[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7708-7710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2709]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7872-1]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Delete the Syosset Landfill Superfund Site 
from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2 Office, 
announces its intent to delete the Syosset Landfill Superfund Site 
(Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public 
comment on this action.
    The Syosset Landfill Superfund Site is located in the Town of 
Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York. 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 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and New York State, through the 
Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), have determined that 
all appropriate response actions have been completed and no further 
response actions are required. In addition, EPA and the NYSDEC have 
determined that the Site poses no significant threat to public health 
or the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning this proposed action, deletion of a site 
from the NPL, must be received by March 17, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Sherrel D. Henry, Remedial 
Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 
Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
    Information Repositories: Comprehensive information on the Site is 
available for viewing and copying by appointment only at the Site 
information repository located at: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 2, Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway, Room 1828, 
New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4308.
    Hours: Monday through Friday: 9 a.m. through 5 p.m.
    Information for the Site is also available for viewing at the Site 
Administrative Record Repositories located at: Syosset Public Library, 
225 South Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, New York 11791, Tel. (516) 921-
7161.
    Hours: Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. through 9 p.m., Friday: 10 
a.m. through 9 p.m., Saturday: 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. and Sunday: 12 
noon through 5 p.m., and Oyster Bay Town Hall, 54 Audrey Avenue, Oyster 
Bay, New York 11771, Tel. (516) 624-6100.
    Hours: Monday through Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Henry at the address provided 
above, by telephone at (212) 637-4273, by electronic mail at 
[email protected], or by FAX at (212) 637-3966.

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 Syosset Landfill 
Superfund Site (Site) from the NPL. EPA maintains the NPL as the list 
of sites that appear to 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 Substances Superfund Response Trust 
Fund (Fund). As described in Sec.  300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, a site 
deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial 
actions, if conditions at the site warrant such action.
    EPA will accept comments concerning the deletion of the Site from 
the NPL for thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the 
Federal Register.
    Section II explains the criteria for deleting sites from the NPL. 
Section III discusses procedures that the EPA is using for this action. 
Section IV discusses how the Site meets the 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; or,
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is 
appropriate; or,

[[Page 7709]]

    (iii) A remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no 
significant threat to public health or to the environment and, 
therefore, taking remedial measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to the deletion of this site:
    1. EPA, Region 2, issued the Operable Unit One (OU1) Record of 
Decision (ROD ) for the Site on September 27, 1990 which selected 
landfill closure as the remedy for the Site.
    2. In March 1996, EPA, Region 2, issued a no further action ROD for 
Operable Unit 2 (OU2) which addressed ground water emanating from the 
landfill property.
    3. Responsible parties implemented the remedy selected in the OU1 
ROD as described in a Remedial Action Report dated August 1998. A Five-
Year Review dated October 2001 evaluated the remedies implemented at 
the Site and found them to be protective of human health and the 
environment. A Final Close Out Report dated September 3, 2004 
summarizes the actions and recent monitoring at this Site.
    4. EPA, Region 2, recommends deletion and has prepared the relevant 
documents.
    5. The State of New York, through the NYSDEC, concurred with the 
proposed deletion of the Site in a letter dated November 29, 2004.
    6. Concurrent with this national Notice of Intent to Delete, a 
notice has been published in a local newspaper, and appropriate notice 
has been given to federal, state and local officials announcing a 30-
day public comment period which starts on the date of publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register and a newspaper of record.
    7. The EPA has placed relevant site documents in the Site 
information repositories identified above.
    8. Upon completion of the thirty- (30-) day public comment period, 
EPA will evaluate all comments received before issuing a final decision 
on deletion. The EPA, Region 2, will prepare a Responsiveness Summary, 
if appropriate, which will address significant comments received during 
the public comment period. The Responsiveness Summary will be made 
available to the public at the information repositories.
    If, after consideration of the comments it receives, EPA decides to 
proceed with the deletion, EPA will place a Notice of Deletion in the 
Federal Register. Deletion does not occur until the final Notice of 
Deletion is published in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will 
reflect deletions in the next final update following the final Notice 
publication.
    Deletion 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 Site Deletion

