46938 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Dated: August 18, 1997.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–23354 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MO 034–1034(b); FRL–5886–2]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans; State of

Missouri

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The EPA proposes to approve

the State Implementation Plan (SIP)

revision submitted by the state of

Missouri for the purpose of updating its

transportation conformity rules. In the

final rules section of the Federal

Register, the EPA is approving the

state’s SIP revision as a direct final rule

without prior proposal because the

Agency views this as a noncontroversial

revision amendment and anticipates no

adverse comments. A detailed rationale

for the approval is set forth in the direct

final rule. If no adverse comments are

received in response to this proposed

rule, no further activity is contemplated

in relation to this rule. If the EPA

receives adverse comments, the direct

final rule will be withdrawn and all

public comments received will be

addressed in a subsequent final rule

based on this proposed rule. The EPA

will not institute a second comment

period on this document. Any parties

interested in commenting on this

document should do so at this time.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule

must be received in writing by October

6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Christopher D. Hess, Environmental

Protection Agency, Air Planning and

Development Branch, 726 Minnesota

Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher D. Hess at (913) 551–7213.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: See the

information provided in the direct final

rule which is located in the rules

section of the Federal Register.

Dated: August 15, 1997.

William Rice,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–23453 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–5887–1]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the

LaGrand Sanitary Landfill Site from the

national priorities list; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The United States

Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.

EPA) Region V announces its intent to

delete the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill

Site (the Site) from the National

Priorities List (NPL) and requests public

comment on this action. The NPL

constitutes appendix B to the National

Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), which is 40

CFR part 300, appendix B. EPA

promulgated the NCP pursuant to

section 105 of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

(CERCLA) as amended. This action is

being taken by U.S. EPA, because it has

been determined that all Fund-financed

responses under CERCLA have been

implemented and U.S. EPA, in

consultation with the State of

Minnesota, has determined that no

further response is appropriate.

Moreover, U.S. EPA and the State have

determined that remedial activities

conducted at the Site to date have been

protective of public health, welfare, and

the environment.

DATES: Comments concerning the

proposed deletion of the Site from the

NPL may be submitted on or before

October 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Gladys Beard, Associate Remedial

Project Manager, Superfund Division,

U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson Blvd.

(SR–6J), Chicago, IL 60604.

Comprehensive information on the site

is available at U.S. EPA’s Region V

office and at the local information

repository located at: Alexandria Public

Library, Seventh and Fillmore,

Alexandria, MN 56308. Requests for

comprehensive copies of documents

should be directed formally to the

Region V Docket Office. The address

and phone number for the Regional

Docket Officer is Jan Pfundheller (H–7J),

U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W. Jackson

Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312) 353–

5821.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gladys Beard (SR–6J), Associate

Remedial Project Manager, Superfund

Division, U.S. EPA, Region V, 77 W.

Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, (312)

886–7253 or Denise Gawlinski (P–19J),

Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA,

Region V, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago,

IL 60604, (312) 886–9859.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Region V announces its

intent to delete the LaGrand Sanitary

Landfill Site from the National Priorities

List (NPL), which constitutes appendix

B of the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), and requests comments from the

public on the proposed deletion. The

EPA identifies sites that appear to

present a significant risk to public

health, welfare or the environment, and

maintains the NPL as the list of those

sites. Sites on the NPL may be the

subject of remedial actions financed by

the Potentially Responsible Parties or

the Hazardous Substance Superfund

Response Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant

to § 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site

deleted from the NPL remains eligible

for Fund-financed remedial actions if

the conditions at the Site warrant such

action.

The U.S. EPA will accept comments

on this proposal from the public for

thirty (30) days after publication of this

notice in the Federal Register.

Section II of this notice explains the

criteria for deleting sites from the NPL.

Section III discusses procedures that

EPA is using for this action. Section IV

discusses the history of this site and

explains how the Site meets the deletion

criteria.

Deletion of sites from the NPL does

not itself create, alter, or revoke any

individual’s rights or obligations.

Furthermore, deletion from the NPL

does not in any way alter U.S. EPA’s

right to take enforcement actions, as

appropriate. The NPL is designed

primarily for informational purposes

and to assist in Agency management.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

The NCP establishes the criteria that

the Agency 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 this
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 1997 / Proposed Rules 46939

determination, U.S. 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;

or

(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed

responses under CERCLA have 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, remedial

measures are not appropriate.

III. Deletion Procedures

Upon determination that at least one

of the criteria described in § 300.425(e)

has been met, U.S. EPA may formally

begin deletion procedures once the State

has concurred. This Federal Register

notice, and a concurrent notice in the

local newspaper in the vicinity of the

Site, announce the initiation of a 30-day

comment period. The public is asked to

comment on U.S. EPA’s intention to

delete the Site from the NPL. All critical

documents needed to evaluate U.S.

