[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 185 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55742-55743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8175]



[[Page 55742]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-8222-9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of deletion of the Nineteenth (19th) Avenue Landfill 
Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the 
deletion of the Nineteenth (19th) Avenue Landfill Site (Site), located 
in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, from the National Priorities List 
(NPL). The NPL is 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, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 
1980, as amended. EPA and the State of Arizona have determined that the 
Site poses no significant threat to public health or the environment 
and, therefore, no further remedial measures pursuant to CERCLA are 
appropriate.

DATES: Effective Date: September 25, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nadia Hollan, Remedial Project 
Manager, Mail Code: SFD-8-2, U.S. EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, 
San Francisco, California 94105-3901, [email protected], (415) 972-
3187 OR 1-800-231-3075 (message line), or William DePaul, Remedial 
Project Manager, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, 1110 West 
Washington Street, Phoenix Arizona, 85007, [email protected], 
(602) 771-4654.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: 
Nineteenth (19th) Avenue Landfill Site, Phoenix, Maricopa County, 
Arizona.
    A Notice of Intent to Delete for this Site was published in the 
Federal Register on August 14, 2006 (71 FR 46429). The closing date for 
comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was September 13, 2006. Two 
written comments were received; therefore EPA has prepared a 
Responsiveness Summary (See Appendix 1 below). In addition, EPA 
received a request from a community group representative to extend the 
public comment period. This is also addressed in the Responsiveness 
Summary. EPA has considered all public comments in its final decision 
to delete the Site from the NPL.
    EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as 
the list of those sites. Any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible 
for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely event that 
conditions at the site warrant such action. Section 300.425(e)(3) of 
the NCP states that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted 
from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect 
responsible party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs 
associated with response efforts.

Appendix 1--Responsiveness Summary

    The Responsiveness Summary has been prepared to provide responses 
to comments submitted to EPA during the 30-day public comment period 
regarding the Notice of Intent to Delete (71 FR 46429) for the 19th 
Avenue Landfill Superfund Site. The original comments are summarized 
below and available at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-SFUND-1983-0002, with the support materials under document type 
``public submissions'', and at the information repositories at the 
following addresses: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality 
Records Center, 1110 West Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85007, 
(602) 771-4380 or 1 (800) 234-5677, ext. 771-4380, Hours: M-F 8:30 
a.m.-4:30 p.m.; City of Phoenix Public Library, Government Documents 
Section, 1221 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, (602) 262-
4636, Hours: M-Th 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Fr&Sa 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Su 12 p.m.-6 
p.m.; and U.S. EPA Superfund Records Center, 95 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, California 94105, (415) 536-2000, Hours: M-F 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
    Summary of Comment #1, Letter from Stephen M. Brittle, President, 
Don't Waste Arizona, Inc. (DWAZ): The majority of the comments are 
concerns regarding the impact of the Site to groundwater contamination. 
Mr. Brittle stated that the delisting ``will remove the appropriate 
protections that the Superfund program is supposed to provide''. 
Specifically, there is a concern that during the landfill cleanup in 
the 1990's barrels of hazardous waste were left in the landfill and 
could ultimately leak, impacting groundwater in the future. There is 
also a concern regarding ``plumes of chemical contamination moving off 
the landfill site'' and DWAZ believes it has received conflicting 
information regarding the source of the contamination. It also appears 
to the group that EPA has allowed the plumes to migrate and fall below 
action levels rather than taking appropriate action to clean them up.
    Response to Comment #1: The landfill contains a variety of 
contaminants which have the potential to leach into the groundwater. 
Since removing all of the landfill contamination was not feasible, the 
EPA and ADEQ selected the remedy to include leaving the refuse in 
place, preventing the landfill from eroding during flood seasons with 
levees and a soil cap, and controlling the soil gas produced with a 
landfill gas collection and treatment system. The landfill cap also 
reduces infiltration of rainwater, which will reduce the potential for 
leaching. Also as part of the remedy, the City of Phoenix is required 
to monitor groundwater at the landfill in perpetuity, and required to 
implement a ``groundwater contingency plan'' should any constituent due 
to landfill contamination exceed action levels. This plan involves 
follow-up sampling to confirm the results, and an evaluation of 
remedial alternatives for groundwater cleanup should the contamination 
pose a threat to human health and the environment. The deletion does 
not affect this requirement, nor does it prevent EPA or ADEQ from 
requiring cleanup of groundwater should there be an impact in the 
future. As explained later in this response, EPA acknowledges that 
there are elevated levels of contaminants in the groundwater at the 
landfill, however it has been determined that the landfill is not a 
source of this contamination based on the review of monitoring data 
that has been collected quarterly for almost 20 years.
    Regarding the allegations of buried barrels, a letter was sent to 
ADEQ in August 1996, complaining that barrels were improperly handled. 
Potentially hazardous material was drained out of leaking drums, mixed 
with surrounding soil/debris, excavated and stored in roll-off 
containers, and then re-buried in the landfill. Therefore, the material 
was already taken out of the drums. The complaint gave rise to the 
question of whether the material was hazardous and whether it was 
handled appropriately, and this was investigated by ADEQ and EPA at the 
time. The conclusions of the investigation were provided by EPA to the 
complainant in February 1998.
    Regarding groundwater contamination in the area, only three 
constituents have ever exceeded action levels on multiple occasions in 
the landfill monitoring well network: 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), 
vinyl chloride, and arsenic. There is a known plume of 1,1-DCE moving

