[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44529-44533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20348]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2005-0011; FRL-9967-25-Region 5]


National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Deletion of the Nutting Truck & Caster Co. 
Superfund Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 is 
publishing a direct final Notice of Deletion of the Nutting Truck & 
Caster Co. Superfund Site (Site), located in Faribault, Rice County, 
Minnesota 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 direct final deletion is being published 
by EPA with the concurrence of the State of Minnesota, through the 
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), because EPA has determined 
that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed. 
However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under 
Superfund.

DATES: This direct final deletion is effective November 24, 2017 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by October 25, 2017. 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-2005-0011 at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Comments may also be submitted by 
email or mail to Randolph Cano, NPL Deletion Coordinator, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 (SR-6J), 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-6036, email address: 
[email protected] or hand deliver: Superfund Records Center, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
7th Floor South, Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-0900. Such deliveries are 
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. The normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 
a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding Federal holidays. Once submitted, comments 
cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish 
any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically 
any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information 
(CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically through https://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the site information 
repositories.
    Locations, contacts, phone numbers and viewing hours are:
    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--Region 5, Superfund Records 
Center, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 7th Floor South, Chicago, IL 60604, 
Phone: (312) 886-0900, Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 
excluding Federal holidays.
    Buckham Memorial Library, 11 Division Street E, Faribault, MN 
55021, Phone: (507) 334-2089, Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 
p.m., Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randolph Cano, NPL Deletion 
Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 (SR-6J), 77 
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 886-6036, or via email 
at [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 5 is publishing this direct final Notice of Deletion of 
the Nutting

[[Page 44530]]

Truck & Caster Co. Site (Site) from the NPL and requests public comment 
on this action. 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 CERCLA, as amended. EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites 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 (Fund). As described in 
Sec.  300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL remain 
eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions if future conditions 
warrant such actions.
    Because EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and 
routine, this action is effective November 24, 2017, unless EPA 
receives adverse comments by October 25, 2017.
    Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting 
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using 
for this action. Section IV discusses the Nutting Truck & Caster Co. 
Site and demonstrates how it 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

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from 
the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be deleted 
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making such a 
determination pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e), EPA will consider, in 
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have 
been met:
    i. Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all 
appropriate response actions required;
    ii. all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been 
implemented, and no further response 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, 
the taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures apply to deletion of the Site:
    (1) EPA consulted with the State of Minnesota prior to developing 
this direct final Notice of Deletion and the Notice of Intent to Delete 
co-published today in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of the Federal 
Register.
    (2) EPA has provided the State thirty (30) working days for review 
of this action and the parallel Notice of Intent to Delete prior to 
their publication today, and the State, through the MPCA, has concurred 
on the deletion of the Site from the NPL.
    (3) Concurrent with the publication of this direct final Notice of 
Deletion, a notice of the availability of the parallel Notice of Intent 
to Delete is being published in a major local newspaper, the 
``Faribault Daily News''. The newspaper document announces the 30-day 
public comment period concerning the Notice of Intent to Delete the 
Site from the NPL.
    (4) EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed deletion 
in the deletion docket and made these items available for public 
inspection and copying at the Site information repositories identified 
above.
    (5) If adverse comments are received within the 30-day public 
comment period on this deletion action, EPA will publish a timely 
notice of withdrawal of this direct final Notice of Deletion before its 
effective date and 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 a 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 information provides EPA's rationale for deleting the 
Site from the NPL.

