[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55890-55892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27463]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7097-3]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan; National 
Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final notice of deletion of a portion of the Sangamo 
Weston/Twelve Mile Creek/Lake Hartwell (Sangamo) Superfund Site from 
the National Priorities List (NPL).

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), 
Region 4, is publishing this direct final notice of deletion of a 
portion of the Sangamo Superfund Site (Site), located in Pickens, South 
Carolina, from the National Priorities List (NPL). The proposed partial 
deletion is for the Dodgens remote property which is located within a 
few miles of the main plant property. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to 
section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, is appendix B of 40 CFR 
part 300, which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP). This direct final notice of deletion is being 
published by EPA, with the concurrence of the South Carolina Department 
of Health and Environmental Control. EPA has determined that all 
appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed for the 
Dodgens remote property, and therefore, further action pursuant to 
CERCLA is not appropriate.

DATES: This direct final deletion will be effective January 4, 2002 
unless EPA receives adverse comments by December 5, 2001. If adverse 
comments are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
direct final deletion in the Federal Register informing the public that 
the deletion will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Sheri Cresswell, Remedial Project 
Manager, US EPA, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St., WD-NSMB, SW., Atlanta, GA 
30303.
    Information Repositories: Repositories have been established to 
provide detailed information concerning this Site at the following 
addresses: U.S. EPA, Region 4 Superfund Records Center, 61 Forsyth St., 
SW., Atlanta, GA 30303, attn: Ms. Debbie Jourdan, (404) 562-8862; R.M. 
Cooper Library, Clemson University, South Palmetto Boulevard., Clemson, 
SC, (864) 656-5174; Pickens County Public Library, Easley Branch, 110 
West First Avenue, Easley, SC, (864) 850-7077; and Hart County Library, 
150 Benson Street, Hartwell, GA, (706) 376-4655.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact either Sheri Cresswell 
(Remedial Project Manager) at 803-896-4171 or Tiki Whitfield (Community 
Relations Coordinator) at 1-800-435-9233 or 404-562-8530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 4 is publishing this direct final notice of deletion of 
a portion of the Sangamo Site from the NPL.
    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. Sites on the NPL qualify for remedial responses 
financed by the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund (Fund). As 
described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL 
remain eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely 
event that conditions at the site warrant such actions.
    Because EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and 
routine, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a notice of 
intent to delete. This action will be effective January 4, 2002 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by December 5, 2001. If adverse comments 
are received within the 30-day public comment period on this notice or 
the notice of intent to delete, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of 
this direct final notice of deletion before the effective date of the 
deletion and the deletion will not take affect. EPA will, as 
appropriate, prepare a response to comments and continue with the 
deletion process on the basis of the notice of intent to delete and the 
comments already received. There will be no additional opportunity to 
comment.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the Sangamo Superfund Site and 
demonstrates how the portion that is being deleted meets the deletion 
criteria. Section V discusses EPA's actions to delete the portion of 
the Site from the NPL unless adverse comments are received during the 
comment period.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA 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 the State, 
considers whether the site or portion of the site has met any of the 
following criteria for site deletion:
    (i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been 
implemented

[[Page 55891]]

and no further response actions are deemed necessary; or
    (iii) The remedial investigation has determined that the release 
poses no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, no remedial action is appropriate.
    Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the deleted site above levels 
that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, CERCLA section 
121(c), 42 U.S.C. 9621(c), requires that a subsequent review of the 
site be conducted at least every five years after the initiation of the 
remedial action at the deleted site to ensure that the action remains 
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 deleted site may be restored to the 
NPL without the application of the hazard ranking system.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to deletion of the portion of the 
Site:
    (1) EPA Region 4 consulted with South Carolina on the deletion of 
the portion of the Site from the NPL prior to developing this direct 
final notice of deletion.
    (2) The State concurs with the decision to delete a portion of the 
Sangamo Site.
    (3) Concurrently with the publication of this direct final notice 
of deletion, the notice of intent to delete is published today in the 
``Proposed Rules'' section of the Federal Register and the availability 
of this notice is being published in a major local newspaper of general 
circulation at or near the Site and is being distributed to appropriate 
federal, state, and local government officials and other interested 
parties. The newspaper notice announces the 30-day public comment 
period concerning the notice of intent to delete a portion of the site 
from the NPL.
    (4) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the deletion in 
the Site information repositories identified above.
    (5) If adverse comments are received within the 30-day public 
comment period on this notice of intent to delete also published in 
today's Federal Register, EPA will publish a timely notice of 
withdrawal of this direct final notice of deletion before its effective 
date and will prepare a response to comments and continue with the 
deletion process on the basis of the notice of intent to delete and the 
comments already received.
    Partial deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, 
alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Deletion of a 
portion of a site from the NPL does not in any way alter EPA's right to 
take enforcement actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily 
for information purposes and to assist EPA management. As mentioned 
earlier, Sec. 300.425(e)(30) of the NCP states that deletion of a site 
from the NPL does not preclude eligibility of the site for future Fund-
financed response actions, should future conditions warrant further 
actions.