[[Page 55743]]

under the landfill, however, EPA and ADEQ have determined that the 1,1-
DCE plume is from an upgradient source, and that the 19th Avenue 
Landfill is not contributing (Assessment of Upgradient 1,1-DCE for City 
of Phoenix 19th Avenue Landfill, Dames & Moore, November 1998). Vinyl 
chloride was detected above the action level in one of the monitoring 
wells and was also from off-site sources unrelated to the landfill. 
Vinyl chloride has not been above the action level since 2002 (19th 
Avenue Landfill Exceedence Report for Vinyl Chloride, URS, June 2002, 
and Response to Agency Comments to the June 2002 Report, URS, April 
2003). Arsenic has been detected above action levels in two of the on-
site wells, however arsenic is below levels of concern outside the 
boundaries of the landfill. EPA and ADEQ determined that the source of 
the arsenic is not contamination from the landfill itself, but native 
arsenic present in the soils. The arsenic is being mobilized into 
groundwater over a small area due to the oxygen low conditions near the 
landfill. (Exceedence Report for Arsenic at Monitoring Well I-4, URS, 
December 2003, Technical Memorandum of Arsenic Concentrations in 
Groundwater Monitor Wells, Hugh Rieck, ADEQ, April 2004, and Exceedence 
Report for Arsenic at Monitoring Well I-4, URS, June 2006, reference 
arsenic report). Again, if in the future it is determined that 
groundwater is impacted by the landfill, the protections will remain in 
place to compel cleanup. The supporting information that is referenced 
above is available in the deletion docket and site repositories and can 
also be provided to DWAZ.
    Summary of Comment #2, Request from Michael Pops, President, 
Concerned Residents of South Phoenix: Mr. Pops contacted EPA and ADEQ 
by telephone with a request to extend the public comment period. He 
believed the community outreach EPA conducted regarding the notice was 
inadequate and requested that EPA and ADEQ conduct an outreach campaign 
to fully inform the affected community of the proposed action. He also 
was concerned with future use of the Site, and that the community would 
be unable to provide input or ensure that redevelopment plans would be 
acceptable to the community.
    Response to Comment #2: EPA decided not to extend the timeframe for 
comment on this action beyond the required 30 days. EPA believes there 
was adequate time for the community to raise significant concerns 
regarding the deletion, and that the deletion action itself will not 
impact the community's ability to comment on issues regarding the Site. 
EPA had issued a fact sheet to the Site mailing list and published a 
notice in the local paper, The Arizona Republic. We will work with ADEQ 
and the City of Phoenix to update the Community Involvement Plan and 
add other local newspapers and community groups to the outreach 
strategy as suggested for future actions. The public will continue to 
have an opportunity to comment to ADEQ, the lead agency, on any actions 
or activities associated with the Site even after deletion, 
particularly during the statutory Five-Year Review process.
    Regarding future development at the Site, any plans would still 
need to follow all the applicable criteria under CERCLA and the NCP, 
and be protective of human health and the environment. In addition, the 
City of Phoenix filed a Declaration of Environmental Use Restriction on 
the property title in July 2006, prohibiting residential use and 
ensuring a process by which no landowner will be allowed to interfere 
with the remedy.
    Summary of Comment #3, Letter from Karen O'Regan, City of Phoenix, 
Environmental Programs: This comment is in ``support and concurrence'' 
with the deletion action, and an expression of the commitment the City 
has to ensuring the remedy will be maintained and the groundwater 
monitored. The City will work with ADEQ on any ``viable reuse 
proposals''.
    Response to Comment #3: EPA appreciates the concurrence, and on-
going commitment to ensure the remedy will be maintained. EPA 
encourages the City to consider community concerns regarding the Site 
in the future, particularly as associated with the issues expressed by 
the community during this public comment period, and any input that may 
be provided during additional community involvement activities.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

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

    Dated: September 18, 2006.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 9.

0
For the reasons set out in this document, 40 CFR part 300 is amended as 
follows:

PART 300--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; 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 under [Arizona] 
(``AZ'') by removing the entry for the Nineteenth Avenue Landfill site 
in Phoenix, Arizona.

[FR Doc. 06-8175 Filed 9-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P