[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 174 (Thursday, September 7, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54190-54192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22814]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6865-3]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the White Farm Equipment Site (Site) 
from the National Priorities List (NPL).

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region VII announces 
the intent to delete the White Farm Equipment site from the National 
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this proposed 
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 (CERCLA) of 
1980, as amended. The EPA and the state of Iowa have determined that 
the site poses no significant threat to public health or the 
environment, as defined by CERCLA. Five-year review reports will 
continue to be conducted.

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this site from the 
NPL may be submitted on or before October 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Catherine Barrett, Remedial 
Project Manager, Superfund Division, Missouri/Kansas Remedial Branch, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, 901 North 5th Street, 
Kansas City, KS 66101. Comprehensive information on this site is 
available through the public docket which is available for viewing at 
the U.S. EPA Region VII, Superfund Records Center, 901 North 5th 
Street, Kansas City, KS 66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Barrett, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 901 North 5th Street, 
Kansas City, KS 66101, phone (913) 551-7704, fax (913) 551-7063.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The EPA Region VII announces the intent to delete the White Farm 
Equipment site, Charles City, Iowa, from the NPL, and requests public 
comments on this proposed 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 (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by the Superfund 
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). The 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 these 
sites. The EPA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) have 
determined that the remedial action for the site has been successfully 
executed.
    The EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site 
thirty (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 the procedures that EPA is 
using for this action. Section IV discusses the White Farm Equipment 
site and explains how the site meets the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted 
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making a 
determination to delete a site from the NPL, EPA in consultation with 
the state, shall consider whether any of the following criteria has 
been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or
    (iii) The remedial investigation has shown that the release of 
hazardous substances poses no significant threat to public health or 
the environment and, therefore, remedial measures are not appropriate.
    Even when a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous 
substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels 
that allow for

[[Page 54191]]

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 human health and the environment. A 
five-year review was conducted for the White Farm Equipment site in 
1999. Based on that review, EPA in consultation with the state, 
determined that conditions at the site remain protective of public 
health and the environment. If new information becomes available which 
indicates a need for further action, EPA may initiate remedial actions. 
Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted from the 
NPL, the site shall be restored to the NPL without application of the 
Hazard Ranking System.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this site: (1) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented 
all appropriate response actions required; (2) The state of Iowa has 
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 comment period on EPA's 
Notice of Intent to Delete; and (4) All relevant documents have been 
made available in the site information repository.
    Deletion of the site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management. 
As mentioned in Section II of this notice, section 300.425 (e) of the 
NCP states that the deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude 
eligibility for future response actions. For deletion of this site, 
EPA's Regional Office will accept and evaluate public comments on EPA's 
Notice of Intent to Delete before making a final decision to delete. If 
necessary, the Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address 
any significant public comments received.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice in the Federal Register. The NPL will reflect deletions in the 
final update following the notice. Public notices and copies of the 
Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local residents by the 
Regional Office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
proposal to delete this site from the NPL.

Site Background and History

    The White Farm Equipment site is located in Floyd County, Iowa, and 
is a 20-acre site, near the north border of Charles City, Iowa, and is 
owned by H.E. Construction, Inc. The site lies within the 100-year 
flood plain of the Cedar River in the former location of a sand and 
gravel quarry. The site borders farmlands to the west, north, and east. 
Residential areas lie to the south of the site. White Farm Equipment 
Company disposed of approximately 650,000 cubic yards of wet scrubber 
sludge, foundry sands, baghouse dusts, and other industrial wastes at 
the site on an intermittent basis beginning in 1971. Allied Products 
Corporation presently owns White Farm Equipment Company.
    In 1984, the IDNR required White Farm Equipment Company, which was 
leasing the site, to install four groundwater monitoring wells at the 
site to determine whether adverse environmental impacts had occurred 
from the dumping activities. In 1985, the EPA performed a Preliminary 
Assessment (PA) of the site which suggested that lead, cadmium, and 
phenols may be among the contaminants of concern at the site. The EPA 
found wastes in contact with groundwater at a depth of five to ten 
feet. In 1986, EPA conducted sampling which documented lead and cadmium 
in the shallow alluvial aquifer in close proximity to the Charles City 
municipal wells.
    The site was placed on the NPL on August 30, 1990. In 1990, a 
Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was completed by 
Allied Products Corporation in accordance with the Consent Order issued 
by EPA pursuant to section 104 and 122 of CERCLA. Evaluation of 
information gathered in the RI/FS resulted in the selection of a remedy 
in the Record of Decision (ROD) in 1990.

