[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 5, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41369-41371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16513]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6727-2]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule; deletion of the Laskin/Poplar Oil Company 
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: EPA Region 5 announces the deletion of the Laskin/Poplar Oil 
Company 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 of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA is taking this action 
because it has determined that the responsible parties have implemented 
all responses under CERCLA; and EPA, in consultation with the State of 
Ohio, has determined that no further response is appropriate. 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: This `` direct final'' action will be effective September 5, 
2000, unless EPA receives dissenting comments by August 4, 2000. If 
written dissenting comments are received, EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the rule in the Federal Register informing the public 
that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial 
Project Manager, Superfund Division, U.S. EPA, Region 5 77 W. Jackson 
Blvd. (SR-6J), Chicago, IL 60604. Comprehensive information on the site 
is available at U.S. EPA's Region 5 office and at the local information 
repository located at: The Ashtabula Public Library, 355 W. 44th St., 
Ashtablula, OH 44004. Requests for comprehensive copies of documents 
should be directed formally to the Region 5 Docket Office. The address 
and phone number for the Regional Docket Officer is Jan Pfundheller (H-
7J), U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 
353-5821.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Boice, Remedial Project 
Manager, at (312) 886-4740 (SR-6J), or Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial 
Project Manager, Superfund Division (SR-6J), U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 W. 
Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-7253 or Susan Pastor (P-
19J), Office of Public Affairs, EPA, Region 5 77 W. Jackson Blvd., 
Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 353-1325; Mike Eberle, State Project Manager, 
at Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2110 East Aurora Road, 
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087-1969, (330) 963-1126; the Laskin Final 
Remediation Trust Fund, Engineering Management, Inc., 1500 Ardmore 
Blvd., Suite 502, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221-4468, Attn: James R. 
Campell, at (412) 244-0917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 5 announces the deletion of the Laskin/Poplar Oil 
Company Site from the National Priorities List (NPL), appendix B of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 
40 CFR part 300. U.S. EPA identifies sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health, welfare and the environment, and 
maintains the NPL as the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be 
the subject of remedial actions that the Hazardous Substance Superfund 
Response Trust Fund (Fund) finances. Under Sec. 300.425(e) (3) of the 
NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed 
remedial actions if the conditions at the site warrant such action.
    EPA will accept comments on this proposal for thirty (30) days 
after publication of this document in the Federal Register.
    Section II of this action explains the criteria for deleting sites 
from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that U.S. EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the history of this site and 
explains how the site meets the deletion criteria. Section V states 
U.S. EPA's prospective action of deleting the Site from the NPL unless 
dissenting comments are received during the comment period.
    Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Specifically, this 
deletion does not affect the provisions or requirements of the Consent 
Decrees entered in United States v. Alvia Laskin, et al Civil Action 
(84-2035Y N.D. Ohio) and United States v. Anchor Motor Freight Co., et 
al, Civil Action No. (89CV1999 N. D. Ohio. Furthermore, deletion from 
the NPL does not in any way alter U.S. EPA's right to take enforcement 
actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for 
informational purposes and to assist in Agency Management.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that 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 have been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate non-time critical Removal Actions or Fund-
financed responses under CERCLA have 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, remedial measures are not appropriate. The Laskin/Poplar Oil 
Site now meets criterion (i). Criteria (ii) and (iii) are not relevant 
to this Site.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were followed before the proposed deletion 
of this Site from the NPL:
    (1) All appropriate response actions, under CERCLA have been 
implemented and no further EPA action is appropriate; (2) The State of 
Ohio has

[[Page 41370]]

