[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8353-8355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3824]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7625-8]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Combe Fill North Landfill 
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2, is 
issuing a Notice of Intent to Delete the Combe Fill North Landfill 
Superfund Site (Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and 
requests public comment on this action. The Combe Fill North Landfill 
Site is located in Mount Olive Township, Morris County, New Jersey. The 
NPL is 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

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Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 
(CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the State of New Jersey, through the 
Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), have determined that 
all appropriate remedial actions have been completed and no further 
fund-financed remedial actions are required. In addition, EPA and NJDEP 
have determined that the Site is protective of public health and the 
environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the deletion of this site from the NPL must 
be received March 25, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Ms. Pamela J. Baxter, 
Remedial Project Manager, New Jersey Remediation Branch, Emergency and 
Remedial Response Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 2, 290 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
    Comprehensive information on the Site is available for viewing, by 
appointment only, at: U.S. EPA Records Center, 290 Broadway--18th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.--Monday 
through Friday. Contact the Records Center at (212) 637-4308.
    Information on the Site is also available for viewing at the 
Information Repository located at: Mount Olive Public Library, Wolfe 
Road, Budd Lake, New Jersey 07828, (973) 681-8686.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Baxter, at the address provided 
above, or by telephone at (212) 637-4416; fax: (212) 637-4393 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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region 2 announces its intent to delete the Combe Fill North 
Landfill Superfund Site (Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) 
and requests public comment on this action. EPA maintains the NPL as 
the list of sites that present a significant risk to public health or 
the environment. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of remedial 
actions financed by the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Fund).
    EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site for 
thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.
    Section II below explains the criteria for deleting sites from the 
NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that EPA is using for this 
action. Section IV discusses how this site meets NPL 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 this 
determination, EPA, in consultation with the State, will consider 
whether any of the following criteria have 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 poses 
no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to the deletion of this Site: (1) 
EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on September 29, 1986, which 
selected a long-term remedy to address landfill containment. (2) All 
appropriate responses under CERCLA have been implemented as described 
in a Final Close-Out Report dated April 27, 1993. (3) The NJDEP concurs 
with the proposed deletion. (4) A Five-Year Review was conducted in 
September 1999, and determined that the remedy continues to be 
protective of public health and the environment. (5) 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 a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of 
Intent to Delete. (6) All relevant documents have been made available 
for public review at the local Site information repository and at EPA 
Region 2.
    EPA's Regional Office will evaluate public comments before making a 
final decision on deletion. If necessary, EPA will prepare a 
Responsiveness Summary to address significant public comments received 
during the public comment period. If after consideration of the 
comments received, EPA decides to proceed with the deletion, EPA will 
place a final Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. Generally, 
the NPL will reflect deletions in the final update following the 
notice.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

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

Background

    The Combe Fill North Landfill Site comprises 65 acres and was 
operated as a sanitary municipal landfill from 1966 to 1978 by Morris 
County Landfill Incorporated. The Landfill accepted municipal, 
vegetated, and industrial (non-chemical) wastes, along with minimal 
amounts of dry sewage sludge.
    In September 1978, ownership was transferred to the Combe Fill 
Corporation which operated the landfill until January 1981 when the New 
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) denied an 
expansion request and operations ceased. Proper closure procedures were 
not implemented because Combe Fill Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 
September 1981. The Site was added to the NPL in December 1982.
    On November 21, 1983, NJDEP signed a Cooperative Agreement with EPA 
for an RI/FS at the Site. Low concentrations of hazardous substances 
were found at the Site during RI activities. A public meeting to 
present and discuss the results of the RI/FS and the recommended 
alternative was held on July 16, 1986. A ROD was signed by EPA on 
September 29, 1986 which selected the long-term solution for the Combe 
Fill North Landfill. The main components of the remedy consisted of 
grading and compacting the 65-acre waste disposal area; covering with 
one foot of common borrow material; capping with one foot of clay; 
covering with sufficient common borrow material to ensure the clay cap 
is below the average frost penetration depth; covering with 6 inches of 
topsoil; planting vegetated cover (grass seeding); installing a 
drainage system; installing a methane venting system; constructing a 
security fence surrounding the site and implementing a quarterly ground 
water and surface water monitoring program.

Response Actions

    The design of the remedy was completed by April 25, 1989 and the 
remedy was constructed by June 1991. Construction activities were 
performed in accordance with the approved design and consisted of the 
work described in the ROD. The work for the Site is described in an 
April 27, 1993 Remediation Close Out Report.

Operation and Maintenance

    NJDEP is responsible for conducting operation and maintenance 
activities. Activities include mowing the grass on

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the landfill, visually inspecting the cap and runoff drainage channels, 
clearing vegetation from the drainage channels, and performing sampling 
and analysis for the long-term monitoring program.
    The monitoring plan requires the monitoring of groundwater and air. 
Groundwater samples are collected quarterly from 13 monitoring wells (2 
upgradient and 11 downgradient) and sampled for Target Compound List of 
analytes. Air monitoring is conducted quarterly on the gas vents.

Five-Year Review

    EPA conducted a Five-Year Review in September 1999. EPA's review 
determined that the remedy was implemented in accordance with the 
remedy selected in the ROD and the remedy in the ROD is protective of 
human health and the environment. However, hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants are remaining at the Site. Consequently, a 
five-year review will be conducted at this site no less often than 
every five years. The next five-year review will be conducted before 
the end of September 2004.

Applicable Deletion Criteria/Statue Concurrence

    All the completion requirements for this Site have been met as 
described in the Remediation Close Out Report dated April 27, 1993. EPA 
is proposing deletion of this Site from the NPL. Documents supporting 
this action are available in the site files. The State of New Jersey, 
in its letter of July 3, 2003, concurred on the proposed deletion of 
this Site from the NPL.
    Public participation activities for the Combe Fill North Site have 
been satisfied as required in CERCLA section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k), 
and section 117, 42 U.S.C. 9617. The RI/FS and the ROD were subject to 
a public review process. All other documents and information which EPA 
relied on or considered in recommending that the Site be deleted from 
the NPL are available for the public to review at the information 
repositories.
    The NCP specifies that EPA may delete a site from the NPL if ``all 
appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been implemented, 
and no further response action by responsible parties is appropriate.'' 
40 CFR 300.425(e)(1)(ii). EPA, with the concurrence of the State of New 
Jersey, through the Department of Environmental Protection, believes 
that this criterion for deletion has been met. Consequently, EPA is 
proposing deletion of this Site from the NPL.

    Dated: February 9, 2004.
Jane M. Kenny,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 04-3824 Filed 2-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P