Response Actions

    The remedy in the ROD included upgrading of the landfill, 
installation of additional groundwater monitoring wells, placement of 
extraction wells, an air stripper and discharge conveyance to Hyers 
Creek, extraction, and treatment of contaminated groundwater until the 
concentration of benzene in groundwater is reduced and maintained below 
one part per billion (ppb), inspection and maintenance of perimeter 
fencing, cover, and groundwater treatment facility, and long-term 
groundwater monitoring.
    A Consent Decree between EPA and Allied Products Corporation and 
H.E. Construction, Inc. was finalized in 1991 and provided for the 
implementation by the responsible parties of the design and 
construction of the remedy.
    In February 1993, Allied Products Corporation sampled six existing 
monitoring wells which had been designated for re-sampling by the 
Consent Decree for benzene, lead, cadmium, and chromium. The wells are 
located to assess the groundwater quality at or within the point of 
compliance. A second round of samples was collected in March 1993. Both 
sampling events confirmed that no groundwater contamination existed in 
these wells. An Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was 
written by EPA which explained that the groundwater treatment included 
in the remedy would not be required because the groundwater sampling 
had not shown any contamination. The groundwater monitoring schedule 
was curtailed and changed to include a round of groundwater sampling 
five years after the start of final cover construction and thereafter 
at five-year intervals. Certain monitoring wells not needed for the 
long-term monitoring were abandoned and plugged. Upgrading of the 
landfill cover was completed during 1994, and a final inspection was 
conducted in June 1995.

Clean-Up Goals

    The five-year review was completed in September 1999 and indicated 
that the remedial objectives have been achieved. The remedial 
objectives included upgrading the existing landfill cover to comply 
with state and federal standards, well closure, installation of 
monitoring wells, and monitoring of groundwater to ensure that 
contaminants within the landfill do not migrate off site. The remedial 
action clean-up activities are consistent with the objectives of the 
NCP and will provide protection to human health and the environment as 
specified in the ROD. The responsible parties are required to monitor 
the groundwater at five-year intervals in accordance with the Consent 
Decree, and the sampling results have shown that no contamination has 
migrated off site.

Operation and Maintenance

    Long-term maintenance and groundwater monitoring is being conducted 
by Allied Products Corporation. The operation and maintenance 
activities being conducted include groundwater monitoring at five-

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year intervals, periodic inspections, maintenance of the landfill 
cover, and activities necessary to ensure the continued protection of 
public health and the environment. The groundwater sampling will 
continue to be conducted at five-year intervals for 30 years by Allied 
Products Corporation in accordance with the Consent Decree.

Five-Year Review

    The CERCLA requires a five-year review of all sites with hazardous 
substances remaining above health-based levels for unrestricted use of 
the site. The clean up of this site has included containment of 
contaminants within the landfill which will require that the five-year 
reviews continue in order to ensure the maintenance of the integrity of 
the cap. The five-year review which was conducted in September 1999 
indicated that the landfill cap is performing as designed and sampling 
results show that there has not been any migration of contaminants off 
site.

Community Involvement

    A Community Relations Plan was completed for the site. The Proposed 
Plan and the Administrative Record were available for public review 
during the public comment period. A public meeting was held to present 
the Proposed Plan for the remedy and to answer questions and receive 
any written comments. A Record of Decision explaining the remedy for 
the site was signed by EPA on September 28, 1990.

Applicable Deletion Criteria/State Concurrence

    Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required, as required in 40 CFR 
300.425(e)(1)(i) for deletion of a site. All completion requirements 
for this site have been described in the Final Close-Out Report (COR). 
The Final COR documents the effectiveness of the post-remedial 
environmental monitoring and that the remedy remains protective. Site 
operation and maintenance activities will be performed by Allied 
Products Corporation as required by the Consent Decree. The state of 
Iowa has indicated their concurrence with the deletion of this site 
from the NPL. Therefore, EPA is proposing deletion of this site from 
the NPL. Documents supporting this action are available in the deletion 
docket.

    Dated: August 15, 2000.
Karen A. Flournoy,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VII.
[FR Doc. 00-22814 Filed 9-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P