[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30356-30358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7928]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-R04-SFUND-2006-0385; FRL-8173-8]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Cedartown Industries, Inc. site 
from the National Priorities List: request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 
announces its intent to delete the Cedartown Industries, Inc. site (the 
Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public 
comment on this proposed action. The NPL constitutes 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 
(CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of Georgia 
Environmental Protection Division (GEPD) 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 proposed action may be submitted on or 
before: June 26, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
SFUND-2006-0385, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]
     Fax: 404-562-8896/Attn Brian Farrier
     Mail: Brian Farrier, U.S. EPA Region 4, WMD-SRTSB, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. In addition, please mail a 
copy of your comments on the information collection provisions to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), Attn Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-SFUND-
2006-0385. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://

[[Page 30357]]

www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-
mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous 
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you 
submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to 
consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special 
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or 
viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the 
EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the U.S. EPA Region 4 
office located at 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. 
Regional office is open from 7 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays.
    Written comments may be submitted to Brian Farrier within 30 days 
of the date of this publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Farrier, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, 
SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, or 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

    The EPA Region 4 announces its intent to delete the Cedartown 
Industries, Inc. site, located in Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia, from 
the NPL, which constitutes Appendix B of the NCP, 40 CFR Part 300, and 
requests comments on this proposed action. 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 will accept comments concerning this proposed action for thirty 
days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that the EPA 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. EPA has consulted with the GEPD on this proposed action, and 
GEPD 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 EPA's 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 EPA's rationale for the 
intention to delete this Site from the NPL.
    The Cedartown Industries, Inc. site is located in Cedartown, Polk 
County, Georgia. The Site is 6.8 acres in size and it was used as an 
iron foundry beginning in 1874, smelting iron ore from regional iron 
mines northwest of Cedartown. In addition to iron smelting, pumps and 
plow blades were manufactured, and a machine shop was operated, 
beginning in the 1930s. Then,

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from February 1978 to May 1980, the site operated a secondary lead 
smelting business. It is the lead smelting operations that resulted in 
the majority of the environmental impact at the Site.
    In 1986, GEPD conducted a site inspection and found approximately 
5,000 cubic yards of slag material and 32,000 gallons of wastewater in 
an inactive impoundment, in addition to elevated concentrations of lead 
and cadmium in site waste piles and in the soil.
    EPA proposed the site for inclusion on the NPL in June 1988, 
finalizing the site's listing in February 1990.
    In March 1990, under the direction of the EPA, an Interim Waste 
Removal was implemented to remove the slag pile, contaminated soil and 
debris, wastewater, and impoundment sediment from the site; in all, a 
total of 8,380 tons of solid material was disposed of off-site, in 
addition to 485, 360 pounds of liquid waste and a small amount of 
reclaimed coke.
    Based on Cedartown Industries, Inc. records and other information, 
GEPD and EPA identified a number of potentially responsible parties 
(PRPs). In 1990, the Cedartown Industries, Inc. PRP Group entered into 
an Administrative Order of Consent with EPA. This Order required the 
Cedartown Industries, Inc. PRP Group to conduct a Remedial 
Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the site. The RI/FS was 
conducted from 1990 to 1993. The purpose of the RI is to identify the 
nature and extent of contamination, whereas the purpose of the FS is to 
identify the options available to remediate this contamination.
    The RI documented inorganic contamination in soil and groundwater. 
After reviewing the results of the RI/FS, EPA issued a Record of 
Decision (ROD) on May 7, 1993. The selected remedy called for the 
excavation and onsite treatment of impacted soils by stabilization/
solidification, with onsite disposal. Soils with lead levels above 500 
milligrams per kilogram were excavated; these soils were then treated 
until four treatment standards were met, as detailed in the ROD. In 
addition, the ROD also called for monitoring of the groundwater beneath 
the site, with a contingency remedy to be invoked at EPA's discretion, 
as necessary.
    On May 24, 1994, a Consent Decree was negotiated between EPA and 
the Cedartown Industries, Inc. PRP Group, for the performance of the 
Remedial Design and the Remedial Action.
    The Remedial Action was implemented in 1996, with a total of 11,555 
cubic yards of soils excavated and treated. The final inspection was 
conducted at the site on August 8, 1996, with representatives present 
from EPA, EPA's oversight contractor, GEPD, the supervising contractor, 
and the remediation contractor, and the property owner. This inspection 
indicated that components of the remedy had been constructed in 
accordance with the ROD and the remedial design, with two outstanding 
items identified: Proper establishment of the vegetative ground cover 
(i.e., grass) and stormwater accumulation. Plans were made to address 
these two items and a certificate of construction completion was 
submitted to EPA in September 1996, with EPA approval in March 1997. 
Long term groundwater monitoring was implemented in September 1996 with 
quarterly monitoring through 1998, followed by semi-annual monitoring 
beginning in 1999. The contingent groundwater remedy was not invoked at 
this site; the latest sampling performed in 2005 showed no results 
above groundwater standards.
    In September 2001, EPA finalized a Five Year Review for this site, 
which included a site walk-through inspection. The only deficiency 
noted during the Five Year Review was the lack of a comprehensive deed 
restriction, which has since been addressed. The Five Year Review 
concluded that the remedy is functioning as intended and is protective 
of human health and the environment.
    EPA, with the concurrence of the GEPD, has determined that all 
appropriate actions at the Cedartown Industries, Inc. site have been 
completed, and no further remedial action is necessary. Therefore, EPA 
is proposing deletion of the Site from the NPL.

    Editorial Note: This document was received in the Office of the 
Federal Register May 19, 2006.

    Dated: February 22, 2006.
J.I. Palmer, Jr.,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. E6-7928 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P