Site Background and History

    The Nutting Truck & Caster Co. Superfund Site (CERCLIS ID: 
MND006154017) is located at 85 Prairie Avenue (formerly reported as 
1201 or 1221 W. Division Street) in Faribault, Minnesota. The Site 
covers approximately 8.6 acres of the former 11 acre Nutting Truck & 
Caster Co. (Nutting) property that was used for manufacturing and waste 
disposal activities. The Site is bound on the west by Prairie Avenue 
and the southeast by railroad tracks. The majority of the north Site 
boundary is approximately 250 feet south of Division Street. The Site 
is accessed via Prairie Avenue. The property is currently owned by 
Prairie Avenue Leasing, Ltd., and is utilized for commercial and light 
industrial uses. The property includes an industrial/commercial 
building with loading docks. Most of the remainder of the property is 
paved. A cell tower is located on the property.
    Single-family homes and an Islamic Center are located to the west 
and north of the Site. The residences and other water-users on and near 
the Site are connected to the municipal water supply. Nutting 
manufactured casters, wheels and hand trucks at the Site from 1891 to 
1984. Prior to 1979, Nutting disposed wastes in an unlined seepage pit 
in a former gravel pit on the Site. The wastes were primarily solvents 
and sludges containing cadmium, lead, cyanide, methylene chloride, 
trichloroethylene (TCE) and xylene.
    The MPCA issued a Notice of Noncompliance to Nutting for their past 
TCE disposal practice at the Site in 1979. Nutting excavated the sludge 
and contaminated soil from the former seepage pit under MPCA oversight 
in 1980. Nutting land spread the excavated material on Rice County 
property adjacent to the Rice County Landfill in accordance with MPCA 
Permit MNL051748. Nutting backfilled the pit with clean fill and paved 
the area over with concrete. MPCA determined that the source materials 
were effectively removed, but that groundwater contamination remained 
at the Site above drinking water standards.
    EPA proposed the Site to the NPL on September 8, 1983 (48 FR 40658) 
and finalized the Site on the NPL on September 21, 1984 (49 FR 37055). 
MPCA added Nutting to its State Superfund Priority List, known as the 
Permanent List of Priorities (PLP), in 1984. MPCA took the lead in 
addressing the Site through its State environmental response authority 
under the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA) of 
1983.
    MPCA issued a Request for Response Action (RFRA) to Nutting in 
September 1983 and a Response Order by Consent to Nutting in April 1984 
(1984 Order). The 1984 Order required Nutting to conduct a remedial 
investigation (RI) and to make recommendations concerning further 
response actions that may be necessary at the Site. EPA was not a party 
to the 1984 Order because the Site was a State enforcement lead site.

[[Page 44531]]

Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS)

    Nutting completed the RI and recommended response actions for 
groundwater in 1986. MPCA issued a second Response Order by Consent to 
Nutting on September 22, 1987 (1987 Order). EPA was not a party to the 
1987 Order. The 1987 Order required Nutting to develop and implement a 
Response Action Plan (RAP) for groundwater remediation. MPCA required 
this action based on the possibility that the groundwater contamination 
immediately downgradient of the Nutting Site could pose a potential 
future threat to the Faribault well field. Nutting submitted a RAP to 
MPCA in response to the 1987 Order. MPCA approved the RAP and Nutting 
implemented the RAP in 1987. The RAP called for the extraction and 
treatment of contaminated groundwater and continued groundwater 
monitoring.

Selected Remedy

    Soil: MPCA's selected remedy for soil was the soil excavation 
Nutting conducted pursuant to MPCA's 1979 Notice of Noncompliance. 
Nutting excavated the contaminated soil and material from the seepage 
pit located in the west central area of the property. Nutting disposed 
of these materials, which were the Site's major source of TCE 
contamination, off-site. This removal action achieved MPCA's 
residential soil clean-up goals. Nutting backfilled the excavated pit 
with clean fill and paved the area with concrete. The area is currently 
used as a loading dock and parking area. The soil removal action 
objectives for the Site are: (1) To eliminate the possibility of 
precipitation facilitating the migration of contaminants through the 
soil; and (2) to eliminate access to the former seepage pit area by 
potential receptors.
    Groundwater: The remedial action objectives (RAOs) for Site 
groundwater are documented in the 1987 RAP. The groundwater RAOs are to 
prevent the migration of contaminated groundwater away from the Site 
and to ensure the protection of downgradient aquifers for future use as 
a potable water supply. Nutting installed a groundwater pump-and-treat 
(P&T) system at the Site to prevent the contaminated groundwater from 
migrating away from the Site in 1987. Nutting also installed a system 
of downgradient compliance wells to assess the effectiveness of the 
groundwater remedy.
    MPCA set the cleanup level for groundwater in the RAP at 50 parts 
per billion (ppb) for TCE in the upper aquifer units. MPCA's objective 
was to ensure that the downgradient drinking water aquifers would be 
protected. TCE levels in groundwater could not exceed 50 parts per 
billion (ppb) in the compliance wells. The compliance wells were the 
wells that were the closest to the Site, 350-400 feet downgradient of 
the Nutting property boundary. Several of the sentinel wells located on 
private properties were subsequently sealed due to requests from 
property owners.
    The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recommended that the 
Minnesota Health Risk Limit (HRL) for TCE be changed from 30 ppb to 5 
ppb in 2002. This lower value coincides with EPA's Maximum Contaminant 
Level (MCL) for TCE under the Safe Drinking Water Act. MPCA prepared an 
amended RAP to modify the groundwater clean-up goals for the Site from 
50 ppb of TCE to the present MCL/HRL action level of 5 ppb in 2003.

