[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 136 (Friday, July 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43739-43740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17833]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, Texas: 
Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage 
Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for Ecological 
Injuries and Service Losses

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce; United States Department of the Interior (DOI); Texas Parks 
and Wildlife Department (TPWD); Texas General Land Office (TGLO); Texas 
Natural Resources and Conservation Commission (TNRCC).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Draft Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for ecological injuries 
and service losses associated with the Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay 
NPL Site, and of a 30-day period for public comment on the draft plan 
beginning July 14, 2000.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 43 CFR 11.32 and 11.81--.82, notice is hereby 
given that a document entitled, ``Draft Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Point Comfort/
Lavaca Bay NPL Site Ecological Injuries and Service Losses'' (Draft 
DARP/EA) is available for public review and comment. This document has 
been prepared by the state and federal natural resource trustee 
agencies listed above to address natural resource injuries and resource 
services losses of an ecological nature attributable to releases of 
hazardous substances from the Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site 
(Site). This Draft DARP/EA presents the Trustees' assessment of the 
natural resource injuries and service losses attributable to the Site, 
and their proposed plan to compensate for those losses by restoring 
ecological resources and services. In an effort to expedite

[[Page 43740]]

completion of the restoration planning process for this Site, the 
current document also includes an evaluation of the terrestrial 
resource injuries and ecological losses after 1999, and their 
corresponding restoration requirements, based on an anticipated final 
remedy. The need for a future Draft DARP/EA to complete restoration 
planning will be determined based on the final remedy decision for the 
Site and the consistency of this evaluation with that decision. The 
Trustees will consider comments received during the public comment 
period, including this evaluation, before finalizing the DARP/EA for 
these ecological losses.

DATES: Comments on the Draft DARP/EA must be submitted in writing on or 
before August 14, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft DARP/EA should be sent to 
Richard Seiler of TNRCC, MC142, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087 
or John Kern of NOAA, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, Suite 134, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33702. Written comments on the plan should be sent 
either to Richard Seiler of TNRCC or John Kern of NOAA at the addresses 
listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site 
is located in Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas and encompasses 
releases of hazardous substances from Alcoa's Point Comfort Operations 
facility. Between 1948 and the present, Alcoa has constructed and 
operated several types of manufacturing processes at this facility, 
including aluminum smelting, carbon paste and briquette manufacturing, 
gas processing, chlor-alkali processing, and alumina refining. Past 
operations at the facility have resulted in the release of hazardous 
substances into the environment, including through the discharge of 
mercury-containing wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966 to 1970 and 
releases of mercury into the bay through a groundwater pathway. In 
April 1988, the Texas Department of Health (TDH) issued a ``closure 
order'' prohibiting the taking of finfish and crabs for consumption 
from a specified area of Lavaca Bay near the facility due to elevated 
mercury concentrations found in these species.
    The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay Site was added to the National 
Priorities List (NPL), pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 
U.S.C. 9601 et seq., on March 25, 1994 (59 FR 8724; February 23, 1994). 
The Site was listed primarily due to the presence of mercury in several 
species of finfish and crabs in Lavaca Bay, the fishing closure imposed 
by TDH, and the presence of mercury and other hazardous substances in 
bay sediments adjacent to the facility. Alcoa, the State of Texas and 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an Administrative 
Order on Consent (AOC) under CERCLA in March 1994 for the conduct of a 
remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) for the Site.
    NOAA, DOI, TPWD, TGLO and TNRCC (collectively, the Trustees) are 
designated natural resource trustees under section 107(f) of CERCLA, 
section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution and Control Act (FWPCA), 33 
U.S.C. 1321, and other applicable federal or state laws, including 
Subpart G of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR 300.600--300.615. The Trustees are 
authorized to act on behalf of the public under these authorities to 
protect and restore natural resources injured or lost as a result of 
discharges or releases of hazardous substances.
    Paralleling the RI/FS process for the Site, the Trustees have 
undertaken an assessment of the natural resource injuries and service 
losses attributable to hazardous substances at the Site. The assessment 
for this Site has been aided and supported by Alcoa's cooperation 
pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement between Alcoa and the Trustees, 
which was effective January 14, 1997. The Draft DARP/EA released today 
has been developed under the cooperative assessment framework outlined 
in the MOA. It is focused on natural resource injuries or services 
losses of an ecological nature caused by the hazardous substances at 
the Site based on known contamination and response actions initiated at 
the Site as of the end of 1999. The Draft DARP/EA released today 
embodies the second stage of the assessment and restoration planning 
process for the Site. The first stage focused on the recreational 
fishing service losses resulting from the closure area and is covered 
by a Draft DARP/EA for Recreational Service Losses released on 
September 28, 1999, and a Revised Draft DARP/EA for Recreational 
Service Losses released on May 12, 2000. Finalization of the DARP/EA 
for Recreational Service Losses is anticipated to occur in July 2000.
    The Draft DARP/EA released today identifies the information and 
methods being used to define the natural resource injuries and losses 
of an ecological nature, including the scale of restoration actions, 
and identifies the restoration actions which are preferred for use to 
restore, replace or acquire resources or services equivalent to those 
lost. The current document also includes an evaluation of the 
terrestrial resource injuries and remaining ecological losses, 
including their corresponding restoration requirements, based on an 
anticipated final remedy. If the final remedy differs from that which 
the Trustees' have anticipated, then the analysis may not be 
appropriate and a third and final stage Draft DARP/EA may be required. 
However, if the analysis is consistent with the actual choice of final 
remedy, then by including this information for public review in the 
current document, there will be no need to develop any further Draft 
DARP/EAs to complete the assessment and restoration planning process 
for this Site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Seiler at (512) 239-2523, 
email: [email protected] or John Kern, at (727) 570-5391 x 158, 
email: [email protected]

    Dated: July 10, 2000.
Captain Ted I. Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 00-17833 Filed 7-13-00; 8:45 am]
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