[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2198-2201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-537]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0008; FRL-8268-6]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final notice of deletion of the Berkley Products Company 
Dump Superfund Site from the National Priorities List.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III is 
publishing a direct final notice of deletion for Berkley Products 
Company Dump Superfund Site (Site), located in West Cocalico Township, 
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from the National Priorities List (NPL).
    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, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This 
direct final deletion is being published by EPA with concurrence of the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection (PADEP) because EPA has determined that all 
appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation and 
maintenance and five-year reviews, have been implemented to protect 
human health, welfare and the environment. However, this deletion does 
not preclude future actions under Superfund.

DATES: This direct final deletion will be effective March 19, 2007 
unless EPA receives adverse comments by February 20, 2007. If adverse 
comments are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
direct final deletion in the Federal Register informing the public that 
the deletion will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-1989-0008, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instruction for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 215-814-3002
     Mail: Mr. Roy Schrock, Remedial Project Manager (3HS22), 
U.S. EPA, Region 3, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-
2029.
     Hand Delivery: 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103-2029. Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
1989-0008. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
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 www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 
The 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA's Region III, 
Regional Center for Environmental Information (RCEI) 2nd floor, 1650 
Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103-1029, (215) 814-5254 or 
(800) 553-2509, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding legal 
holidays and at the West Cocalico Township Municipal Building, 156B 
West Main, West Cocalico Township, Reinholds, Pennsylvania

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17569, (717) 336-8720, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Roy Schrock, Remedial Project 
Manager (3HS22), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 
Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2029; telephone number: 
1-800-553-2509 or (215) 814-3210; fax number: 215-814-3002; e-mail 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

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

I. Introduction

    EPA Region III is publishing this direct final notice of deletion 
of the Berkley Products Company Dump Superfund Site from the NPL.
    EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health or the environment and maintains the NPL as the list of 
those 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 future conditions warrant such action.
    Because EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and 
routine, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a notice of 
intent to delete. This action will be effective March 19, 2007 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments on this document by February 20, 2007. If 
adverse comments on this document are received within the 30-day public 
comment period, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of this direct 
final deletion before the effective date of the deletion and the 
deletion will not take effect. EPA, as appropriate, will prepare a 
response to comments and continue with the deletion process on the 
basis of the notice of intent to delete and the comments already 
received. There will be no additional opportunity to comment.
    Section II of this document 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 Berkley Products 
Company Dump Superfund Site and explains how the Site meets the 
deletion criteria. Section V discusses EPA's action to delete the Site 
from the NPL unless adverse comments are received during the public 
comment period.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e)(1) 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 shall consider, in 
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have 
been met:
    (i) The responsible parties or other parties have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required; or
    (ii) All appropriate Fund-financed (Hazardous Substance Superfund 
Response Trust Fund) responses under CERCLA have been implemented and 
no further action by responsible parties is appropriate; or
    (iii) The remedial investigation has shown that the site poses no 
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, 
remedial measures are not appropriate.
    Even if a site is deleted from the NPL, if hazardous substances, 
pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow 
for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, CERCLA Section 121(c), 42 
U.S.C. 9621(c), requires that a subsequent review of the site be 
conducted at least every five years after the initiation of the 
remedial action to ensure that the action remains protective of public 
health and the environment. If new information becomes available which 
indicates a need for further action, EPA may initiate such remedial 
actions. Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted 
from the NPL, the deleted 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 consulted with PADEP on the deletion of the Site from the 
NPL prior to developing this direct final notice of deletion.
    2. PADEP has concurred with the deletion of the Site from the NPL.
    3. Concurrently with the publication of this direct final notice of 
deletion, a notice of the availability of the parallel notice of intent 
to delete published today in the ``Proposed Rules'' Section of the 
Federal Register is being published in a major local newspaper of 
general circulation at or near the Site and is being distributed to 
appropriate Federal, State, and local government officials and other 
interested parties; the newspaper notice announces the 30-day public 
comment period concerning the notice of intent to delete the Site from 
the NPL.
    4. EPA Region III has placed copies of documents supporting the 
deletion in the Site information repositories identified above.
    5. If adverse comments on this notice or the companion notice of 
intent to delete also published in today's Federal Register are 
received within the 30-day public comment period, EPA will publish a 
timely notice of withdrawal of this direct final notice of deletion 
before the effective date. EPA will prepare a response to comments and 
continue with the deletion process on the basis of the notice of intent 
to delete and the comments already received.
    Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Deletion of a site from 
the NPL does not in any way alter EPA's right to take enforcement 
actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for 
informational purposes and to assist EPA management. Section 
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, should 
future conditions warrant such actions.