concurred with the proposed deletion decision; (3) 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 dissenting public 
comment period on U.S. EPA's Direct Final Action to Delete; and, (4) 
All relevant documents have been made available for public review in 
the local Site information repositories. EPA is requesting only 
dissenting comments on the Direct Final Action to Delete.
    For deletion on the Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and 
evaluate public comments on U.S. EPA's Final Notice. If necessary, the 
Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, responding to each 
significant comment submitted during the public comment period. As 
stated in section I above, deletion of the Site from the NPL does not 
itself create, alter, or revoke any individual's rights of obligations. 
The NPL is designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist 
Agency management. Further, mentioned in section II of this document, 
Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion of a release 
from a site from the NPL does not preclude the Site's eligibility for 
future response actions.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The Laskin/Poplar Oil Company Site is located at 717 North Poplar 
Street in Ashtabula County, Jefferson Township, Ohio west of the 
Village of Jefferson. The nine-acre site is bounded on the north by 
Cemetery Creek, on the south by Ashtabula County Fairground, to the 
east by Poplar Street, and to the west by softball fields and a wooded 
ravine belonging to the County of Ashtabula.
    Prior to remedial action implementation the Site contained the 
property owner's former residence, a greenhouse complex, a boiler house 
containing 4 boilers formerly used to heat the greenhouses, a 
smokestack, 4 in-ground oil storage pits, 1 underground and 32 above 
ground tanks, a retention pond, two drained ponds, a fresh water pond, 
and miscellaneous buildings and sheds.
    Greenhouses were located on the Site since the early 1890's. In the 
1950's, boilers were installed to heat the greenhouse. Storage pits and 
tanks were installed during the 1960's to store the oil that fired the 
boilers. The Poplar Oil Company continued to accept waste oil from 
hundreds of sources in northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania 
throughout the 1960's and 1970's. The company resold some of the waste 
oil and used additional waste oil to treat gravel and dirt roads in 17 
townships of Ashtabula County. In 1977, U.S. EPA and Ohio Environmental 
Protection Agency (OEPA) indentified polychlorinated biphenys (PCBs) in 
the waste oil. In 1981, a court order stopped activities at the Poplar 
Oil Company.
    In early 1981, EPA investigated the Site and detected PCBs in waste 
oils, ground water and soils. In 1981 and 1982, EPA performed several 
removal actions at the Site. The emergency actions included draining 
and regrading two ponds; diverting surface runoff to a retention pond 
to prevent flooding; removing 302,000 gallons of waste oil taking them 
to an off-site incinerator; treating and discharging off site 430,000 
gallons of contaminated surface water; and solidifying on site 205,000 
gallons of sludge.
    In 1983, the Site was placed on the EPA's Superfund National 
Priorities List of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Fund-lead Phase 
I remedial investigation (RI) activities were conducted from December 
1983 to November 1984. In response to an Administrative Order issued in 
August 1984, the potentially responsible parties(PRPs) removed 
approximately 250,000 gallons of waste oil and wastewater during the 
winter of 1985-1986. A second Administrative Order was issued to the 
PRPs in late 1986, which ordered them to develop a work plan to address 
the storage pits, tank, and their contents, and surrounding soils. EPA 
completed Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) in August 1987. The Source 
Removal (SR) Record of Decision (ROD) was issued on September 30, 1987. 
Phase II RI activities were conducted in the fall and winter of 1987-
88. A third Administrative Order was issued in February 1988 for 
implementing the 1987 SR ROD. The Phase II RI Report which contained 
the results of both the Phase I and II RI Investigations was released 
in December 1988. The Final Remedy (FR) FS was provided for public 
comment on April 7, 1989. A final remedy was selected on June 29, 1989 
and documented in the FR ROD.
    PRPs organized the Laskin Site Group and performed the SR and the 
FR remedial design and remedial actions (RD/RA) under a September 1990 
Consent Decree. The SR ROD work to be performed under the 1988 
Administrative Order was incorporated into the 1990 Consent Decree. Due 
to the incineration of different materials set forth in both RODs and 
the need to prepare the Site for RA activities, some FR activities were 
necessarily performed during the SR.
    The SR ROD selected remedy consists of the following major 
components:
     Construction of a fence around the contaminated portions 
of the Site and the mobile on-site incinerator;
     Off-site treatment of all wastewater, decontamination 
water, and scrubber water;
     Dismantling and off-site disposal of all tanks;
     Crushing and incineration of the cinder block walls of the 
pits; and
     Backfilling and/or grading of all excavated areas to 
prevent ponding.
    The components of the FR ROD consist of the following:
     Drain retention and fresh water ponds. Discharge surface 
water from ponds to Cemetery Creek, with treatment if required. 
Backfill a freshwater pond with clean fill and grade retention pond 
area;
     Thermally treat contaminated soil, ash, and debris from 
the boiler house area and dispose of ash on-site (if delistable) or 
off-site to a RCRA permitted landfill;
     Demolish and thermal treatment or decontamination of 
dioxin contaminated structures. If material cannot be thermally treated 
or decontaminate, contain material in an on-site concrete vault and 
place beneath the cap;
     Construct a groundwater diversion trench up-gradient of 
the contaminated oil and groundwater;
     Construct a multi-layer cap;
     De-water site by natural groundwater flow to Cemetery 
Creek;
     Conduct groundwater and surface water monitoring to assess 
quality of groundwater migrating towards Cemetery Creek; and
     Impose access and use restrictions.
    The ROD and statement of work for the Consent Decree included 
performance standards for the FR including:
    1. The on-site incinerator would meet a destruction and removal 
efficiency at 99.99% for solvents, miscellaneous organics, 99.999% 
dioxin and 99.999% for PCBS;
    2. Discharges to the water in Cemetery Creek must comply with Ohio 
Water Quality Standards, and Federal Ambient Water Quality Criteria;
    3. The goal of the groundwater diversion was to dewater the site. 
If the groundwater is lowered to below the top of the unweathered 
shale, the site would be considered dewatered. If complete site 
dewatering was not achieved then Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels, 
under the Safe Drinking Water Act, would apply at the property 
boundary.
    In June 1991, the Remedial Design (RD) for the SR was finalized, 
and in the