EPA’s decision are included in the

information repository and the deletion

docket.

Upon completion of the public

comment period, if necessary, the U.S.

EPA Regional Office will prepare a

Responsiveness Summary to evaluate

and address comments that were

received. The public is welcome to

contact the U.S. EPA Region V Office to

obtain a copy of this responsiveness

summary, if one is prepared. If U.S. EPA

then determines the deletion from the

NPL is appropriate, final notice of

deletion will be published in the

Federal Register.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The LaGrand Sanitary Landfill (the

Site or the Landfill) is located in a rural

setting in west-central Douglas County,

Minnesota, approximately 5 miles west

of the town of Alexandria and

approximately 3 miles south of the town

of Garfield. The Site consists of 80 acres

of forest, steep uncultivated hills and

low lying wetlands. The main fill area

occupies six acres of a small northtrending gully formed during earlier

gravel mining operations. It is marked to

the north, west and east by groups of

large trees.

The Site is located within an area of

glacial deposits know as the Alexandria

Moraine Complex. This moraine

complex is 10 to 20 miles wide and

extends northward in an area through

west-central Minnesota. The upper 100

feet of sediments beneath the Site

consist of glacial drift deposits of the

moraine complex. A sand and gravel

water table aquifer exists under a

portion of the Site, and is overlain by a

silty to sandy clay till layer which was

found to range in thickness from

approximately 15 to 40 feet. The sand

and gravel aquifer extends beneath the

Landfill waste mass. At other portions

of the Site, the till layer extends to a

depth of at least 100 feet. The water

table was found at depths ranging from

approximately 20 to 70 feet below the

surface of the hilly terrain at the Site.

The Site operated from March 1974,

when it received a solid waste permit

from the Minnesota Pollution Control

Agency (MPCA) (SW–141), until April

1984, as a sanitary landfill accepting

mixed municipal soil waste and

nonhazardous industrial waste. In late

1982, and early 1983, groundwater

sampling at the Site confirmed the

presence of organic compounds.

Subsequent investigations at the Site led

the MPCA to evaluate whether the Site

should be included on the National

Priorities List (NPL) and Minnesota’s

Permanent list of Priorities (PLP) for

Superfund sites potentially requiring

clean up. The Site was proposed for the

NPL June 10, 1986. The Site was added

to the NPL and PLP on July 21, 1987.

A Remedial Investigation and

Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was conducted

at the Site to determine the nature and

extent of contamination, to develop and

evaluate a remedial cleanup. The RI

Report concluded that:

1. Groundwater moves beneath the

Site in a south-southeasterly direction.

2. Although a number of organic

contaminants were measured in soil and

groundwater at the Site, no organic

contaminant plume was identified and

none of the measured compounds

exceeded current health-based

standards or U. S. EPA’s acceptable risk

range.

3. Arsenic and manganese were found

in the groundwater at concentrations

exceeding Minnesota Recommended

Allowable Limits (RALs) for private

drinking water supplies, but not

Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs)

under the Federal Safe Drinking Water

Act (SDWA). These naturally-occurring

heavy metals were widespread

throughout the Site and had the

appearance of random background

concentrations. The on-site Shop Well

showed manganese levels elevated

above background levels. However,

these levels were not considered to be

related to landfill waste disposal

activities.

3. Manganese was found in surface

water at concentrations that exceeded

RALs in nearly all water bodies, both

upgradient and downgradient of the

Landfill and regardless of whether

surface water drains away from or

toward the water bodies. The

manganese appears to be derived from

natural sources in the soils, with no

evidence of a source from the Landfill.

4. A chloride plume appears to be

emanating from the southern end of the

Landfill and migrating southsoutheastward. Chloride is one of the

most mobile contaminants associated

with landfills. It is not a hazardous

substance and occurred in

concentrations well below the SDWA

secondary MCL. This standard is not

health-based, but determined on the

basis of taste, odor, and aesthetic

considerations.

5. There does not appear to be any

combustible gas migration from the

Landfill, except for a single monitoring

point at the southwest corner, where the

combustible gas reading was greater

than 100% of the Lower Explosive Limit

(LEL).

6. Portions of the western slope of the

Landfill appear unstable and the

northwest corner of the waste mass has

been exposed by hillside erosion.

7. Acess to the Site by motorized

vehicles via the main access road was

not controlled.

8. A pile of several hundred tires is

located to the south of the Landfill, off

the fill area. These tires will be

addressed by the MPCA’s tire control

program.

