[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 150 (Friday, August 5, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45334-45336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15435]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-7947-9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Nutmeg Valley Road Site from the 
National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or the 
``Agency'') New England announces its intent to delete the Nutmeg 
Valley Road Site (``Site'') from the National Priorities List (``NPL'') 
and requests comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes 
appendix B of 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

[[Page 45335]]

and Liability Act (``CERCLA'') of 1980, as amended. EPA and the 
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (``CT DEP'') have 
determined that no further action is necessary or appropriate for this 
Site.

DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site from the 
NPL may be submitted on or before September 6, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Karen Lumino, EPA New England, One 
Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HBT), Boston, MA 02114, or e-mailed to 
[email protected].
    Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA 
New England public docket which is available for viewing by appointment 
only by calling 617-918-1440. Requests for copies of the background 
information from the Regional public docket should be directed to the 
EPA New England office at the following address: Superfund Records 
Center, EPA New England, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HSC), Boston, 
MA 02114.
    The deletion docket is also available for viewing at the following 
location: Wolcott Library, 469 Bound Line Road, Wolcott, CT 06716.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Lumino, Remedial Project 
Manager, at 617-918-1348, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA New England announces its intent to delete the Nutmeg Valley 
Road Site in Wolcott, New Haven County, Connecticut (EPA ID 
CTD 980669261) from the NPL, which constitutes appendix B of the NCP, 
40 CFR part 300, and requests comments on this deletion. EPA identifies 
sites that appear to present a significant risk to public health, 
welfare or the environment and maintains the NPL as a list of these 
sites. As described in Sec.  300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted 
from the NPL remain eligible for remedial actions in the unlikely event 
that conditions at the site warrant such action in the future.
    EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delist this Site for 
thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal 
Register.
    Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites 
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the Site and explains how the 
Site meets the 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 a 
determination to delete a site from the NPL, EPA, in consultation with 
the state, shall consider whether any of the following criteria have 
been met:
    (i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate 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 of 
hazardous substances poses no significant threat to public health or 
the environment and, therefore, remedial measures are not appropriate.
    Even when a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous 
substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels 
that allow for unlimited use and restricted exposure, EPA is required, 
by statute or policy, to conduct a subsequent review at least every 
five years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to 
ensure that the site remains protective of human health and the 
environment. If new information becomes available that indicates a need 
for further action, EPA may initiate additional remedial actions. 
Whenever there is a significant release from a deleted site from the 
NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL, without application of the 
Hazard Ranking System.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this Site: (1) EPA New England issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on 
September 28, 2004, which documented the determination that no further 
action was warranted at this Site; (2) all appropriate responses under 
CERCLA have been implemented as documented in the Final Close-Out 
Report also dated September 28, 2004; (3) the CT DEP concurred with the 
proposed deletion; (4) 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 the 
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of 
Intent to Delete; and (5) all relevant documents have been made 
available for public review in the local Site information repository.
    Deletion of sites from the NPL does not itself create, alter or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for information purposes and to assist Agency management of 
Superfund sites. As referenced Section II of this document, Sec.  
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion of a site from the 
NPL does not preclude eligibility for future response actions.
    For deletion of this Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and 
evaluate public comments before making a final decision to delete. If 
necessary, the Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address 
any significant public comments received.
    A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final 
notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect 
deletions in the final update following the notice. Public notices and 
copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local 
residents by the Regional Office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

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

Site Background and History

    The Site is located in west-central Connecticut near the Wolcott/
Waterbury town line, in New Haven County, Connecticut. It consists of a 
dozen small manufacturing facilities, light industrial facilities and 
repair shops over a 28-acre area. Past and present human activities 
have altered the area, offering minimal wildlife habitat. Private wells 
contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were first 
discovered by state and local health officials in 1979. In 1986, the 
Town of Wolcott extended a public water supply line into the area. The 
Site was placed on the NPL in March 1989. Two metal-working and machine 
shops on Nutmeg Valley Road with a known history of dumping waste oil 
and solvents onto the ground were the focus of early remedial 
investigations; however the study area was expanded to 155 acres to 
include similar companies on Swiss Lane, Tosun Road, Wolcott Road and 
Town Line Road which were also seen as potential sources of groundwater 
contamination.
    In 1995 and 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey (``USGS'') performed 
regional groundwater studies concluding that: (a) although VOCs, metals 
and cyanide were found in the groundwater, the distribution was 
scattered and there was no evidence of a wide-spread plume of 
contamination; and (b) the levels of contaminants in much of the study 
area

