[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 121 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35256-35258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14218]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7777-3]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Direct Final Deletion of the property known as 475 South 
Jefferson Street in Orange, New Jersey as a partial deletion of the 
U.S. Radium Corp. Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2, announces 
the deletion of the property known as 475 South Jefferson Street in 
Orange, New Jersey, which is part of Operable Unit Two of the U.S. 
Radium Corp. Superfund Site, from the National Priorities List (NPL) 
and requests public comment on this action. The U.S. Radium Corp. Site 
is listed on the NPL as located in Orange, New Jersey, but is composed 
of contiguous and non-contiguous properties in the municipalities of 
Orange, West Orange, and South Orange. The NPL constitutes Appendix B 
to the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP), 40 CFR part 300, which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. This Direct Final Notice of 
partial deletion of the U.S. Radium Corp. Site is proposed in 
accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e) and the Notice of Policy Change: 
Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the National Priorities List. 60 FR 
55466 (Nov. 1, 1995).
    This deletion pertains to the property known as 475 South Jefferson 
Street in Orange, New Jersey (Block 158, Lot 21), which is located at 
the corner of South Jefferson Street and Nassau Street. EPA and the 
State of New Jersey, through the Department of Environmental 
Protection, have determined that all appropriate remedial actions under 
CERCLA have been completed at 475 South Jefferson Street and no further 
cleanup pursuant to CERCLA is appropriate. This partial deletion covers 
only the property known as 475 South Jefferson Street; all other 
properties and operable units remain on the NPL.

DATES: This direct final partial deletion will be effective August 23, 
2004, unless EPA receives significant adverse comments by July 26, 
2004. If significant adverse comments are received, EPA will publish a 
timely withdrawal of the direct final partial deletion in the Federal 
Register, informing the public that the deletion will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to: Stephanie Vaughn, 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 U.S. Radium Corp. 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 is also available for viewing at the Information 
Repository located at: Orange Public Library, 348 Main Street, Orange, 
New Jersey 07050.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Vaughn, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 
19th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, phone: (212) 637-3914; fax: 
(212) 637-4393; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2

[[Page 35257]]

announces the deletion of the property known as 475 South Jefferson 
Street in Orange, New Jersey which is a portion of the U.S. Radium 
Corp. Superfund Site (Site), Operable Unit Two, listed as located in 
Orange, New Jersey, from the National Priorities List (NPL). EPA 
maintains the NPL as the list of those sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health or the environment. This partial 
deletion pertains only to the property known as 475 South Jefferson 
Street, located in Orange, New Jersey (Block 158, Lot 21), at the 
corner of South Jefferson Street and Nassau Street. The property 
includes a six-story building and a paved parking lot. This partial 
deletion covers only the property known as 475 South Jefferson Street; 
all other properties and operable units remain on the NPL.
    EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and routine, and 
therefore, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a Notice of 
Intent to Delete. The action will be effective August 23, 2004, unless 
EPA receives significant adverse comments by July 26, 2004, on this 
action or the parallel Notice of Intent to Delete published in the 
Notice section of today's Federal Register. If significant adverse 
comments are received within the 30-day public comment period, EPA will 
publish a timely withdrawal of this Direct Final Deletion before the 
effective date of deletion and the deletion will not take effect. EPA 
will, if appropriate, prepare a response to the comments received and 
will continue the deletion process on the basis of the Notice of Intent 
to Delete and the comments received. There will be no additional 
opportunities to comment.
    Section II explains the criteria for deleting sites from the NPL, 
and Section III describes the procedures that EPA is using for this 
action. Section IV discusses the property and demonstrates how it meets 
the deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP and the Notice of Policy Change: 
Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the National Priorities List 
provides that properties 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 has been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (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 to the environment and, 
therefore, taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.
    EPA proposes to delete this portion of the Site because all 
appropriate CERCLA response activities have been completed on this 
property. If new information becomes available which indicates the need 
for further action, EPA may initiate such actions under Section 
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP. Pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e) of the NCP, any 
Site or portion of a Site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for 
Fund-financed remedial actions if conditions at the Site warrant such 
action.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to the proposed deletion of the 
property known as 475 South Jefferson Street.
    1. The Site was listed on the NPL in September 1983.
    2. EPA selected a remedy for the Site, which included this 
property, in a Record of Decision (ROD) dated August 29, 1995. The 
remedy called for removal of radiological contamination at Operable 
Unit 2 of the Site.
    3. 475 South Jefferson Street consists of a six-story commercial 
building located approximately three miles from the former U.S. Radium 
Corporation facility. Radiological contamination was found only on the 
sixth floor of the building and in a small section of the parking lot 
located at the rear of the building.
    4. The remediation of 475 South Jefferson Street was conducted 
during Phase Six of the overall Site cleanup. Remedial work on the 
property began in January 2002 and was substantially complete in May 
2003. It involved the removal of radiologically-contaminated material 
from the floor and walls of the sixth floor of the property, as well as 
from the affected area of the parking lot. A Remedial Action Report for 
the sixth phase of the cleanup was signed on September 25, 2003.
    5. EPA recommends the deletion of this portion of the U.S. Radium 
Corp. Site and has prepared the relevant documents.
    6. The State of New Jersey, through the New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection, has concurred with the deletion decision in a 
letter dated May 27, 2004.
    7. Concurrent with this direct final partial deletion, a notice has 
been published in a local newspaper and appropriate notice has been 
distributed to Federal, State and local officials, and other interested 
parties. This notice announces a thirty-day public comment period on 
the deletion, which starts on the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register and a newspaper of record.
    8. EPA has placed all relevant Site documents in the Site 
information repositories identified above.
    9. Concurrent with this action a notice of intent for partial 
deletion has been published in today's Federal Register. Upon 
completion of the thirty (30) day public comment period, EPA will 
review all comments received. If significant adverse comments are 
received concerning this action, the notice of intent to delete, the 
local notice, or the notice provided to Federal, State, and local 
officials and other interested parties, EPA will publish a timely 
notice of withdrawal of this Direct Final Deletion before its effective 
date. EPA will prepare, if appropriate, a response to comments and 
continue with the deletion process on the basis of the notice of intent 
to delete and the comments received.
    Deletion of a Site, or portion of a Site, from the NPL does not 
itself create, alter, or revoke any person's rights or obligations. 
Deletion from the NPL does not alter EPA's right to take appropriate 
enforcement actions. The NPL is designed primarily for informational 
purposes and to assist Agency management.

IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

    The following summary provides EPA's rationale for deletion of the 
portion of the U.S. Radium Corp. Site located at 475 South Jefferson 
Street from the NPL and EPA's finding that the criteria in 40 CFR 
300.425(e) are satisfied:
    The former U.S. Radium Corporation plant site was a radium-
processing facility where extraction, production, application, and 
distribution took place from about 1915 through 1926. In addition, 
radium-contaminated soils and debris have been identified at more than 
240 noncontiguous properties in the vicinity of the plant site and at 
various satellite locations throughout the municipalities of Orange, 
West Orange and South Orange. Investigations to identify other radium-
contaminated properties associated with the site have covered 
approximately 650 properties and are still on-going. The noncontiguous 
vicinity and satellite properties are occupied by residences, light 
industries, offices, grocery stores, and apartment buildings.

[[Page 35258]]

    Soil and building materials contain radium-226 and other 
radioactive materials. The radium-226 decays to radon gas and radon 
decay products which can concentrate in basements and other ground-
level enclosed spaces. Residents who are directly exposed to radiation, 
inhale radioactive dust particles, or inadvertently ingest radioactive 
particles from the Site may suffer adverse health effects in the form 
of an increased risk of certain types of cancer. Workers and customers 
of commercial properties would be similarly affected.
    Remedies for the Site were selected in two Records of Decision, 
signed in September 1993 and August 1995. The remedial action involves 
the excavation and off-site disposal of radium-contaminated material at 
the plant site and at affected Satellite properties. This is the final 
remedy for these properties. Ground water under these properties will 
be addressed by a separate operable unit and remains included in the 
NPL listing.
    The long-term soil remedy has been divided into phases. Phase 6 of 
the remedy, which included the property known as 475 South Jefferson 
Street, began in September 2001 and was completed in September 2003.
    All known radiological contamination has been removed from 475 
South Jefferson Street. No radiological contamination is known to 
remain on this property or the properties surrounding it. All 
restoration and maintenance activities have been completed on this 
property and no further work is required as part of the cleanup of the 
U.S. Radium Corp. Site. Information about this work is contained in a 
Remedial Action Report dated September 2003.
    Public participation activities for the U.S. Radium Corp. 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 RODs were subject to 
a public review process. All other documents and information which EPA 
relied on or considered in recommending that no further activities are 
necessary at a portion of the U.S. Radium Corp. Site, and that this 
portion of the Site can be deleted from the NPL, are available for the 
public to review at the information repositories.
    One of the three criteria for Site deletion specifies that EPA may 
delete a Site, or a portion of 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 New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 
believes that this criterion for deletion has been met at 475 South 
Jefferson Street. Consequently, EPA is proposing deletion of this 
portion of the U.S. Radium Site from the NPL.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Chemicals, Hazardous substances, 
Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water pollution control, Water 
supply.

    Dated: June 10, 2004.
Anthony Cancro,
Acting Regional Administrator--Region 2.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, part 300, title 40 of Chapter 
I of the Code of Federal Regulations, is amended as follows:

PART 300--[AMENDED]

0
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]0
2. Table 1 of Appendix B to Part 300 is amended by adding a ``P'' in 
the Notes column in the entry for U.S. Radium Corp., Orange, New 
Jersey.

[FR Doc. 04-14218 Filed 6-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P