[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 4, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47072-47074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17659]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7796-2]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Dubose Oil Production Company site 
from the National Priorities List: request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces 
its intent to delete the Dubose Oil Production Company Site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
proposed action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B to 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 (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of 
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have determined 
that the Site poses no significant threat to public health or the 
environment and therefore, further response measures pursuant to CERCLA 
are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this Site may be submitted on or before: 
September 3, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Winston A. Smith, Director, Waste 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atlanta 
Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the 
Region 4 public docket, which is available for viewing at the DOPC site 
information repositories at two locations. Locations, contacts, phone 
numbers and viewing hours are:

U.S. EPA Record Center, attn:Ms. Debbie Jourdan, Atlanta Federal 
Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960, Phone: 
(404)562-8862, Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday By 
Appointment Only.
University of Florida Library, 11100 University Parkway, Pensacola, 
Florida 32514, Phone: (850) 484-6471, Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday 
through Thursday 8 a.m. to 6

[[Page 47073]]

p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday. 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caroline Robinson, U.S. EPA Region 4, 
Mail Code: WD-SRTSB, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960, (404) 562-8930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    The EPA Region 4 announces its intent to delete the DOPC site, 
Cantonment, Florida, from the NPL, which constitutes Appendix B of the 
NCP, 40 CFR part 300, and requests comments on this deletion. EPA 
identifies sites on the NPL that appear to present a significant risk 
to public health, welfare, or the environment. Sites on the NPL may be 
the subject of remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substance 
Superfund Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to Sec.  300.425(e)(3) of the 
NCP, any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed 
remedial actions if conditions at the site warrant such action.
    EPA proposes to delete the DOPC site, located at Hwy C97 in 
Cantonment, Escambia County, Florida from the NPL.
    EPA will accept comments concerning this Site for thirty days after 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites 
from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using for 
this action. Section IV discusses how this Site meets the deletion 
criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that the Agency uses to delete 
sites from the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be 
deleted from, or re-categorized on, the NPL where no further response 
is appropriate. In making this determination, EPA shall consider, in 
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have 
been met:
    (i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required;
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented and no further 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.
    CERCLA section 121(c), 42 U.S.C. 9621(c), provides in pertinent 
part that:

    If the President selects a remedial action that results in any 
hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the 
Site, the President shall review such remedial action no less often 
than each five years after the initiation of such remedial action to 
assure that human health and the environment are being protected by 
the remedial action being implemented. * * *
    EPA policy interprets this provision of CERCLA to apply to those 
sites where treated, in this case solidified, waste remains on-site. On 
that basis, for reasons set forth below, the statutory requirement has 
been satisfied at this Site, and five year reviews and operation and 
maintenance activities will be required. In the event new information 
is discovered which indicates a need for further action, EPA may 
initiate appropriate remedial actions. In addition, whenever there is a 
significant release from a site previously deleted from the NPL, that 
site may be restored to the NPL without application of the Hazardous 
Ranking System. Accordingly, the Site is qualified for deletion from 
the NPL.

III. Deletion Procedures

    EPA will accept and evaluate public comments before making a final 
decision on deletion. The following procedures were used for the 
intended deletion of the Site:
    1. FDEP has concurred with the deletion decision;
    2. Concurrently with this Notice of Intent, a notice has been 
published in local newspapers and has been distributed to appropriate 
federal, state and local officials and other interested parties 
announcing a 30-day public comment period on the proposed deletion from 
the NPL; and
    3. The Region has made all relevant documents available at the 
information repositories.
    The Region will respond to significant comments, if any, submitted 
during the comment period.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for informational purposes to assist Agency management.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect any 
deletions in the final update following the Notice. Public notices and 
copies of the Responsiveness Summary, if any, will be made available to 
local residents by the Regional office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

