[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 15, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49739-49741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20422]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6849-9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Direct Final deletion of the Warwick Landfill Superfund Site 
from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region II, 
announces the deletion of the Warwick Landfill Superfund Site (Site) 
from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on 
this action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of the National Oil and 
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300, 
which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). EPA 
and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 
(NYSDEC) have determined that all appropriate CERCLA actions have been 
implemented and that, aside from operations and maintenance, no further 
response actions by responsible parties are appropriate. Moreover, EPA 
and NYSDEC have determined that the Site poses no significant threat to 
public health and the environment.

DATES: This ``direct final'' action will be effective October 16, 2000 
unless EPA receives significant adverse or critical comments by 
September 14, 2000. If written significant adverse or critical 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: Written comments should be submitted to: Damian J. Duda, 
Remedial Project Manager, Emergency and Remedial Response Division, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, 290 Broadway, 20th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, Fax: (212) 637-3966, E-mail: 
[email protected].
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
public docket contained at: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region II, Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway, Room 1828, New York, 
New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4308, Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday 
through Friday.
    Information on the Site is also available for viewing at the 
following information repositories: Warwick Town Hall, 132 Kings 
Highway, Warwick, New York 10990, (914) 986-1120 and the Greenwood Lake 
Village Hall, Church Street, Greenwood Lake, New York 10925, (914) 477-
9215.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Duda may be contacted at the above 
address, by telephone at (212) 637-4269, by FAX at (212) 637-3966 or 
via e-mail at [email protected].

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 II announces the deletion of the Warwick Landfill Site 
(Site), located in the Town of Warwick, Orange County, New York, from 
the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of the National Oil and 
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300. 
EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health 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 
(Fund). Pursuant to Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site deleted 
from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the 
unlikely event that conditions at the Site warrant such action.
    EPA will accept comments, concerning this document, for thirty days 
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that EPA is 
using for this action. Section IV discusses the Warwick Landfill Site 
and explains 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 Sec. 300.425(e) of the NCP, 
sites may be deleted from the NPL where no further response is 
appropriate. In making this determination, EPA, in consultation with 
New York State, shall consider whether any of the following criteria 
have been met:
    (i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required; or,
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented, and no further 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, taking remedial measures is not appropriate.
    Deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for 
subsequent Fund-financed actions at the Site if future Site conditions 
warrant such actions. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP provides that 
Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites that have been deleted from 
the NPL. Further, deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect the 
liability of responsible parties or impede Agency efforts to recover 
costs associated with response efforts.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures are being used for the intended deletion 
of this Site:
    (1) EPA Region II issued Records of Decision (RODs) in June 1991 
and

[[Page 49740]]