Response Actions

    Nutting constructed and began operating the groundwater extraction 
system at the Site in 1987. The extraction system consisted of two 
wells. One extraction well was installed in the shallower, glacial 
outwash unit of the upper aquifer and one extraction well was installed 
in the deeper, St. Peter Sandstone unit of the upper aquifer. The St. 
Peter Sandstone unit of the upper aquifer is above the lower, Prairie 
du Chien aquifer, which is the source of drinking water. Groundwater 
flow in both aquifers is to the north. Both extraction wells were 
located just north of the Site on Division Street West. Nutting treated 
the extracted groundwater on-Site using a gravity cascade to remove the 
TCE and other volatile organic compounds. Nutting discharged the 
treated groundwater to a municipal storm water sewer.

Cleanup Levels

    MPCA lowered the cleanup level for TCE to 5 ppb in an amended RAP 
in 2003. Groundwater sampling demonstrated that the extraction system 
achieved the 5 ppb cleanup standard for TCE in the off-site compliance 
wells in 2004. Nutting shut down the extraction wells in 2004 with the 
approval of the MPCA.
    Nutting prepared a Long-term Monitoring Plan in June 2004 that 
contained a two-tier monitoring plan for removing the groundwater 
treatment system. This document also contained criteria and contingency 
plans for restarting the groundwater treatment system.
    Nutting continued to monitor the groundwater until 2007. In 2007, 
MPCA determined that the cleanup standard for groundwater was met and 
maintained at the compliance wells and that no additional groundwater 
monitoring was required. Nutting sealed all extraction and monitoring 
wells with MPCA approval in 2008. MPCA terminated the 1987 Order and 
deleted the Site from its PLP in 2009.
    EPA reviewed the Site in 2010. EPA determined that no further 
action was necessary to protect public health or welfare or the 
environment at the Site. EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in 2010 
stating that all appropriate MERLA response actions, which parallel 
CERCLA response actions, were completed at the Site, and that long-term 
monitoring indicates that the soil and the groundwater at the Site do 
not pose a threat to public health or welfare or the environment. EPA's 
ROD determined that because the actions taken at the Site removed the 
potential for risks to human health and the environment, these actions 
meet EPA clean-up standards, and no further action is required. EPA's 
ROD also determined that Site conditions allow for unlimited use and 
unrestricted exposure.
    EPA reviewed the historical groundwater data from the Site in 2013 
when preparing to delete the Site from the NPL. During this review, EPA 
determined that the drinking water standard for TCE was, in fact, not 
being met throughout the plume. This standard would have to be achieved 
throughout the plume before the Site could be deleted from the NPL. EPA 
raised this issue with MPCA.
    MPCA contracted the Antea Group (Antea) to re-install two 
groundwater monitoring wells at the Site to address this issue. Antea 
re-installed nested groundwater monitoring well B4R in the glacial 
outwash/St. Peter Sandstone upper aquifer and W13R in the Prairie du 
Chien lower aquifer in 2014 to confirm that the MCL was attained in the 
on-Site plume. Antea sampled the groundwater during 15 sampling events 
from August 2014 to November 2016. Antea sampled lower aquifer well 
W13R during all 15 sampling events and upper aquifer well B4R during 
the first 11 events under EPA direction.
    The analytical results from all 11 sampling events from B4R showed 
TCE concentrations below the cleanup level of 5 ppb. The analytical 
results from the first seven W13R sampling events showed TCE levels 
below 10 ppb, with the final eight sampling events under the cleanup 
level of 5 ppb. Because the last eight consecutive groundwater sampling 
events at the Site show that the TCE cleanup level of 5 ppb is being

[[Page 44532]]

met throughout the plume, EPA's requirements for Site closeout are 
achieved. No additional groundwater monitoring is required.
    MPCA tasked Antea to conduct additional sampling to assess whether 
there was any potential risk from soil vapor intrusion in 2015. Antea 
advanced five soil gas probes to depths of six to eight feet below 
ground surface around the northwest corner of the Site downgradient of 
the former disposal pit. The analytical results were below the 
screening values for all constituents on the Minnesota Soil Gas List 
and total hydrocarbons. These results indicate that the risk for vapor 
intrusion is minimal and that additional vapor intrusion actions are 
not necessary.

