UNITED S TATES ENVIRONMENTAL PR O TE C TION AGENCY REGIONS 1445 ROSS AVENUE , SUITE 1200 DALLAS TX 75202-2733

Ms. Peggy H atc h, S ecreta ry Loui s iana Dept of En vironmental Quali ty Office of the Sec ret ar y, P .O

. Box 430 1 , Baton Rouge, La 70821-4301
De ar Secr etary Hat ch,
The United States Environm e ntal Protec tion Agency (EPA) is considering propo sing the D e lta Shipyard si te in Houm a, Loui siana on the Superfund Nat io nal Pri o ritie s List (NPL) , pursuant to its authority under Section 10 5 of the Co mprehe nsive Environmental Re s ponse, Co mpensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amend e d , 42 U.S.C. Section 9605. The NPL conta ins a li s t of pri o ri ty s ite s with re l eases of hazardous s u bstances, pollutants or contaminants that re quire evaluation for possible remediation. It i s the E PA's policy to determine the sta te 's position on sites that the EPA is considering placing on th e N PL. On Januar y I 0 , 2012 , the Lou i s iana D epartment ofE nvi ronm ental Quality (LDEQ ) asked the E PA for ass i stance in eval uatin g this site for both Removal and Reme dial consideration. Th e E PA bas been working cooperativ e ly with yo ur staf f throughout the s ite as sessm ent pr ocess and greatly appreciates th e LDEQ's assistance 

### in evaluatin g this s i te. With th is letter, the EPA is seeking the concurrence of t he S tate of Lo uisiana on addin g the Delta Shipyard site to the NPL.
The Delta Shipyar d s it e is lo cated within an industrial area in Houma, L A. T he site is not fence d , nor is there an y site security to limit public acce ss to the s i te

. The site is bordered to the north by Elev ate Boats Inc. (EBI), to the east by Company Canal waterway, to the so uth by an indu stri al crane compan y and to the west by Ba you LaCarpe . D e lta Shipyard was a cleaning and repair facility for small car go boats , fishing boats, and o il barges
. The area of concern consists of three evaporation pi t s located approximately 800 feet so uth of the E BI fabrication buil d in g and east of Dean Court r oad. The majority of the l and surrounding Pits 1 thr ough 3 is a wetland. The vo lum e of hazardous mate ri als associated with the three pits is es timated to be greater than 30,000 cub ic yards. In re sponse to LDE Q concern s , th e EPA co nduct ed an integrated assessment , and s ampling was complete d on August 9 , 2012. Sampling d oc umented the release of arsenic , antimony, anthracene , barium , benzene, cadmium , chromium , e thylbenzene, fluor e ne , le ad, man ganes e , me rcury, 2-m eth y ln a phth al e n e, naphthalene , phenanthrene , p yrene , o-xy len e , and
m ,p-xylene to the surface water pathway.
T he EPA is committed to working cooperatively with the State an d loca l co mmuni ty throughout the listing and sub sequen t Superfund cleanup process, and to ensuring th at the EPA's actio ns are conducted in an open and tran s parent manner. For a fund-financ e d remedial action , prior to initiation of th e rem ed ia l action , the EPA and th e S tat e wi ll co ll abor at e in the development of a superfu nd sta te c ontract to provide the sta te assurances required by CERCLA, including, for example, the S tate's statutory cost share for th e remedial action and assumption of operation and maintenance re s ponsibilities.

Internet Address (URL) • ht1p ://www

. epa.gov/region6 R ecycled/Recyclable • Pnnted with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 1 00% Recycled Paper. Process Chlorine FreeThe EPA i s r equesting a written respon se to this le tter from your Governor's office or from th e State Environmen tal Agency by Augu st l , 20 1 3. The EPA has set thi s date to allow a de quate tim e to meet the proposed rule sc hedule. The response letter should indicate whether the State supports plac e ment of the site on the NPL. If the State does not support listing , th e State should d esc ribe the alternative approach to p lacement on the NPL that will e nsure the id e ntified priority s it e a nd a ssociate d release (s) will be addresse d. T he EPA w ill be s haring inform atio n with the community rega rdin g the State ' s positi on , including posting the in format ion on the in ternet. T h e EP A will also invite the Lo u is iana D e partment of Env ironm ent a l Quality to participate in
a ny com muni ty meetings during the li sting process.
We will continue to work closely with an d seek input fro m the sta te as the li stin g process pro cee ds. We appreciate your co nsiderati o n of this matter. 

### If additional information is needed or you would li ke to meet to discuss this matter further, pl ease contact me at (214) 665-6701, or have your sta ff

, call Brenda Nixon Cook , Region 6 NPL Coordin ator, at (214) 665-7436.

Si n cerely, 

# ,1r1/v

# ~~vA**~b** Carl E dlund , P 

## £. Director Superfund Division
CC: Ms. Chery l No lan , LDEQ M r. Tom Harris , LDEQ Mr. John Halk , LDEQ Ms. Terry Jeng , EPA-OS RTI