[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 206 (Friday, October 24, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 63540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25286]



[[Page 63540]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-0002; FRL-9918-37-Region 8]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the California Gulch 
Superfund Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 announces 
the deletion of the Operable Unit 4 (OU4), Upper California Gulch; 
Operable Unit 5 (OU5), ASARCO Smelters/Slag/Mill Sites; and Operable 
Unit 7 (OU7), Apache Tailing Impoundment, of the California Gulch 
Superfund Site (Site) located in Lake County, Colorado, from the 
National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated pursuant to 
section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). 
This partial deletion pertains to the Operable Unit 4, Upper California 
Gulch (media of concern--waste rock and fluvial tailing piles); 
Operable Unit 5, ASARCO Smelters/Slag/Mill Sites (media of concern--
slag and soil); and Operable Unit 7, Apache Tailing Impoundment (media 
of concern--tailing and soil), of the California Gulch Superfund Site 
(Site). Operable Unit 2, Malta Gulch; Operable Unit 8, Lower California 
Gulch; Operable Unit 9, Residential Populated Areas; and Operable Unit 
10, Oregon Gulch were partially deleted by previous rules. Operable 
Unit 1, the Yak Tunnel/Water Treatment Plant; Operable Unit 3, the 
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company Slag Piles/Railroad 
Easement/Railroad Yard; Operable Unit 6, Starr Ditch/Penrose Dump/Stray 
Horse Gulch/Evans Gulch; Operable Unit 11, the Arkansas River 
Floodplain; and Operable Unit 12 (OU12), Site-wide Water Quality will 
remain on the NPL and is/are not being considered for deletion as part 
of this action. The EPA and the State of Colorado, through the Colorado 
Department of Public Health and the Environment, have determined that 
all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation, 
maintenance, and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, the 
deletion of these parcels does not preclude future actions under 
Superfund.

DATES: This action is effective October 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-0002. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed 
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in 
hard copy:
    [cir] By calling EPA Region 8 at (303) 312-7279 and leaving a 
message, or
    [cir] At the Lake County Public Library, 1115 Harrison Avenue, 
Leadville, CO 80461, (719) 486-0569, Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 
a.m.-8:00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and 
Friday and Saturday 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Kiefer, Remedial Project 
Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mail Code 8EPR-SR, 
1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-1129, (303) 312-6689, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The portion of the site to be deleted from 
the NPL is: Operable Unit 4, Upper California Gulch; Operable Unit 5, 
ASARCO Smelters/Slag/Mill Sites; and Operable Unit 7, Apache Tailing 
Impoundment, of the California Gulch Superfund Site (Site) in Lake 
County, Colorado. A Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion for this Site 
was published in the Federal Register (79 FR 47043) on August 12, 2014.
    The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent for Partial 
Deletion was September 11, 2014. Two public comments were received. One 
comment supported the partial deletion. The other comment requested 
that the OU4, OU5 and OU7 not be partially deleted due to concerns over 
water quality. In response, water quality has greatly improved since 
the NPL listing in 1983. The Upper Arkansas was recently designated a 
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Gold Medal Fishing area. The media covered 
in OU4, OU5 and OU7 are wastes from mining, milling and smelting 
activities. The general remedial action objectives of OU4, OU5, and OU7 
were to contain and control sources of contamination. Surface water and 
ground water quality were not specifically addressed in the remedies 
for these operable units. Site-wide water quality is specifically 
addressed in OU12, which is an active operable unit. Under OU12, 
response action can be conducted anywhere on the Site if needed to 
address releases that impact or may impact water quality goals in the 
Arkansas River. In OU4, OU5 and OU7, all responses actions have been 
completed and institutional controls are in place. A responsiveness 
summary was prepared and placed in both the docket, EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-
0002, on www.regulations.gov, and in the local repository listed above.
    EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment. 
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude further remedial 
action. 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. Deletion of portions of a 
site from the NPL does not affect responsible party liability, in the 
unlikely event that future conditions warrant further actions.

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. 
13626, 77 FR 56749, 3 CFR 2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 
54757, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O.12580, 52 FR 2923, 3 CFR 1987 
Comp., p. 193.

    Dated: October 9, 2014.
Shaun L. McGrath,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2014-25286 Filed 10-23-14; 8:45 am]
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