Operation and Maintenance

    This Site does not require any operation and maintenance (O&M) 
activities. Site soil and groundwater meet all cleanup objectives and 
no further remedial action or O&M is required. The MPCA will 
permanently abandon the re-installed monitoring wells, which are no 
longer needed for the collection of groundwater data.
    Nutting executed an Environmental Covenant and Easement at the Site 
on October 28, 2008. The MPCA required this institutional control as 
part of the State delisting requirement from the State PLP. The 
covenant provides additional and enforceable protection of public 
health and the environment, as it provides that: (1) No wells can be 
installed on the property without the approval of the MPCA; (2) all 
monitoring and extraction wells have been properly abandoned as a 
condition of the Environmental Covenant; (3) the property owner is 
required to report to the MPCA on an annual basis that conditions at 
the Site remain consistent with land use prescribed in the zoning 
requirements; and (4) any proposed changes in land use require that 
MPCA be notified to determine if the changes will adversely affect the 
protectiveness of the completed remedy. It should be noted that this 
covenant is not required by EPA.

Five Year Reviews

    MPCA conducted five-year reviews (FYRs) of the Site in 1994, 1998, 
2003 and 2008. MPCA conducted the last FYR of the Site in 2008. MPCA's 
2008 FYR concluded that the remedial actions at the Site were 
protective of human health and the environment in the short-term, and 
that long-term protectiveness would be achieved when the groundwater 
cleanup standards were attained and the State-required institutional 
controls were in place. The Site-wide remedy protects human health and 
the environment because exposure pathways that could result in 
unacceptable risks have been controlled through the completed remedial 
activities.
    MPCA deleted the Site from the State PLP in 2009. EPA's 2010 ROD 
determined that all appropriate MERLA response actions, which parallel 
CERCLA response actions, have been completed. Long-term monitoring 
indicates that the soil and groundwater at the Site do not pose a 
threat to public health or welfare or the environment. EPA's 2010 ROD 
does not require subsequent FYRs since Site conditions allow for 
unlimited use and unrestricted exposure. EPA, MPCA, Antea and the Site 
property owner conducted a final inspection at the Site on November 15, 
2016. EPA completed a Final Close Out Report for the Site on April 11, 
2017.

Community Involvement

    EPA and MPCA satisfied public participation activities as required 
in CERCLA Section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k), and CERCLA Section 117, 42 
U.S.C. 9617. MPCA published notifications announcing the FYR and 
inviting the public to comment and express their concerns about the 
Site in the Faribault Daily News at the start of the 1994, 1998, 2003 
and 2008 FYRs. EPA published a document about its proposed no further 
action plan for the Site, the 30-day public comment period, and the 
availability of a public meeting, if requested, in the Faribault Daily 
News in 2010. EPA mailed a proposed plan fact sheet with information 
about the Site and announcing a 30-day public comment period to the 
addresses on the Site mailing list prior to issuing its final decision 
in the 2010 ROD. EPA did not receive any comments during the public 
comment period or any requests for a public meeting.
    EPA published a document announcing this proposed Direct Final 
Deletion in the Faribault Daily News prior to publishing this deletion 
in the Federal Register. Documents in the deletion docket which EPA 
relied on for recommending the deletion of this Site from the NPL are 
available to the public in the information repositories and at https://www.regulations.gov.

Determination That the Site Meets the Criteria for Deletion in the NCP

    This Site meets all of the site completion requirements as 
specified in Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) 
Directive 9320.2-22, Close Out Procedures for National Priorities List 
Sites. All cleanup actions specified in the RAP have been implemented, 
and the Site has achieved the RAP cleanup objectives or has been 
cleaned up to acceptable risk levels for all media and exposure 
pathways as noted in the 2010 EPA ROD. The RAOs and associated clean-up 
goals are consistent with Agency policy and guidance. Confirmation 
groundwater sampling and soil vapor results provide further assurance 
that the Site no longer poses a threat to human health or the 
environment. Therefore, the EPA has determined that no further 
Superfund response is necessary at the Site to protect human health and 
the environment.
    The NCP (40 CFR 300.425(e)) states that a site may be deleted from 
the NPL when no further response action is appropriate. EPA, in 
consultation with the State of Minnesota, has determined that all 
required response actions have been implemented and no further response 
action by the responsible parties is appropriate.

V. Deletion Action

    EPA, with concurrence from the State of Minnesota through the MPCA, 
has determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have 
been completed. 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. This direct final 
deletion is effective November 24, 2017 unless EPA receives adverse 
comments by October 25, 2017. 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 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 substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, and Water supply.

    Dated: August 21, 2017.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
    For the reasons stated in the preamble, 40 CFR part 300 is amended 
as follows:

[[Page 44533]]

PART 300--NATIONAL OIL AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES POLLUTION 
CONTINGENCY PLAN

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

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 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.

Appendix B to Part 300 [Amended]

0
2. Table 1 of Appendix B to part 300 is amended by removing the entry 
``MN'', ``Nutting Truck & Caster Co'', ``Faribault''.

[FR Doc. 2017-20348 Filed 9-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P