[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30392-30393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13089]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9156-8]


Approval of a Petition for Exemption from Hazardous Waste 
Disposal Injection Restrictions to Cabot Corporation Tuscola, Tuscola, 
IL

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of final decision on petition.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given by the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) that an exemption to the land disposal 
restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) 
to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) has been granted 
to Cabot Corporation Tuscola Plant (Cabot Corporation) of Tuscola, 
Illinois, for two Class I injection wells located in Tuscola, Illinois. 
As required by 40 CFR part 148,

[[Page 30393]]

Cabot Corporation has demonstrated, to a reasonable degree of 
certainty, that there will be no migration of hazardous constituents 
out of the injection zone or into an underground source of drinking 
water (USDW) for at least 10,000 years. This final decision allows the 
continued underground injection by Cabot Corporation of specific 
restricted wastes from the silica production processes (codes D002, 
F003, and F039 under 40 CFR part 261), into two Class I hazardous waste 
injection wells specifically identified as Injection Wells No. 2 and 
No. 3 at the Tuscola facility. This decision constitutes a final EPA 
action for which there is no Administrative Appeal.

DATES: This action is effective as of June 1, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dana Rzeznik, Lead Petition Reviewer, 
EPA, Region V, telephone (312) 353-6492. Copies of the petition and all 
pertinent information relating thereto are on file and are part of the 
Administrative Record. It is recommended that you contact the lead 
reviewer prior to reviewing the Administrative Record.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Cabot Corporation submitted a petition for renewal of an existing 
exemption from the land disposal restrictions of hazardous waste on 
March 8, 2007. EPA personnel reviewed all data pertaining to the 
petition, including, but not limited to, well construction, well 
operations, regional and local geology, seismic activity, penetrations 
of the confining zone, and computational models of the injection zone. 
EPA has determined that the geologic setting at the site as well as the 
construction and operation of the well are adequate to prevent fluid 
migration out of the injection zone within 10,000 years, as required 
under 40 CFR part 148. The injection zone at this site is composed of 
the Upper Franconia, Potosi, Eminence and Oneota formations at depths 
between 4,442 feet and 5,400 feet below ground level. The confining 
zone is the Shakopee formation at depths between 4,101 feet and 4,442 
feet below ground level. The confining zone is separated from the 
lowermost underground source of drinking water (at a depth of 2700 feet 
below ground level) by a sequence of permeable and less permeable 
sedimentary rocks, which provide additional protection from fluid 
migration into drinking water sources.
    EPA issued a draft decision, which described the reasons for 
granting this exemption in more detail, a fact sheet, which summarized 
these reasons, and a public notice on December 28, 2009, pursuant to 40 
CFR 124.10. The public comment period expired on February 1, 2010. EPA 
received no comments on the proposed exemption granted to Cabot 
Corporation. A final exemption is therefore granted as proposed.

Conditions

    This exemption is subject to the following conditions. Non-
compliance with any of these conditions is grounds for termination of 
the exemption:
    (1) All regulatory requirements in 40 CFR 148.23 and 148.24 are 
incorporated by reference;
    (2) The exemption applies to two existing injection wells, Well 
2 and Well 3 located at the Cabot Corporation 
facility at 700 E. U.S. Highway 36, in the City of Tuscola in Douglas 
County, Illinois;
    (3) Injection is limited to that part of Upper Franconia, Potosi, 
Eminence and Oneota formations at depths between 4,442 and 5,400 feet;
    (4) Only wastes denoted by the waste codes D002, F003 and F039 may 
be injected;
    (5) The concentrations of constituents of the injected waste will 
not exceed the amounts listed in Table 1-1 in the petition document;
    (6) The volume of wastes injected in any month through the wells 
must not exceed 17,280,000 gallons;
    (7) This exemption is approved for the 21-year modeled injection 
period, which ends on December 31, 2027. Cabot Corporation may petition 
EPA for a reissuance of the exemption beyond that date, provided that a 
new and complete petition and no-migration demonstration is received at 
EPA, Region 5, by July 1, 2027;
    (8) Cabot Corporation shall quarterly submit to EPA a report 
containing a fluid analysis of the injected waste which shall indicate 
the chemical and physical properties upon which the no-migration 
petition was based, including the physical and chemical properties 
listed in Conditions 5 and 6 of this exemption approval;
    (9) Cabot Corporation shall annually submit to EPA a report 
containing the results of a bottom hole pressure survey (fall-off test) 
performed on Well 2 and Well 3 (alternating years). 
The survey shall be performed after shutting in the well for a period 
of time sufficient to allow the pressure in the injection interval to 
reach equilibrium, in accordance with 40 CFR 146.68(e)(1). The annual 
report shall include a comparison of reservoir parameters determined 
from the fall-off test with parameters used in the approved no-
migration petition;
    (10) The petitioner shall fully comply with all requirements set 
forth in Underground Injection Control Permit UIC-011-CC issued by the 
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; and
    (11) Whenever EPA determines that the basis for approval of a 
petition may no longer be valid, EPA may terminate this exemption and 
will require a new demonstration in accordance with 40 CFR 148.20.

    Dated: March 5, 2010.
Tinka G. Hyde,
Director, Water Division, EPA Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2010-13089 Filed 5-28-10; 8:45 am]
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