IV. Basis for Partial Site Deletion

    The following Site summary provides EPA's rationale for the partial 
deletion of this Site from the NPL.
    The Sangamo site (Site) is located in Pickens County, South 
Carolina. Sangamo Weston, Inc. owned and operated a capacitor 
manufacturing plant in Pickens, South Carolina from 1955 to 1987. In 
its manufacturing processes, Sangamo used dielectric fluids which 
contained several varieties of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs 
reportedly enhanced the performance and durability of the fluids. Waste 
disposal practices from the Sangamo Plant included land-burial of off-
specification capacitors and wastewater treatment sludges on the plant 
site and six satellite (remote) disposal areas within a 3-mile radius 
of the plant. The Dodgens property proposed for deletion is one of 
these areas. PCBs were also discharged with the effluent directly into 
Town Creek, which is a tributary of Twelvemile Creek. Twelvemile Creek 
is a major tributary of the 56,000 acre Lake Hartwell. As part of its 
overall strategy in addressing the Sangamo site, EPA split the site 
into two Operable Units. Operable Unit One (OU1) consists of the land-
based source areas including the plant site and the six satellite 
disposal areas. OU2 addresses the sediment and biological impacts 
downstream of the land-based source areas.
    The specific area associated with this partial delisting includes 
only a portion of the soils for OU1. The area proposed for delisting, 
the Dodgens property, has been the subject of previous investigations, 
and a clean-up action which removed contaminated soils from the 
property. The majority of the investigatory and remedial actions taken 
within the area targeted for partial delisting was performed under a 
Consent Decree, dated April 15, 1992.
    A remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) was initiated by 
the potentially responsible party (currently Schlumberger Resource 
Management Services, Inc. (Schlumberger)) in 1988, which showed soils 
to be primarily contaminated with PCBs, though VOCs and metals were 
also detected. The Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in December 1990 
which stated that the contaminated soils would be treated by thermal 
desorption. The groundwater at the Dodgens remote property showed very 
low levels of contamination at the time of the remedial investigation. 
However, since 1993, sampling data has not shown any groundwater 
contamination. Therefore, the property does not pose a risk to human 
health or the environment and remedial action is not warranted for the 
groundwater.
    Under a Consent Decree with Schlumberger signed in April 1992, the 
contaminated soils were excavated from all six of the remote properties 
between November 1993 and July 1994. The ROD stated that soils were to 
be excavated to 10 parts per million (ppm) PCBs for the remote 
properties (except for the ravine parts of the Nix and Welborn 
properties, which were to be excavated to 1 ppm), and to 25 ppm on the 
plant property. Sampling to confirm the effectiveness of the waste 
removal efforts showed that the performance standards were achieved for 
the Plant site. Sampling also showed that all the remote properties 
were actually cleaned up to less than 1 ppm. The excavated areas were 
then backfilled with clean soil. Treatment of all contaminated soils 
(from the six remote properties, including the Dodgens property, and 
the plant property) by thermal desorption began in December 1995, and 
was completed in May 1997. Approximately 60,000 tons (40,000 cubic 
yards) of contaminated soils were treated to 2 ppm, and used as back 
fill on the Plant property. The cleanup level was confirmed through 
sampling of treated soils.
    The remedial activities associated with removing contaminated soil 
within the area targeted for partial delisting at the Sangamo Site is 
considered a permanent remedy. No additional treatment of soils within 
this area will be necessary. As such, no operation and maintenance 
activities are necessary for this area. Because no hazardous 
substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain in the soils within the 
area targeted for partial delisting, no Five Year Review will be 
performed on this area.

V. Deletion Action

    EPA, in concurrence with the State of South Carolina Department of 
Health and Environmental Control, has

[[Page 55892]]

determined that all appropriate responses under CERCLA for the soils 
within the area targeted for this partial deletion have been completed 
and that no further activities by responsible parties are appropriate. 
Therefore, EPA is deleting the Dodgens portion of the site from the 
NPL.
    Because EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and 
routine, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a notice of 
intent to delete. This action will be effective January 4, 2002 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by December 5, 2001. If adverse comments 
are received within the 30-day public comment period, EPA will publish 
a timely withdrawal of this direct final notice of deletion before the 
effective date of the deletion and the deletion will not take affect. 
EPA will prepare a response to comments and continue with the deletion 
process on the basis of the notice of intent to delete and the comments 
already received. There will be no additional opportunity to comment.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Hazardous waste.

    Dated: September 28, 2001.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    For the reasons set out in this document, 40 CFR part 300 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. 9601-9657; 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 revising the 
entry for ``Sangamo Weston/Twelve-Mile/Hartwell/PCB, Pickens, South 
Carolina'' to read as follows:

                                       Table 1.--General Superfund Section
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                State                         Site name               City/County               Notes (a)
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*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
SC...................................  Sangamo Weston.........  Pickens................  P
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
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(a) Based on issuance of health advisory by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (if scored, HRS
  score need not be : 28.50).
P = Sites within partial deletion (s).


[FR Doc. 01-27463 Filed 11-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P