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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 44 (Friday, March 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12170-12171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05240]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9923-91-Region 5]

Notice of Final Decision To Reissue the ArcelorMittal Burns 
Harbor, LLC Land-Ban Exemption

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final decision on a request by ArcelorMittal Burns 
Harbor, LLC of Burns Harbor, Indiana to reissue its exemption from the 
Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given by the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA or Agency) that an exemption to the land disposal 
restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) 
to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) has been granted 
to ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor, LLC (AMBH) of Burns Harbor, Indiana, for 
four Class I injection wells located in Burns Harbor, Indiana. As 
required by 40 CFR part 148, AMBH has demonstrated, to a reasonable 
degree of certainty, that there will be no migration of hazardous 
constituents out of the injection zone or into an underground source of 
drinking water (USDW) for at least 10,000 years. This final decision 
allows the continued underground injection by AMBH of a specific 
restricted waste, Spent Pickle Liquor (SPL) into one Class I hazardous 
waste injection well specifically identified as SPL #1; and of waste 
ammonia liquor (WAL) into three Class I hazardous waste injection wells 
specifically identified as WAL #1, WAL #2 and WAL #3 at the AMBH 
facility. This decision constitutes a final EPA action for which there 
is no administrative appeal.

DATES: This action is effective as of March 6, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Roy, Lead Petition Reviewer, 
EPA, Region 5, Water Division, Underground Injection Control Branch, 
WU-16J, Environmental Protection Agency, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, 
Illinois 60604-3590; telephone number: (312) 886-6556; fax number (312) 
692-2951; email address: roy.stephen@epa.gov. Copies of the petition 
and all pertinent information are on file and are part of the 
Administrative Record. It is recommended that you contact the lead 
reviewer prior to reviewing the Administrative Record.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: AMBH submitted a request for reissuance of 
its

[[Page 12171]]

existing exemption from the land disposal restrictions of hazardous 
waste to include the newly-drilled WAL #3 well in July, 2013. EPA staff 
reviewed all data pertaining to the petition, including, but not 
limited to, well construction, well operations, regional and local 
geology, seismic activity, penetrations of the confining zone, and 
computational models of the injection zone. EPA has determined that the 
hydrogeological and geochemical conditions at the site and the nature 
of the waste streams are such that reliable predictions can be made 
that fluid movement conditions are such that injected fluids will not 
migrate out of the injection zone within 10,000 years, as set forth at 
40 CFR part 148. The injection zone for the AMBH facility is composed 
of the lower Eau Claire Formation, the Mount Simon Sandstone and the 
upper portion of the Precambrian rocks, between 2170 and 4286 feet 
below the surface. The confining zone at the AMBH facility is the upper 
Eau Claire Formation, which is found between 1936 and 2170 feet. The 
confining zone is separated from the lowermost underground source of 
drinking water (at a depth of 726 feet below ground level) by a 
sequence of permeable and less permeable sedimentary rocks. This 
sequence provides additional protection from fluid migration into 
drinking water sources.
    EPA issued a draft decision, which described the reasons for 
granting this exemption in more detail, a fact sheet, which summarized 
these reasons, and a public notice on November 14, 2014, pursuant to 40 
CFR 124.10. The public comment period ended on December 16, 2014. EPA 
received no comments but during the comment period, EPA realized that 
the volume limitation identified in section I.B was inadvertently shown 
as gallons per month instead of gallons per year. The same mistake was 
made in Condition #8. Therefore, EPA is issuing the final exemption 
with this condition corrected to be consistent with the language in the 
AMBH UIC permits.

Conditions

    This exemption is subject to the following conditions. Non-
compliance with any of these conditions is grounds for termination of 
the exemption:
    (1) All regulatory requirements in 40 CFR 148.23 and 148.24 are 
incorporated by reference;
    (2) The exemption applies to the existing injection wells, Spent 
Pickle Liquor #1, Waste Ammonia Liquor #1, Waste Ammonia Liquor #2, and 
Waste Ammonia Liquor #3, located at the ArcelorMittal facility at 250 
West U.S. Highway 12, Burns Harbor, Indiana;
    (3) Injection is limited to that part of the Lower Mount Simon 
Sandstone and the upper portion of the Precambrian rocks at depths 
between 2722 and 4286 feet below ground level;
    (4) Hazardous wastes denoted by the waste codes D010, D018, and 
D038 may only be injected into Waste Ammonia Liquor #1, Waste Ammonia 
Liquor #2, and Waste Ammonia Liquor #3. Hazardous waste denoted by 
waste code K062 may only be injected into Spent Pickle Liquor #1. Other 
fluids necessary for well testing, stimulation, etc. may be injected 
when approved by EPA;
    (5) The chemical properties of the injectate that will be monitored 
are limited according to the table below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Concentration limitation at the
  Chemical constituent or property             well head  (mg/L)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benzene.............................  220 (maximum).
pH..................................  Minimum pH is zero.
Chromium............................  133 (maximum).
Naphthalene.........................  260 (maximum).
Nickel..............................  50 (maximum).
Phenol..............................  3780 (maximum).
Pyridine............................  116 (maximum).
Selenium............................  5 (maximum).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (6) The annual average of the specific gravity of the injected 
spent pickle liquor must be no greater than 1.31; the annual average of 
the specific gravity of the waste ammonia liquor must be no less than 
0.99;
    (7) The chemical properties of the injectate that defined the edge 
of the plume in the demonstration are benzene for waste ammonia liquor 
and pH for the spent pickle liquor;
    (8) The monthly average injection rate for SPL must not exceed 175 
gallons per minute and the monthly average injection rate for WAL must 
not exceed 300 gallons per minute, plant-wide, cumulatively covering 
all WAL injection wells.
    (9) This exemption is approved for the 21-year modeled injection 
period, which ends on December 31, 2027. ArcelorMittal may petition EPA 
for a reissuance of the exemption beyond that date, provided that a new 
and complete no-migration petition is received at EPA, Region 5, by 
July 1, 2027;
    (10) ArcelorMittal shall submit monthly reports to EPA containing a 
fluid analysis of the injected waste which shall indicate the chemical 
and physical properties upon which the no-migration demonstration was 
based, including the physical and chemical properties listed in 
Conditions 5 and 6 of this exemption approval;
    (11) ArcelorMittal shall submit an annual report containing the 
results of a bottom hole pressure survey (fall-off test) performed on 
Spent Pickle Liquor #1, Waste Ammonia Liquor #1, Waste Ammonia Liquor 
#2, or Waste Ammonia Liquor #3 to EPA. The survey shall be performed 
after shutting in the well for a period of time sufficient to allow the 
pressure in the injection interval to reach equilibrium, in accordance 
with 40 CFR 146.68(e)(1). The annual report shall include a comparison 
of reservoir parameters determined from the fall-off test with 
parameters used in the approved no-migration demonstration;
    (12) The petitioner shall fully comply with all requirements set 
forth in Underground Injection Control Permits IN-127-1W-0001, IN-127-
1W-0003, IN-127-1W-0004, and IN-127-1W-0007 issued by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency; and
    (13) Whenever EPA determines that the basis for approval of a 
petition may no longer be valid, EPA may terminate this exemption and 
may require a new demonstration in accordance with 40 CFR 148.20.
    Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically from the Government Publishing Office under the 
``Federal Register'' listings at FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).

    Dated: February 18, 2015.
Timothy C. Henry,
Acting Director, Water Division.
[FR Doc. 2015-05240 Filed 3-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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