    The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the 
intention to delete this Site from the NPL.
    The Dubose Oil Products Company Site is located at Hwy C97 
Cantonment, Escambia County, Florida. The inactive Site is 10 acres in 
size and it was used as a waste disposal storage, treatment, recycling, 
and disposal facility. The surrounding land use is primarily rural 
agricultural.
    The Dubose Oil Production Company Site was operated as a waste 
storage, treatment, recycling and disposal facility. The facility 
received waste oils, petroleum refining waste, spent solvents, and wood 
treating waste for processing and recovery operations and disposal. 
Waste arrived via tanker trucks and in 55 gallon drums. The facility 
used a batch thermal treatment process to recover a usable oil product 
from various waste streams.
    In September 1980, Dubose Oil Production Company (DOPC) applied to 
EPA for a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Interim Status 
permit to operate a treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility at 
the site. In Novemeber 1981, DOPC ceased operations, but an FDEP 
compliance inspection conducted in March 1982 found that the company 
was preparing to close the facility without an approved closure plan. 
Later that same year, EPA and FDEP sampled the site and found evidence 
of buried drums, contaminated springs, and an oil sheen on one of the 
onsite ponds.
    After various administrative and judicial efforts to secure 
appropriate closure and cleanup of the site between 1982 and 1984 were 
unsuccessful, FDEP hired a contractor in late 1984 to excavate 
contaminated materials and secure the site. Between November 1984 and 
May 1985, the South Pound was excavated, filled with contaminated soils 
to approximately 20 feet above surrounding grade and covered with a 30 
mil PVC cover. The temporary ``vault'' contained 38,000 cubic yards of 
soil, leaving a ravine in the southwest corner of the site. EPA 
proposed the site for inclusion on the National Priorities List (NPL) 
in 1984, finalizing the site's listing in June 1986.
    Based on DOPC company records and other information, FDEP and EPA 
identified a number of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who had 
sent waste to the DOPC facility. In October 1987, FDEP negotiated an 
Administrative Order on Consent with a group of PRPs known as the DOPC 
Steering Committee (DOPCSC) in which DOPCSC agreed to conduct the

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Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the site. The 
final RI report was published in April 1989. The FS report was 
completed in January 1990.
    The RI documented contamination in soil, surface water, sediments, 
and groundwater by various organic compounds. Primary contaminants of 
concern included polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs), 
pentachlorophenol (PCP), and various volatile organic compounds (VOC). 
Soil contamination was limited to the material in the vault and various 
``hot spots'' which were better characterized during the Additional 
Investigation in 1992. Although trace amounts of organics were detected 
in three monitor wells, contaminants were not detected above drinking 
water standards. However, the perched groundwater contained VOCs above 
drinking water standards, including trichloroethene (TCE) and 1,1-
dichloroethene (DCE).
    After reviewing the results of the RI/FS, EPA issued a Record of 
Decision on March 29, 1990. On June 17, 1991, A Consent Decree (CD) 
negotiated between EPA and DOPCSC for the performance of the Remedial 
Design Remedial Action (RD/RA). The CD was entered by the Northern 
District Court of Florida, Pensacola Division. In accordance with the 
ROD, an additional investigation was also completed in 1992 as part of 
the RD to confirm the extent of hot spots of contaminated soils outside 
the vault. The remedy implemented in accordance with the ROD included 
the:

--Installation of temporary construction facilities, stormwater 
management controls, and a wastewater treatment plant.
--Excavation and stockpiling of contaminated soil from the Silo Hot 
Spot.
--Erection of the biotreatment facility.
--Excavation of 38,854 tons of non-contaminated soil from the vault, 
confirmatory sampling, and placement in the ravine.
--Excavation and bioremediation of 19,705 tons of contaminated vault 
and hot spot soils, confirmatory sampling, and disposal in the ravine. 
Two additional hot spots were discovered in the sediment of the 
leachate pond and the northern berm of the vault. This material was 
also excavated and treated.
--Draining and backfilling three onsite ponds.
--Final grading of the ravine, former vault, and former pond areas, and 
seeding of the entire site.
--Construction of surface water runoff controls to accommodate seasonal 
precipitation, including inlets, terraces, culverts, and retention 
basins.

    After draining and backfilling the leachate pond, a contaminated 
spring was discovered. To address this contamination and ensure the 
protectiveness of the remedy, a riprap swale was constructed to provide 
passive aeration of the contaminated water. In addition, the spring and 
portions of the swale were fenced to prevent human and animal contact 
with the spring discharge. The pre-final inspection was conducted at 
the site on May 31, 1995, with representatives present from EPA, FDEP, 
and DOPCSC. The punch list produced at this inspection indicated that 
all components of the remedy had been constructed in accordance with 
the ROD and the remedial design. The Site completion document was 
approved by EPA on September 25, 1995 with the completion of the soil 
treatment (achievement of soil cleanup goals). Long term groundwater 
and surface water monitoring was implemented in October 1995 with 
continued quarterly monitoring.
    As stated in the September 24, 1998, Five Year Review document, the 
contamination in groundwater and surface water would naturally 
attenuate to health protective levels over time. As of June 2003, 
during the collection of additional groundwater and surface water 
sampling, the surface water compliance point sample and the North Pond 
discharge compliance point sample were non-detect for all target 
compounds. The maintenance inspection performed on June 6, 2003, 
verified that all of the berms were performing adequately and the 
drainage features were free of debris and functioning as intended.
    EPA, with concurrence of FDEP, has determined that all appropriate 
actions at the Dubose Oil Producing Company Site have been completed, 
and no further remedial action is necessary. Therefore, EPA is 
proposing deletion of the Site from the NPL.

    Dated: May 26, 2004.
J.I. Palmer, Jr.,
Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 4.
[FR Doc. 04-17659 Filed 8-3-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P