COCs occurred 
from October 1993 to July 1994. Additional necessary ground water 
sampling occurred at the Site and is documented in the ESD signed on 
April 2, 1999. All post-ROD ground water monitoring results revealed 
that concentrations for the COCs were below Florida primary drinking 
water standards. However, as documented in the OU1 ESD, the presence of 
vinyl chloride in some post-ROD ground water samples resulted in the 
initiation of Five-Year Review events. Vinyl chloride was not 
identified as a COC in the OU1 ROD. The Five-Year Reviews will monitor 
current institutional controls and allow for ground water sampling if 
necessary to ensure that the Site remains protective of human health 
and the environment.
    The OU2 ROD addressed soil contamination. Soil characterization at 
the Site began with the OU1 Remedial Investigation in October 1989 and 
continued through the Removal Action in June 1992. Contaminant levels 
were substantially reduced by soil and source area cleanup activities, 
which Chemform, Inc. conducted under EPA oversight. More than 2,000 
cubic yards of contaminated surface and subsurface soils were 
excavated. Confirmatory sampling of surface and subsurface soils 
revealed Soil Cleanup Levels (SCLs) for inorganics under the Removal 
Action had been reached.
    As part of the OU2 soil removal actions at the Site, a septic tank 
system was excavated and disposed of off-site in June 1992. Testing of 
the tank contents showed the presence of trichloroethene (TCE) and 
related organic compounds. Concerns over potential ground water 
contamination from these compounds led to additional ground water 
sampling subsequent to the post-ROD quarterly ground water sampling. 
This further sampling revealed the presence of one TCE related 
compound, vinyl chloride, which was not targeted as a COC in the OU1 
ROD, above the MCL. The events and results are summarized in the ESD. 
Due to the presence of vinyl chloride above the MCL, the ESD documents 
the need for Five-Year Reviews to be performed at the Site. The 
presence of vinyl chloride does not indicate a current health threat at 
the Site. Public water supply lines service the Site and surrounding 
area. State and local ground water use controls prevent a future 
exposure route from occurring. A Five-Year Review policy will verify 
existing ground water use controls and, as determined necessary by EPA, 
continue ground water monitoring.

Applicable Deletion Criteria

    One of the three criteria for site deletion, 40 CFR 
300.425(e)(l)(ii), specifies that EPA may delete a site from the NPL if 
``all appropriate Fund-Financed Response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate.'' EPA, with the concurrence of FDEP, believes that this 
criterion for deletion has been met and the Site is protective of human 
health

[[Page 26805]]

and the environment. Subsequently, EPA is proposing the deletion of 
this Site from the NPL.

State Concurrence

    The Florida Department of Environmental Protection concurs with the 
proposed deletion of the Chemform, Inc. Superfund Site from the NPL. 
FDEP submitted a ``Letter of Concurrence'' to EPA on November 22, 1999. 
EPA also worked closely with FDEP in establishing a five year review 
period in the ESD.
    Reports that contain extensive Site characterization information 
are available for review, along with the RODs and ESD, in the 
Administrative Record. A Deletion Docket, which contains all pertinent 
information supporting the deletion recommendation, is also available 
to the public at the EPA Regional office and the local Site repository.

    Dated: April 6, 2000.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IV.
[FR Doc. 00-11569 Filed 5-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P