[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 25, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 48969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23598]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7062-8]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final deletion of the Times Beach Superfund site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL).

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the 
deletion of the Times Beach site in St. Louis County, Missouri, from 
the NPL. The NPL is 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. The EPA and the State of Missouri have determined 
that the site poses no significant threat to public health or the 
environment and, therefore, no further remedial measures pursuant to 
CERCLA are appropriate.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 25, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Feild, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 N. 5th 
Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: 
Times Beach site, St. Louis County, Missouri.
    A Notice of Intent to Delete for this site was published in the 
Federal Register on August 7, 2001 (66 FR 41179). The closing date for 
comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was September 6, 2001. 
Attached is the Responsiveness Summary addressing comments received 
from the public.
    The EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk 
to public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL 
as the list of those sites. 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. Section 300.425(e)(3) of 
the NCP states that fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted 
from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect 
responsible party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs 
associated with response efforts.
    Response to Comments: A comment was received by EPA expressing 
opposition to the deletion of Times Beach from the NPL due to concerns 
about future flooding of the Meramec River that could uncover more 
contaminants.
    Prior to the removal of contaminated materials from the Times Beach 
site, the EPA did recognize a concern for erosion of surface soils that 
could potentially occur during flooding of the Meramec River. In 
response to this concern, a series of spur levees were constructed by 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Times Beach to reduce water 
velocities across the site during Meramec River flood events. These 
spur levees were completed in 1987 and remain in place to limit the 
potential for scour and erosion of soils at the Times Beach site caused 
by flooding of the Meramec River. These spur levees further assure that 
future use of the Times Beach site will remain protective of human 
health.
    The Times Beach site was extensively sampled prior to taking any 
response action to characterize the areal and vertical extent of 
contamination. This sampling guided the excavation of contaminated 
soils at the site. Following excavation and treatment of contaminated 
soils, verification sampling was performed to confirm that soils and 
other materials remaining at the site were safe for unrestricted human 
exposure. The EPA believes that the extensive sampling effort conducted 
at the Times Beach site successfully identified contaminated materials 
requiring removal, and verified that site conditions will remain safe 
for use by the public.
    The deletion of the Times Beach site from the NPL does not affect 
EPA's ability to take appropriate actions to respond to the presence of 
hazardous substances at the site. The NCP (40 CFR 300.425(e)(3)) 
provides that Times Beach will remain eligible for fund-financed 
remedial actions following deletion from the NPL. In the event that a 
significant release of a hazardous substance is identified at the site, 
the NCP specifies that Times Beach shall be restored to the NPL without 
application of the Hazard Ranking System.
    The EPA believes that these measures assure that conditions at 
Times Beach will remain protective for future use of the site, and that 
hazardous response capability will continue to be available. The 
deletion process will not be altered as a result of this comment.

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: September 12, 2001.
William W. Rice,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 300 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 under Missouri by 
removing the entry for the ``Times Beach site'' in ``Times Beach.''
[FR Doc. 01-23598 Filed 9-24-01; 8:45 am]
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