[[Page 41371]]

Remedial Action (RA) work was formally initiated. U.S. EPA and Ohio 
Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) conducted a prefinal inspection 
on November 19, 1992. Incineration of all required material was 
completed on November 25, 1992. EPA approved the RA report on December 
22, 1992.
    The FR RD was formally approved and the RA work initiated in March 
1992. The FR included construction of a slurry wall to facilitate site 
dewatering in addition to the diversion trenches provided for in the 
ROD. A letter dated September 21, 1993 from the PRP Laskin/Poplar Site 
Group certified that all RA activities were performed according to 
design specifications, contractor plan, and EPA and OEPA approved 
modifications. EPA conducted a final inspection on September 20, 1993, 
and approved a Preliminary Close Out Report on September 23, 1993.
    Since completion of construction, the Site has been monitored and 
inspected in accordance with a EPA approved Inspection, Maintenance and 
Monitoring Plan. In accordance with this plan, quarterly groundwater 
and surface water monitoring was conducted in 1994, 1995, and 1996, and 
semi-annual groundwater and surface water monitoring was conducted in 
1997 and 1998.
    A five-year review pursuant to OSWER Directive 9355.7-02 
(``Structure and Components of Five-Year Reviews'') was conducted at 
the Site and a report of its conclusions was signed in May 1999. The 
five-year review report concluded that the remedial action selected for 
this Site remains protective of human health and the environment. The 
review determined that groundwater monitoring conducted over the five 
years since completion of construction has demonstrated that the 
groundwater has consistently been lowered below the unweathered shale, 
and that the data has not identified an impact of the Site on 
groundwater of surface water.

V. Action

    In its review of the five year review report, Engineering 
Management Inc., the Laskin Remedial Trust Fund's contractor correctly 
pointed out that the non-incinerable materials that were potentially 
dioxin-contaminated were decontaminated sampled, and found to contain 
less the 1 ppb of dioxin. As a result, it was not necessary to store 
any dioxin-contaminated material in a proposed vault below the cap, and 
this part of the remedy was eliminated. A small amount of asbestos-
contaminated material was encased in what has been referred to as a 
``concrete vault'' on site diagrams, but this vault is not the vault 
referred to in the ROD. The five year review found that the Site 
inspections have indentified a concern about slope stability, as well 
as routine erosion problems. The on-going inspection and maintenance 
program will address these problems. The next five year review should 
be completed by October 15, 2000.
    On June 30, 1999, EPA approved discontinuing the periodic 
groundwater and surface water sampling. However, periodic water level 
monitoring, inspections, and maintenance activities will continue, and 
groundwater and surface water sampling can resume if necessary.
    EPA, will the State of Ohio's concurrence, has determined that all 
appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA at the Ladkin-Poplar 
Oil Company Superfund Site have been completed, and no further CERCLA 
response is appropriate or necessary in order to provide protection of 
human health and the environment other than the ongoing inspection, 
maintenance and monitoring activities. Therefore, EPA is deleting the 
Site from the NPL.
    This action will be effective September 5, 2000. However, if EPA 
receives dissenting comments by August 4, 2000, EPA will publish a 
document that withdraws this action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous Waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, Water supply.

    Dated: June 14, 2000.
Gary Gulezian,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    Part 300, Title 40 of Chapter 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended as follows:

PART 300--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); E.O. 
12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp.; p.351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 
2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp.; p.193.

Appendix B--[Amended]

    2. Table 1 of Appendix B to Part 300 is amended by removing the 
entry for ``Laskin-Poplar Oil Co'', Jefferson Township, Ohio.
[FR Doc. 00-16513 Filed 7-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U