IV. Basis for Site Deletion

    The following summary provides EPA's rationale for the deleting 
this Site from the NPL:

Site Location

    The Berkley Products Company Dump Site (Site) is located one and a 
half miles northeast of Denver, Pennsylvania, in West Cocalico 
Township, Lancaster County. Also known as Schoeneck Landfill, the Site 
is east of Wollups Hill Road, north of Swamp Bridge Road.
    The Site is approximately 1,000 feet west of Cocalico Creek. The 
headwaters of Cocalico Creek are in the valley south of South Mountain 
near Blue Lake. This valley is located a few miles north of the Site. 
Conestoga Creek, along with its tributaries, Muddy Creek, Little 
Conestoga Creek, and Cocalico Creek, drains the northeastern and north-
central portion of Lancaster County and eventually enters the 
Susquehanna River. Seasonally, wet springs located immediately north of 
the Site discharge into Cocalico Creek to the north. On the southern 
side of the Site, a seep was located on the slope of the landfill 
material. The seep was related to rain events.
    The land use in the immediate vicinity of the Site is residential 
in nature. The Site is near dense woods and several single family 
homes. A few open areas have been converted into farm land by the local 
residents

[[Page 2200]]

Site History

    The Site was used as a municipal waste dump from approximately 1930 
until 1965. In 1965, the Lipton Paint Company (Lipton), a subsidiary of 
Berkley Products Company, purchased the property. The operation 
continued to receive household trash from neighboring communities as 
well as paint wastes from Berkley Products Company. The property was 
closed by Lipton due to a lack of available fill area, and was covered 
with soil. Then, in September 1970, the property was sold to private 
owners and has been used as a residence since that time.
    Prior to 1965, the dump received paper, wood, cardboard and other 
domestic trash from the northeastern corner of Lancaster County. The 
only commercial wastes identified during that period were from local 
shoe companies. Those wastes included leather scraps and empty glue and 
dye pails.
    During the period from 1965 to 1970, different sources estimate 
that the dump received a total of 650 to 40,000 gallons of paint wastes 
from Berkley Products Company. These wastes included primarily pigment 
sludges and wash solvents. EPA has learned that the solvents were 
sometimes used to burn the household trash and that the sludges were 
disposed of in five gallon pails. Information gathered about the final 
years of operation of the Site indicates that the municipal trash was 
dumped to the south of the access road, toward the hillside, while the 
paint wastes were deposited in the northern part of the dump.
    The Berkley Products Company produced paints and varnishes with 
solvents, ethyl cellulose resin and pigments with lead oxide and lead 
chromate. The solvents included toluene, xylene, aliphatic naphthas, 
mineral spirits, methyl ethyl ketones, methyl isobutyl ketones, ethyl 
acetate, butyl acetate, glycol ether, butyl celasol, methyl alcohol and 
isopropyl alcohol.
    This Site was originally investigated by the Pennsylvania 
Department of Environmental Resources (PADER) in 1984. In March of that 
year, PADER completed a Potential Hazardous Waste Site Identification 
form and the Site was included on EPA's CERCLIS, a list of potentially 
hazardous waste sites. A Preliminary Assessment (PA) was also completed 
in 1984, by EPA, and the Site was scheduled for further investigation 
pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and 
Liability Act, as amended, (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675.
    In July 1984, EPA collected field samples and the results were 
presented in a Site Investigation (SI) report dated March 5, 1986. The 
information from the SI was used to score the Site using the Hazard 
Ranking System. The Site was nominated for the National Priorities List 
(NPL) of Superfund sites in 1986 with a score of 30.00 and was 
finalized as an NPL site in March 1989. The regulations enacted 
pursuant to CERCLA generally require that a Remedial Investigation and 