September 1995, which describe the appropriate response actions for the 
Site.
    (2) PRPs designed, constructed and implemented the appropriate 
response actions at the Site. EPA and the State of New York oversaw the 
design and construction activities.
    (3) EPA Region II issued a Final Close Out Report, dated July 28, 
2000, which found that responsible parties or other persons have 
implemented all appropriate response actions.
    (4) EPA Region II recommends deletion and has made all relevant 
documents available in the Regional office and the local information 
repositories.
    (5) The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has 
concurred with the deletion decision in a letter dated July 12, 2000.
    (6) A notice has been published in a local newspaper and has been 
distributed to appropriate Federal, State and local officials and other 
interested parties, announcing a thirty (30) day public comment period 
on EPA's Direct Final Action to Delete.
    EPA is requesting public comments on the Direct Final Action to 
Delete. The NCP provides that EPA shall not delete a site from the NPL 
until 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 
informational purposes and to assist Agency management of Superfund 
sites.
    EPA Region II will accept and evaluate public comments before 
making a final decision to delete. If necessary, EPA Region II will 
prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address any significant comments 
received during the public comment period.
    If EPA does not receive significant adverse or critical comments 
and/or significant new data submitted during the comment period, the 
Site will be deleted from the NPL effective October 16, 2000.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The Site is located approximately one and one-half miles northeast 
of the Village of Greenwood Lake in the Town of Warwick, Orange County, 
New York and is approximately three-quarters of a mile north of State 
Route #17A and fronts Penaluna Road on its western boundary between Old 
Tuxedo Road and Old Dutch Hollow Road.
    The Warwick Landfill was owned and farmed by the Penaluna family 
from 1898 to the mid-1950's. The Town of Warwick leased the property 
from the Penaluna family and utilized it as a refuse disposal area from 
the 1950's until the Spring of 1977. During the Spring of 1977, the 
lease was turned over to Grace Disposal Inc., located in Harriman, New 
York. Under the operation by the Town of Warwick and Grace Disposal, 
both municipal and industrial wastes and sludges were disposed at the 
Landfill. It was during Grace Disposal's operation that most of the 
hazardous substances were disposed. In March 1989, the Site was listed 
on the NPL.
    On June 27, 1991, EPA issued a ROD for Operable Unit One (OU-1), 
which addressed the principal threats posed by the Site by controlling 
the source of contamination and providing a point-of-use treatment 
system to local residents as an interim measure to ensure that area 
residents had a potable water supply.
    The major components of the OU-1 selected remedy included capping 
of the Warwick Landfill; installation and monitoring of gas vents 
throughout the landfill mound; development and implementation of a 
residential well sampling program; provision of point-of-use treatment 
systems to local residential wells, as needed; development and 
implementation of a groundwater monitoring program; construction of 
fencing around the perimeter of the 25-acre leasehold; recommendations 
that ordinances be established or restrictions imposed on the deed to 
ensure that future use of the Site property will maintain the integrity 
of the cap; and, implementation of measures to mitigate potential 
disturbance of adjacent wetlands.
    EPA subsequently issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) to 
potentially responsible parties (PRPs) on February 28, 1992 to perform 
the design and construction of the selected remedy. The final remedial 
design was completed in May 1995. Construction of the cap began in the 
Spring of 1996 and was completed in September 1998.
    The landfill closure system was designed to prevent infiltration of 
precipitation into the landfill, thereby reducing leachate production 
and the subsequent migration of contaminants into the groundwater.
    Construction activities consisted of (1) regrading and relocation 
of waste within the footprint of the landfill, (2) construction of a 
gas-venting layer consisting of geotextile, gas-venting piping, passive 
gas-venting wells and a layer of gas-venting sand, (3) construction of 
a cap, consisting of installation of a 60-mil textured geomembrane to 
prevent infiltration, a geocomposite layer to promote drainage, two 
feet of protective material, six inches of topsoil and a vegetative 
cover on the topsoil; (4) construction of permanent drainage swales; 
(5) the cleanup of the adjacent wetlands; and, (6) final Site 
restoration. A Remedial Action Report, dated March 23, 1999, documents 
the completion of this work.
    A Remedial Investigation for Operable Unit Two (OU-2), performed by 
the PRPs under an Administrative Order on Consent, provided the basis 
for a September 1995 ROD, which selected No Further Action for 
groundwater. Environmental monitoring is being performed as part of the 
OU-1 remedy.
    The Site is currently in the long-term operation and maintenance 
(O&M) phase, which is being conducted by the PRPs under the UAO. Under 
the O&M plan, ambient air, surface water, sediments, groundwater and 
landfill gas will be monitored. Regular inspections of the physical 
components of the capping system, which include fencing, gas vents, 
surface water controls and the multi-layer cover system, will be 
conducted. The monitoring and inspection activities will ensure that 
the remedy remains protective.
    EPA issued a Final Close Out Report dated July 28, 2000, which 
documents the implementation of all response actions at the Site.
    In accordance with Section 121(c) of CERCLA, as amended, the Site 
is subject to a five-year review of the Site remedies. The first review 
will be performed by May 2001. These reviews will continue into the 
future to ensure that the Site remains protective of human health and 
the environment.

V. Action

    The appropriate response actions selected for this Site have been 
implemented in accordance with the Records of Decision for OU-1 and OU-
2. Therefore, no further response action is necessary, other than 
operation, maintenance and monitoring. The appropriate response actions 
have resulted in the significant reduction of any further release of 
contaminants from the Site. Therefore, human health and potential 
environmental impacts have been minimized. EPA and NYSDEC find that the 
appropriate response actions implemented are protective of human health 
and the environment.
    NYSDEC concurs with EPA that the criteria for deletion of the 
release have been met. Therefore, EPA is deleting the Site from the 
NPL.
    This action will be effective October 16, 2000. However, if EPA 
receives significant adverse or critical comments by September 14, 
2000, EPA will

[[Page 49741]]

publish a document that withdraws this action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Chemicals, Hazardous substances, 
Hazardous wastes, Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, Superfund, 
Water pollution control, Water supply.

    Dated: July 28, 2000.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region II.

    Part 300, title 40 of chapter I 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: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675; 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 
site for ``Warwick Landfill, Warwick, New York''.
[FR Doc. 00-20422 Filed 8-14-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P