[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 172 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46938-46940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23356]


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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.

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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 
Sec. 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

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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 
Sec. 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 north-trending 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 south-southeastward. 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

[[Page 46940]]

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