Feasibility Study (RI/FS) be conducted at each NPL site and 
subsequently, a remedial response action selected to address the 
problems identified.
    During the search for potentially responsible parties (PRP) for the 
Site EPA conducted interviews with former owners, operators and 
employees of the Site. Company records were also obtained and deed 
information was researched. That information has been compiled and 
reviewed to determine liability and also to estimate types and 
quantities of wastes disposed at the Site and to determine disposal 
practices during operations. Based on the findings of the PRP search, 
EPA sent Notice Letters to two parties, Berkley Products Company and 
the landowner that had purchased the closed landfill. These Notice 
Letters identified the parties as PRPs, but waived the sixty day 
moratorium, established at CERCLA Sections 122(a) and 122(e), to 
negotiate a Consent Order to perform the RI/FS. These waivers were 
issued pursuant to CERCLA Section 122(a) because the Berkley Products 
Company did not have the financial assets to pay for the remedy, and 
the current landowners had purchased the property after landfill 
operations had ceased.
    EPA initiated the RI/FS in 1990 to identify the types, quantities 
and locations of contaminants, to evaluate the potential risks, and to 
develop and evaluate remedial action alternatives to address the 
contamination problems at this Site. A CERCLA removal action was 
completed at the Site in May 1992 to address some preliminary findings 
of the RI. During the field investigation of the RI, buried drums 
containing paint wastes were uncovered in the northeastern portion of 
the Site. This area was excavated, and 59 drums were overpacked and 
removed. An additional seven drums were overpacked and removed from the 
southern slope of the landfill. A 35-foot-long by 15-foot-deep 
exploration trench uncovered no additional drums. The wastes were 
classified as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) flammable liquids, solids, 
and paint solvents.
    The field investigations, data analysis and evaluation of 
alternatives that comprise the RI/FS were completed in June 1996 for 
the Site.

Record of Decision Findings

    The Remedial Investigation found the Site to be a landfill covering 
approximately 4\1/2\ acres situated on the crest of a hill. The 
landfill materials were composed of primarily municipal trash and 
debris along with an area of buried steel drums and residues of 
apparent dumping of organic compounds as well as paint and organic 
solvents.
    The risks involved a direct contact threat and possible impacts on 
residential well water supplies in the area. The Site also showed the 
potential for ecological risks.
    Monitoring wells at the perimeter of the landfill contained organic 
compound and a variety of compounds were detected. Some of the 
compounds identified were lead, benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), 
tetrachloroethylene (PCE), polyaromatic (PAHs) hydrocarbons and 
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
    On June 28, 1996, EPA issued a ROD for the Site which required the 
following components:
     Pre-design investigations and activities.
     Site preparation.
     Consolidation of landfill wastes.
     Site grading.
     Cover system placement, with the following components as 
determined necessary for compliance with the relevant sections of 
Pennsylvania's Hazardous Waste Regulations:

--Subgrade.
--Gas vent system.
--Barrier layers.
--Drainage layer.
--Top layer (vegetated).

     Security fencing.
     Removal actions as determined to be necessary during 
consolidation activities, and to be conducted in compliance with all 
state and local laws, to the extent not inconsistent with federal laws.
     Erosion control measures.
     Long-term monitoring to include groundwater, surface 
runoff, leachate spring and seep monitoring (annual), reside 
residential well monitoring (semi-annual) and monitoring wells 
(quarterly).
     Institutional controls to restrict new well installation 
in the contaminated zone.
     Long-term operation and maintenance of the remedy.
     Five-year reviews.