[[Page 45336]]

were decreasing over time through natural degradation processes.
    In 1999, using data collected by the USGS, EPA screened the area 
for human-health and ecological risk. Based on the findings of the USGS 
studies and EPA sampling, the study area was reduced to its current 28-
acre configuration.
    From 2000 to 2002, EPA conducted a more focused study of the 
groundwater, as well as surface water, soil and sediment. Based on the 
sampling results in this study, the levels of organic compounds and 
metals detected in soil, sediment and surface water do not appear to 
pose an unacceptable risk to human health. EPA did identify a potential 
non-carcinogenic health hazard from the future use of groundwater if 
used as a drinking water supply, with the primary risk driver being 
manganese. The ecological risk assessment did not identify risks to 
wildlife or its habitat attributable to activities at the Site.

Response Actions

    In 1992, EPA conducted an emergency removal of 1,150 tons of sludge 
waste and contaminated soil from two unlined lagoons. This action 
addressed the threats posed by the electroplating wastes in surface 
soils, and removed a potential source of groundwater contamination.
    In April 2004, the Town of Wolcott adopted the Wolcott Groundwater 
Ordinance 87 (``Groundwater Ordinance'') prohibiting all uses 
of groundwater within a 25-acre area that overlaps with those portions 
of the Site where groundwater presents a potential non-carcinogenic 
health hazard.
    In September 2004, the Town of Wolcott issued a ``No Further 
Action'' ROD for this Site. The basis for this decision was the 
combination of the Town's Groundwater Ordinance, and, a requirement in 
the Connecticut Public Health Code (section 19-12-B51m) that prohibits 
the future installation of private wells on parcels that are within 200 
feet of a public water supply, a condition that applies to all parcels 
in the Site. EPA made the determination that conditions at the Site are 
protective of human health and the environment now and in the future, 
and that no further remedial action under CERCLA is necessary for this 
Site.

Five-Year Review

    Because EPA's determination of no further action relies in part 
upon existing laws already in place, EPA will review the protectiveness 
of this determination every five years pursuant to 40 U.S.C. 9621(c) of 
CERCLA. This review will be limited in scope to evaluating whether or 
not these legal mechanisms (or similar requirements) currently in place 
remain in place, and whether or not these mechanisms function 
sufficiently to prevent human exposure to contaminated groundwater. 
Should this review indicate that exposure is occurring, then EPA may 
take additional action to determine if such exposure presents an 
unacceptable risk.

Community Involvement

    Throughout the Site's history, community concern has been high. EPA 
has kept the community and other interested parties apprised of Site 
activities through a series of public meetings, fact sheets, and press 
releases. An information repository was established at the Wolcott 
Library.
    The Proposed Plan with EPA's preferred alternative was distributed 
to the 200 people on the Site's mailing list. A public comment period 
on the Proposed Plan was held from July 9 to August 9, 2004. Of the 
seven sets of comments received during the comment period, five 
supported the no further action remedy. None stated an opposition to 
the proposed remedy.

Redevelopment Potential

    The current land use of the Site is industrial with some 
residential use along the northwestern boundary (Wolcott Road). Land 
use in adjacent and surrounding areas in close proximity to the Site is 
currently commercial, industrial and residential. The reasonably 
anticipated future use of the Site will continue to be industrial with 
limited residential. EPA's determination that no further action is 
required at the Nutmeg Valley Road Site has no bearing on Connecticut's 
Property Transfer Law, and remediation may be necessary to meet state 
requirements (see http://www.dep.state.ct.us/pao/perdfact/proptran.htm).

Applicable Deletion Criteria

    In a letter dated July 12, 2005, Mayor Thomas Dunn of Wolcott 
certified full compliance with the Town's Groundwater Ordinance that 
required all affected properties to abandon all existing groundwater 
wells, and connect to the existing public water supply system. With 
this certification, EPA believes that the following criterion for the 
deletion of a site from the NPL has been met: all appropriate responses 
under CERCLA have been implemented, and no further action by 
responsible parties is appropriate. Consequently, EPA is proposing 
deletion of the Nutmeg Valley Road Superfund Site from the NPL. 
Documents supporting this action are available in the docket.

State Concurrence

    The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, in a letter 
from Gina McCarthy, Commissioner, dated July 5, 2005, concurs with the 
proposed deletion of the Nutmeg Valley Road Superfund Site from the 
NPL.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

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

    Authority: 33 U.S.C 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 12777, 
56 FR 54757, 3CFR, 1991 Comp., p.351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923; 3 CFR, 
1987 Comp., p. 193.

    Dated: July 25, 2005.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
[FR Doc. 05-15435 Filed 8-4-05; 8:45 am]
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