    The following summary provides a brief description and history of 
the Syosset Landfill Superfund Site and provides the Agency's rationale 
for recommending deletion of the Site from the NPL and EPA's finding 
that the criteria in 40 CFR 300.425(e) are satisfied.
    The Syosset Landfill is owned by the Town of Oyster Bay, which 
operated it from approximately 1933 to 1975. Between 1933 and about 
1967, no restrictions were imposed on the types of wastes accepted at 
the landfill. Waste types disposed at the landfill included: 
commercial, industrial, residential, demolition, agricultural, sludge 
material and ash. Studies of the landfill found that it contains heavy 
metals, solvents, organics, oils, plasticizers, and polychlorinated 
biphenyls (PCBs) among other contaminants.
    The Syosset Landfill was closed on January 27, 1975 because of a 
suspected groundwater pollution problem. A January 1983 report 
summarizing the results of a study performed for the Nassau County 
Department of Health (NCDOH) concluded that the groundwater quality was 
being impacted by landfill leachate. Elevated heavy metal 
concentrations including arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead were 
detected at levels exceeding New York State Primary Drinking Water 
Standards. One public drinking water well which is downgradient of the 
Site was closed due to taste and odor problems. The Site was placed on 
the Superfund NPL in September 1983.
    On June 19, 1986, EPA and the Town entered into an Administrative 
Order on Consent (Index No. II CERCLA-60203). The Order required the 
Town to conduct a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) 
at the Site with provisions for performing off-site investigations. EPA 
designated the on-property effort as Operable Unit 1 (OU1) and the off-
site work as Operable Unit 2 (OU2). The Town later entered into a 
Consent Decree to conduct the OU1 remedial design, remedial 
construction, operation, maintenance, and the monitoring for the Site. 
EPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) for OU1 on September 27, 1990, 
selecting the remedy for the Site as follows.
     Implementing New York State landfill closure requirements 
as specified in 6 NYCRR Part 360, solid waste management facilities 
regulations, which included construction of a geosynthetic membrane cap 
on the top surface of the landfill;
     Providing long-term air and groundwater quality 
monitoring;
     Monitoring and maintaining the passive gas-venting system 
installed under a previously implemented response action, including 
routine inspection and repairs;
     Establishing institutional controls in the form of deed 
restrictions on future uses of the landfill;
     Installing an additional passive gas-venting system, 
designed so that it can easily be converted to an active system should 
conversion become necessary; and
     Maintaining the existing boundary fence around the 
perimeter of the landfill property to continue to restrict access to 
the landfill.
    In addition, because leachate indicator chemicals were identified 
in groundwater underneath and downgradient of the landfill, the ROD 
also specified that a supplemental remedial investigation be conducted 
to study the potential off-site impacts of the landfill, designated as 
OU2.
    On-site construction commenced in November 1994 and was completed 
in November 1997. EPA conducted a final inspection with NYSDEC and the 
Town of Oyster Bay on November 5, 1997. In October 1999, EPA issued its 
approval of the Remedial Action Report. In addition, institutional 
controls, consisting of recording the Consent Decree and placing 
restrictive covenants on the real property at the site, have been 
implemented by the Town of Oyster Bay.
    EPA approved a Post-Closure Monitoring and Maintenance Operations 
(O&M) Manual in December 2001. The O&M Manual provides for a long-term 
monitoring program for the cover system, the drainage system, and the 
groundwater and the gas-monitoring systems. The O&M Manual requires 
groundwater monitoring at selected wells. The first round of annual 
sampling was conducted in June 2003. The O&M monitoring results 
indicate that the remedial system as designed and constructed pursuant 
to the 1990 OU1 ROD is performing satisfactorily. A RI was performed 
for OU2 and concluded that the off-property groundwater does not pose a 
threat to public health or the environment. EPA

[[Page 7710]]

Region 2, issued a no further action ROD for OU2 in March 1996.
    Hazardous substances remain at the Site above levels that would 
allow for unlimited use with unrestricted exposure. Pursuant to section 
121(c) of CERCLA, EPA will review site remedies no less often than 
every five years. The EPA, Region 2, conducted a statutory Five-Year 
Review of the Site in November 2001. The Five-Year Review concluded 
that the contamination at the Syosset Landfill site is under control 
and there is no exposure to human or environmental receptors from Site-
related contaminants. The next Five-Year Review will be completed by 
November 2006.
    Public participation activities for this 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. As part of the remedy selection process, the 
public was invited to comment on EPA's proposed remedies. All other 
documents and information which EPA relied on or considered in 
recommending this deletion are available for the public to review at 
the information repositories.
    One of the three criteria for site deletion is when ``responsible 
parties or other persons have implemented all appropriate response 
actions required'' (40 CFR 300.425(e)(1)(i)). EPA, with the concurrence 
of the State of New York, through the NYSDEC, believe that this 
criterion for deletion has been met. Therefore, EPA is proposing 
deletion of this 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: December 13, 2004.
George Pavlou,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 05-2709 Filed 2-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P