[[Page 2201]]

    On August 20, 1999 an Explanation of Significant Differences was 
issued which revised the remedy. The ROD anticipated that the bulk of 
the consolidated wastes at the Site would be incorporated into the on-
site landfill and capped in place. During the design of the cap, the 
volume of the waste to be consolidated was determined to exceed the 
capacity of the cap being designed for the designated landfill area. 
Therefore, the ESD required excavation, characterization, and offsite 
disposal of the excess waste materials. Then the on-site landfill could 
be capped as described in the ROD.

Operation and Maintenance

    The first round of surface water and groundwater monitoring 
occurred in October 2002. After this sampling event, sampling the 
surface water and springs was discontinued because no contaminants were 
detected in the seeps and creek north of the landfill and upgradient 
from the Site. Sampling the leachate seep from the landfill was also 
discontinued because the cover eliminated the seep.
    Operation and Maintenance (O&M) activities were transferred to the 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADEP) after this 
sampling event since there was no responsible party capable of 
performing the work for the Site. URS Corporation (URS) was contracted 
in June 2003 by the PADEP to complete the post-closure operations and 
maintenance. Quarterly site inspections and monitoring were initiated 
in 2003.
    A number of monitoring wells are located at the Site and between 
the landfill and the residential wells. There are approximately 14 
residential wells that are also monitored under the O&M plan.
    Groundwater monitoring and sampling was conducted during the spring 
of 2004, the fall of 2004, the spring of 2005 and the spring of 2006. 
Activities performed by URS also include inspections of both sediment 
basins.
    Mowing the vegetation on the cap is conducted under a separate 
contract issued by PADEP on a yearly basis.

Five Year Review

    CERCLA requires a five-year review of all sites where hazardous 
substances remain above health-based levels which prevents unlimited 
use and unrestricted exposure. The first five-year review for the Site 
was completed in August 2005. The five-year review found that the 
objectives of the ROD and ESD were met by the implemented remedy. 
Periodic monitoring conducted by EPA and PADEP indicate that the 
selected remedies have been effective in eliminating the environmental 
threats posed by the landfill to the surrounding environment and human 
populations. Five-year reviews will continue to be conducted.

Institutional Controls

    The institutional controls to restrict new well installation in the 
contaminated zone were established on June 8, 2001 by an Access Order 
issued during the construction phase of the remedial action and are 
still in effect. The Access Order required that the property owner 
shall not interfere with the operation, alter or disturb the integrity, 
of any structures or devices now or hereinafter built, installed or 
otherwise placed by EPA and/or its Representatives on the Site or 
Property. This effectively prevents any well installation through the 
cap, which covers the contaminated zone. Maintenance of the 
institutional control is part of the O&M activities conducted by PADEP 
pursuant to the State Superfund Contract (SSC).

Community Involvement

    Public participation activities have been satisfied as required by 
CERCLA Sections 113(k) and 117, 42 U.S.C. 9613(k) and 9617. Documents 
upon which EPA relied to make this recommendation to delete the Site 
from the NPL are available to the public in the information 
repositories.

V. Deletion Action

    EPA, with the concurrence of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, has 
determined that all appropriate responses under CERCLA have been 
completed, and that no further response action, other than operation 
and maintenance and five-year reviews, are necessary. Therefore, EPA is 
deleting the Site from the NPL.
    Because EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and 
routine, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a notice of 
intent to delete. This action will be effective March 19, 2007 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by February 20, 2007. If adverse comments 
are received within the 30-day public comment period, EPA will publish 
a timely withdrawal of this direct final notice of deletion before the 
effective date of the deletion and it will not take effect. EPA will 
also prepare a response to comments and continue with the deletion 
process on the basis of the notice of intent to delete and the comments 
already received. There will be no additional opportunity to comment.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

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

    Dated: November 16, 2006.
Donald Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

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. 
21777, 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 Pennsylvania 
(``PA'') by removing the entry for ``Berkley Products Co. Dump''.

[FR Doc. E7-537 Filed 1-17-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P