9. Unauthorized use and disposal of

mix municipal soil waste attended to

occur from time to time.

The FS Report utilized the results of

the RI to develop potential cleanup

alternatives designed to address the low

level threats posed by the Site. The only

pathways of concern identified in the

human health risk assessment, which all

relate to the use of groundwater

downgradient from the Site, are:

1. Ingrestion of contaminated

groundwater by drinking or cooking

2. Inhalation of chemicals that can

volatilize into the air during showering;

and

3. Dermal (skin) contact with water

during showering, bathing and other

related activities.

Finally, the human health risk

assessment assumes a reasonable

maximum exposure (RME) scenario.

This means that it takes into account the

highest concentration of each chemical

to which adults and children are

reasonably expected to be exposed

during an average lifetime at the Site. At

present, there is no one living on or
46940 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 1997 / Proposed Rules

using the groundwater at the Site nor do

residential wells downgradient of the

Site show any contamination from

organic compounds.

A Record of Decision (ROD) was

signed September 30, 1992, which

selected the following remedy:

1. Long-term monitoring of

groundwater and combustible gas to

verify that the low level of threat posed

by the contaminants of concern remains

low and the landfill does not generate

potentially explosive levels of

combustible gas

2. The conversion of a combustible

gas monitoring well to a gas vent to

assure that combustible gas does not

accumulate at the single point where the

soil gas level was measured at greater

than 100% of the lower explosive limit

(LEL)

3. The permanent sealing and

abandonment of the on-site Shop Well

in conformance with the Minnesota

Water Well Code, Minn. Rules, Chapter

4725.2700, to assure that this well will

not be used as a potable water source.

4. The stabilization of the west slope

of the Landfill and the covering of

exposed waste on the northwest corner

to assure that the existing landfill cover,

which is providing an effective barrier

to infiltration, remains effective

5. The sloping and reconstruction of

the borrowed pit area adjacent to the

west slope of the Landfill to assure the

long-term integrity of the cover system

6. Institutional controls in the form of

site access restrictions, and the possible

use of deed restrictions

7. Maintenance of the existing final

cover system so as to reduce the future

potential for infiltration into the waste

mass and the subsequent leaching of

landfill contaminants

8. Observance of Minnesota

Environmental Response and Liability

Act prohibitions against the disturbance

of the Landfill final cover and

monitoring systems; and

9. Observance of the Minnesota Water

Well Construction Code, Minn. Rules

Chapter 4725.2000, which regulates the

location of future potable wells near the

Landfill.

A Remedial Action report was

prepared by MPCA contractors

documenting that all Remedial Action

have been completed at LaGrand

Sanitary Landfill in Douglas County,

Minnesota. The MPCA and Barr

Engineering Company conducted final

site inspections during the week of

August 8, 1994, and determined that the

contractors have constructed the final

remedial action in accordance with the

Remedial Design (RD).

The vegetation has become well

established in both borrow areas. The

site has been fully restored in

accordance with the Record of Decision,

and all Remedial Action Contract

Documents.

In 1994, the Legislature of the State of

Minnesota enacted the Landfill Cleanup

Law, Minn. Laws 1994, ch. 639, codified

at Minn. Stat. sections 115B.39 to

115B.46 (the Act), authorizing the

Commissioner of the Minnesota

Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to

assume responsibility for future

environmental response actions at

qualified landfills that have received

notices of compliance from the

Commissioner of MPCA. Additionally,

the Act established funds to enable the

MPCA to perform all necessary

response, operation and maintenance at

such landfills. At sites where no

responsible parties are conducting

response actions under CERCLA, MPCA

is responsible for issuing a notice of

compliance, after it determines that all

work that could be expected under a

state order or under state closure

requirements has been completed.

MPCA has acquired the 80 acres site

and has issued a notice of compliance.

A notice of compliance was issued by

MPCA for the LaGrand Sanitary Landfill

Site on June 5, 1997. MPCA has since

assumed all responsibility for the

LaGrand Sanitary Landfill under the

Act. No further response actions under

CERCLA are anticipated at this time.

Consequently, U.S. EPA proposes to

delete the site from the NPL.

EPA, with concurrence from the State

of Minnesota, has determined that all

appropriate Fund-financed responses

under CERCLA at the LaGrand Sanitary

Landfill Site have been completed, and

no further CERCLA response actions are

appropriate in order to provide

protection of human health and

environment. Therefore, EPA proposes

to delete the Site from the NPL.

Dated: August 25, 1997.

Michelle D. Jordan,

Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA,

Region V.

[FR Doc. 97–23356 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P