[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 218 (Friday, November 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56650-56651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28096]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, TX; 
Notice of Availability

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, Texas: 
Notice of availability of a final damage assessment and restoration 
plan/environmental assessment for recreational fishing service losses.

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SUMMARY: Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation 
and Liability Act regulations (CERCLA, 43 CFR sections 11.32 and 11.81-
11.82), natural resource trustees are providing notice on the 
availability of a document entitled, ``Final Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Point Comfort/
Lavaca Bay NPL Site Recreational Fishing Service Losses'' (Final DARP/
EA). This document has been approved by the state and federal natural 
resource trustee agencies to address the recreational fishing service 
losses attributable to hazardous substances released from the Alcoa 
Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site (Site). This DARP/EA finalizes the 
restoration plan that will be used to compensate for recreational 
fishing service losses associated with the fishing closure at the Site. 
In developing this Final DARP/EA, the trustees released a Draft DARP/EA 
on September 28, 1999, for public review and comment for a period of 30 
days (64 Fed. Reg. 52294, September 28, 1999; 24 Tex. Reg. 8635, 
October 1, 1999; Port Lavaca Wave, September 20,1999). Based on the 
public comments received during this period, the trustees finalized 
their assessment of the recreational fishing service losses and 
selected two restoration actions for inclusion in the final plan, but 
found it necessary to propose other restoration alternatives to 
complete the restoration plan for the recreational fishing service 
losses. These revised, preferred alternatives were presented in a 
Revised Draft DARP/EA released on May 12, 2000, and were also available 
for public review and comment for a period of 30 days (65 Fed. Reg. 
30565, May 12, 2000; 25 Tex. Reg. 4379, May 12, 2000; Port Lavaca Wave, 
May 10, 2000). The trustees received no public comments on the Revised 
Draft DARP/EA. In the Final DARP/EA released today, the alternative 
restoration projects have been selected to complete the restoration 
plan for the recreational fishing service losses.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Final DARP/EA should be sent to 
Richard Seiler of the Texas Natural Resources and Conservation 
Commission (TNRCC), MC142, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087 or 
Tony Penn of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA), 1305 East-West Highway, Station 10218, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 
A copy of the Final DARP/EA is also available for downloading at http://www.darp.noaa.gov/publicat.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Seiler at (512) 239-2523, 
email: [email protected], or Tony Penn, at (301) 713-3038 x 
197, email: [email protected]

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 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 resulted in the release of hazardous 
substances into the environment, including the discharge of mercury-
containing wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966 to 1970 and releases of 
mercury into the bay through groundwater. In April 1988, the Texas 
Department of Health (TDH) issued a ``closure order'' prohibiting the 
taking of finfish and crabs for consumption from a specific area near 
the facility due to elevated mercury concentrations in these resources.
    The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay Site was added to the NPL, under 
section 105 of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9601, effective on March 25, 1994 (59 
FR 8794; February 23, 1994). The Site was listed primarily due to the 
presence of mercury in several species of fish and crab 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 providing for the conduct of a remedial investigation and 
feasibility study (RI/FS) for the Site.
    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, acting 
on behalf of the Department of Commerce), the United States Department 
of the Interior (DOI), the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), 
the Texas General Land Office (TGLO), and the Texas Natural Resources 
and Conservation Commission (TNRCC) 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. section 1321, and 
other applicable federal or state laws, including subpart G of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 
40 CFR sections 300.600-300.615. As trustees,

[[Page 56651]]

these agencies are authorized to act on behalf of the public under 
these authorities to protect and restore natural resources and resource 
services 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 resulting from releases of hazardous substances attributable to 
the Site. This assessment process has been aided and supported by 
Alcoa's cooperation under a Memorandum of Agreement between Alcoa and 
the Trustees, effective January 14, 1997. The Final DARP/EA released 
today has been developed under the cooperative assessment framework 
outlined in the MOA.
    The Draft DARP/EA released for public review on September 28, 1999, 
described the assessment procedures being used to define the 
recreational fishing service losses, including to scale restoration 
actions, and the restoration actions preferred for use to compensate 
for those losses. The choice of preferred restoration actions was based 
on the anticipated benefits of such actions to both pier- or shore-
based and boat-based anglers. None of the public comments received on 
the Draft DARP/EA raised any issue regarding the identified assessment 
procedures or the two restoration actions proposed for use to 
compensate for pier- or shore-based fishing losses. Significant public 
comments, however, were received opposing the restoration action 
proposed in the Draft DARP/EA to address the boat-based fishing losses. 
In considering these comments, the trustees found it necessary to 
revise that portion of the restoration plan. The Revised Draft DARP/EA 
released on May 12, 2000 summarized the public comments received, 
finalized the assessment procedures, finalized the selection of the 
restoration actions for the pier- or shore-based fishing losses, 
identified alternative restoration projects as preferred to address the 
remainder of the recreational fishing service losses, and explained the 
basis and rationale for that change. The trustees received no comments 
on the Revised Draft DARP/EA and, therefore, have selected the 
alternative restoration projects for inclusion in the restoration plan 
for the recreational fishing service losses. The Final DARP/EA 
summarizes the assessment of recreational fishing service losses, 
summarizes this restoration planning history and completes the final 
restoration plan to compensate for those losses.
    The Final DARP/EA released today only addresses recreational 
fishing service losses resulting from the fishing closure. Its release 
completes the first stage of the assessment and restoration planning 
process for the Site. Natural resource injuries or service losses of an 
ecological nature, including those due to early or anticipated future 
response actions, are being addressed as a separate, second stage of 
the assessment and restoration planning process. The Final DARP/EA for 
these ecological injuries and losses is also being released today and 
is the subject of a separate notice.

    Dated: October 25, 2001.
Jamison S. Hawkins,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 01-28096 Filed 11-8-01; 8:45 am]
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